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WASHINGTON—State departments of transportation, which have long relied on gasoline and diesel fuel taxes to fund highways and transit programs, are asking Congress to replace the decades old pennies-per-gallon tax with a flat percentage tax, reports Dow Jones newswire.

The change is expected to increase dollars flowing into the Highway Trust Fund by almost $44 billion over six years, and debate could begin during a lame-duck congressional session following the November elections, said Dow-Jones.

Rather than tax gasoline at 18.4 cents per gallon, and diesel fuel at 24.4 cents per gallon, the new tax would be 8.4 percent on the price of each gallon of gasoline and 10.6 percent on the price of each gallon of diesel fuel, reported Dow-Jones.

Dow-Jones points out that raising the cents-per-gallon tax on motor fuels is not politically popular, but that the percentage tax would automatically increase federal revenue as the pump price of motor fuels increases – and insulate lawmakers from having to vote to raise motor fuels taxes in the future.

Republicans oppose the idea, however, according to Dow-Jones, which quotes Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.), the senior Republican on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, as calling the proposed percentage tax a “non-starter.”

 

 

HOPE, Ark. – Amtrak President Joseph Boardman told an audience here last week that poor service and arrogance were to blame for Amtrak’s loss of the contract to operate the Virginia Railway Express, reports the Hope Star newspaper.

The commuter service contract was lost to a French company, Keolis, which now operates the commuter trains between Northern Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Amtrak lost the VRE contract “long before the bid,” said Boardman, as quoted by the newspaper. “We lost this contract because we didn’t take care of our customer … We were arrogant.”

The Hope Star quoted Boardman as saying Amtrak must demonstrate more “humility … be inclusive to those who want and have an idea … We need to share the decision making.”

 As reported by the Hope Star, Boardman said that as the federal railroad administrator, before becoming Amtrak’s CEO, he saw similar flaws in freight railroad management  — “They are good people, but way too autocratic; they depend too much on rules and not bringing ‘people’ people in, in an inclusionary way.”

 

By Bonnie Morr,

Alternate vice president, Bus Department

Right now in our country, economics are spelling out what transit and transportation will look like, now and in the future.

The UTU Bus Department has been following politics and the trends for funding that are necessary for passenger and public transportation to meet the needs of an aging population and growing automobile congestion. It does not look good.

In every town and community, hard decisions must be made — and we want those decisions made by lawmakers who understand the importance of adequate, reliable and safe public transportation, including transportation of school children by bus.

We have a responsibility to our families, children and community to make sure that the funding for public transportation stays in place. We can do that with our votes on Election Day.

When we say, “vote your paycheck,” keep in mind that the jobs of UTU Bus Department members depend on adequate, reliable and safe funding for public transportation.

We need to get out the vote for labor-friendly candidates who support adequate, reliable and safe public transportation.

Think jobs, because there are candidates out there who are coming after our jobs.

When you cast your ballot on Election Day, support candidates who will do the right thing when it comes to funding and ensuring adequate, reliable and safe public transportation.

I am a laborer. I drive a bus. I want the labor protections that labor-friendly candidates will honor with laws and regulations that my mother fought for as an organizer for the Ladies Garment Workers Union.

We have protections as unionized bus operators, and we want to extend those protections to the unorganized.

Let us all support candidates who are pledged to increased funding for public transportation, job security, safe working conditions and an environment that respects working families.

With 86 percent voting in favor, UTU-represented signal maintainers, mechanical forces and maintenance-of-way employees on Illinois & Midland Railroad (IMRR) have ratified a new five-year contract covering wages, benefits and working conditions.

Illinois & Midland is a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming.

The new agreement provides a general wage increase, retroactive pay to April 1, 2010, a cap on health care insurance contributions, a new short-term disability plan, an enhanced 401(k) plan, and enhanced options for personal leave days.

UTU International Vice President Delbert Strunk, who assisted with the negotiations, praised IMRR General Chairperson Bo O’Leary and Vice General Chairpersons Donnie Maurer and Loren “John” Thomas for their efforts during the negotiations.

Illinois & Midland Railroad is a 97-mile short line in central Illinois that interchanges with BNSF, Canadian National, Iowa Interstate, Kansas City Southern, Keokuk Junction, Norfolk Southern, Tazewell & Peoria, Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway, and Union Pacific.

Its principal commodities include chemicals, coal, food and feed products, forest products, metallic ores and minerals, and municipal solid waste.

Airline pilots who sleep in the terminal because lodging is not provided?

Flight attendants who can’t afford dental care and have used Super Glue to mend a broken tooth?

Pilots and flight attendants who qualify for food-stamps?

For airline pilots and flight attendants employed by many small regional airlines, that’s the professional life they lead — hardly the glamour that many Americans associate with airline employment.

The United Transportation Union, which represents some of these workers, will be asking the new Congress in 2011 to pass legislation requiring air carriers who participate in the Federal Essential Air Service Program to pay a livable wage to their employees.

Essential Air Service is a program that subsidizes carriers who provide service to mostly rural destinations that would have little or no air service without the program. The communities that benefit from the service are, for the most part, located in areas with limited transportation options and rely on the program as a vital connection to the larger transportation network.

“Employees of Essential Air Service carriers — air carriers that receive millions of dollars in federal subsidies to serve rural areas — are professionals responsible for the safe transport of their passengers,” said United Transportation Union International President Mike Futhey. “While these employees are subject to the rules and regulations applying to all commercial pilots and flight attendants, Essential Air Service pilots and flight attendants receive compensation that is oftentimes barely above the minimum wage.

“In many cases, the crews are paid an average ‘credit time’ for their flights, meaning if they run over because of weather or terminal delays, they are not compensated for prep time, de-icing time, taxi time or even some of the flight time,” Futhey said. “Yet, some of these airlines are controlled by millionaires who pocket the taxpayer supplied federal subsidies while their employees suffer living standards equivalent to those on food stamps.”

UTU National Legislative Director James Stem said, “The United Transportation Union will collaborate in solidarity with other labor organizations to end the Essential Air Carrier abuse of this taxpayer-funded program and Essential Air Carrier employees.”

By Richard Ross
Former SMART TD Director of Organizing
The SMART Transportation Division has a long history of representing transportation workers — fighting on their behalf for better job security, and improved wages, benefits and working conditions.
We have consistently handled more claims before various tribunals under the Railway Labor Act, the National Labor Relations Act, state laws, and in accordance with collective bargaining agreements, than other, much larger unions.
SMART TD has a proven track record of negotiating and defending superior labor agreements in the airline, bus, railroad and transit industries.
Our national and state legislative offices pride themselves in helping to elect labor-friendly lawmakers and gaining legislation and regulations that improve workplace safety.
In organizing, we offer those same services to those that wish to become SMART TD members, and we do so expecting little in return.
Organizing leads to a special bond with our new members — a bond they soon come to recognize as they experience union brothers and sisters helping union brothers and sisters.
Organizing is not just the process through which we mechanically recruit new members to the union, but involves mutually helping our brothers and sisters grow in their knowledge of SMART TD — our proud history, our affiliation with the AFL-CIO, our respect for and guarantee of craft autonomy, and our superior collective bargaining agreements and ability to defend them.
As furloughed employees are recalled, many of whom had little time in the job after hiring on, each of us bears a responsibility as a caring brother and sister to share our knowledge of collective bargaining, grievance handling, safety programs and legislative initiatives.
This demonstrates SMART TD’s efforts on their behalf and reveals to each new member that we personally care about each other — that by working together we can make our union family stronger as we collectively pursue greater job security, higher wages, improved benefits and better working conditions.
SMART TD President John Previsich has placed an emphasis on organizing the unorganized, and SMART TD organizers recently have brought hundreds of airline, bus and rail workers into the SMART TD.
To contact a SMART TD organizer, or learn more about SMART TD organizing, log onto the SMART TD webpage at smart-union.org/td/ and click on “TD Organizing” in the blue navigation bar near the top of the page.
This is an excellent time to educate our newer members in union democracy, the benefits and strengths of craft autonomy and the many resources SMART TD has available every day to members.
Organizing is integral to a core value of the SMART TD: “In Unity there is Strength.”
Within SMART TD, “solidarity” is more than a catch phrase. It is a way of life.

By General Secretary & Treasurer Kim Thompson

We are all familiar with employers imposing unwarranted discipline and even dismissal on employees.

A member survey by the UTU’s Rail Safety Task Force revealed that more than 50 percent of train, engine and yard workers cite supervisor harassment and excessive operational testing as distracting them from situational awareness and placing them in harm’s way.

Said one member responding to the survey: “An alarming number of workers are in fear of losing their jobs. Harassment is now the number-one concern in the discharge of duty.”

Income assistance is available to all UTU members, in all crafts, having to weather such events.

The UTU’s Discipline Income Protection Program (DIPP) is a vital benefit only available to UTU members to supplement lost income when suspended or dismissed from employment.

For a reasonable premium, UTU members may enroll for a daily benefit amount ranging from $6 to $200 per day, not to exceed their normal average daily rate of earnings.

Since 2005, the UTU DIPP has paid more than $64.3 million in benefits to members, dwarfing its nearest competitors in terms of benefits paid to UTU members.

The UTU DIPP is by far the largest and most effective protective plan providing such benefits.

From January 2009 through July 2010, more than $16 million in benefits has been paid. Additionally, the UTU DIPP pays out more than 93 percent of premiums in benefits, with the balance paying administrative costs and building additional reserves.

The UTU DIPP is the only program of its kind that is regulated by the Department of Labor, publishes financial statements, holds its funds in trust, and is audited annually by a public accounting firm. The UTU DIPP is audited by the public accounting firm of Corrigan Krause.

Not only is there security in having income replacement available, but there is security in knowing that funds will be available when needed.

The UTU prides itself in paying such claims. As with any federally regulated plan — the UTU DIPP is regulated under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) — the UTU DIPP is bound by strict guidelines.

The UTU must and does review the particular facts in each incident to insure payment in every case possible. Questioned cases may also be submitted to committee review. As for benefit exceptions, a general rule of thumb is “if you have no control over the event, the UTU DIPP will pay.”

For peace of mind in the event you fall victim to unwarranted loss of income through employer discipline, every UTU member is advised to strongly consider participation in the UTU DIPP.

For additional information on the UTU DIPP, you may contact your field supervisor, local insurance representative or e-mail dipp@utu.org.

More information on the UTU DIPP may be found at the UTU home page at www.utu.org by clicking on “DIPP” in the links at the top.

Employees at the nation’s largest rail yard, the Union Pacific yard in North Platte, Neb., can now voluntarily and anonymously report “close-call” incidents that could have resulted in an accident, but did not, without fear of sanction or penalty from their employer or the federal government.

The program, initiated at the request of the UTU and BLET, is part of a new rail safety pilot project, FRA Administrator Joseph H. Boardman announced Feb. 2, 2007.

“Having the opportunity to learn about and analyze these close calls will help us identify and correct problems across the industry,” Boardman said, noting that the aviation industry already has a similar program.

FRA currently requires railroads to report a wide range of accidents and incidents that actually occur. The close call information will be studied to determine areas of potential risk and to develop solutions to prevent accidents in the future.

The Confidential Close Call Reporting Pilot Project involves Union Pacific Railroad (UP), the UTU and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET). Each has ratified an agreement with the FRA to allow railroad employees to anonymously contact the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), to report potentially dangerous situations or near misses.

Examples of close calls could be as minor as employees lifting objects that place them at risk for minor injuries, or more serious events, such as a train operating in non-signaled, or dark territory, proceeding beyond its track authority, or a train crew member’s failure to properly test an air brake before leaving a yard, which could lead to a runaway train.

The pilot project at the UP railroad yard in North Platte began Feb. 1, 2007, and FRA plans to extend it in the coming months to other yards, including BNSF Railway in Lincoln, Neb., and Canadian Pacific in Portage, Wis.

Close-call reports will be taken for five years to permit researchers enough time to collect a sufficient number of incidents for thorough analysis.

Importantly, a review team will evaluate the reports as they are received in order to make safety recommendations for those that require immediate attention. FRA is also currently in discussion with commuter railroads to launch a fourth pilot project location.

Boardman said the ‘close call’ project is one of the key elements in FRA’s National Rail Safety Action Plan, a comprehensive effort designed to reduce the causes of train accidents.

The UTU and others in transportation labor also are asking Congress to strengthen employee whistleblower protection nationwide so that rail employees need not fear carrier harassment and intimidation when reporting safety defects or concerns.

 By UTU GS&T Kim Thompson
A recent article on the UTU Web site, headlined “Ponzi Scheme Targets Retired L.A. Bus Drivers,” reminded me of the pitfalls that our members can face in having a secure retirement.
It seems you can’t watch the evening news, open a newspaper, or visit the Internet without hearing about identity theft, financial fraud, or investment schemes that have cost someone their retirement savings.
It is an unfortunate reality in our society, and everyone must be vigilant and on the lookout for these financial criminals.
While expecting the government to protect us from these con artists is reasonable, the fact remains that government regulation and enforcement agencies can do little to stop fraud from occurring. Most government involvement comes after the crime is committed and savings are lost.
The vast majority of investment advisers, investment firms and financial planners are trustworthy professionals. But an encounter with only one dishonest individual could devastate your retirement.
What can you do? Here are 10 steps suggested by best-selling author Charles Murray, a resident scholar with the American Enterprise Institute.

  1. Every deal is a potential scam: Recognize that fraud is an act of deceit by one party intended to induce another to part with something of value.
  2. Map out your goals before shopping or investing: There’s a difference between “buying” and “being sold.”
  3. Avoid mixing business with pleasure: According to the National Institute of Justice, the attempt to defraud is more successful if a person knows or knows of the offender.
  4. Don’t get greedy: Remain calm and dispassionate.
  5. Be suspicious of “inside information,” “hot tips” and “one-time offers”: Why you instead of Tom-Dick-and-Harry?
  6. Educate yourself: Beware of getting all your information from the seller.
  7. Double check all facts:A cheat doesn’t want himself or his deal scrutinized.
  8. Don’t wilt when the heat is turned up: It takes a secure person to say “no” to pressure and manipulation.
  9. A promise is only as good as the person behind it.
  10. Scams copy the same methods used in legitimate business dealings: Spotting the difference can be difficult. Five tell-tale signs:
  •  Something is promised that borders between reasonable and “too good to be true”;
  •  Victims typically know or know of the swindler;
  •  A sense of urgency exists;
  •  A cheat doesn’t want himself or the deal scrutinized;
  •  High-pressure sales tactics are used.

There are many investment instruments including your own UTUIA annuities that are available in which to place retirement funds that can provide the necessary security and still provide a cash stream in retirement years.
In speaking with a financial adviser, find out what their experience has been. Check their credentials and demand other client references. And never write a check directly to an individual. Your payment should be to the investment firm or to the investment fund itself. A request for direct payment to an individual is a big red flag!
Remember, your retirement funds represent a lifetime of savings, and there is no “do-over.”

March is National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, and here are some things you should know.
Colon cancer is usually found in people age 50 or older, and the risk of getting it increases with age.
If you are covered by private health insurance or Medicare, you can get colon screening tests to help find pre-cancerous polyps (growths in the colon) so they can be removed before they turn into cancer. Treatment works best when colon cancer is found early.
How often is testing covered by Medicare? Fecal occult blood test: once every 12 months; flexible sigmoidoscopy: once every 48 months; screening colonoscopy: once every 24 months (if you’re at high risk); once every 10 years, but not within 48 months of a screening sigmoidoscopy (if you’re not at high risk); Barium enema: your doctor can decide to use this test instead of a flexible sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy. This test is covered every 24 months if you are at high risk for colorectal cancer and every 48 months if you aren’t at high risk. (Limitations also may apply to those with private health insurance.)
The above limits apply to people with Medicare age 50 and older, except there is no minimum age for having a screening colonoscopy.
What are your costs in the original Medicare plan? You pay nothing for the fecal occult blood test. For all other tests, you pay 20 percent of the Medicare-approved amount after the yearly Part B deductible. If the flexible sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy is done in a hospital outpatient department, you pay 25 percent of the Medicare-approved amount after the yearly Part B deductible.
What factors increase risk for colorectal cancer? Risk for colon cancer increases if: You have had colon cancer before, even if it has been completely removed; you have a close relative, such as a sister or brother, parent, or child, who had colorectal polyps or colon cancer; you have a history of polyps; you have inflammatory bowel disease (like ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease).
Those with private health insurance may also be eligible for colon-cancer screening benefits; consult your health-care plan for benefits and limitations.
Risk for colon cancer increases with age. It is important to continue with screening, even if you were screened before you entered Medicare.
To learn more, read the column on colon cancer by the UTU’s medical consultant, Dr. Norman K. Brown, by clicking on this link:
https://www.smart-union.org/news/colon-cancer-dont-be-a-victim-6/