Author: paul

Wall Street may be in a devastating financial free fall, but UTU finances are solid and growing.

That’s the conclusion of the two UTU International officers responsible for UTU finances.

“I asked for a thorough review of our finances after hearing that mischief makers are deceiving some UTU members that the UTU is in financial difficulty,” said UTU International President Mike Futhey.

“These unscrupulous individuals are spreading a vicious, unfounded deception that if the UTU doesn’t merge with the Sheet Metal Workers International Association immediately, the UTU is facing financial failure,” Futhey said. “This is a continuation of the misinformation that a federal court found with the previous administration.”

Assistant President Arty Martin said, “While UTU finances have been, and continue to be, strong, our evidence is that the SMWIA has a hand in the spreading of these false rumors about UTU finances.”

The SMWIA merger is on hold by order of a federal district court, which found that the previous administration failed to make UTU members aware of conflicts between the existing UTU constitution and the SMWIA constitution prior to seeking a ratification vote.

The court said that “absent information about the possible changes to their own governing document, the UTU members’ votes cannot be said to be meaningful.”

Moreover, the UTU membership was given incorrect information as to why the previous administration sought the merger. Recall that the attempted merger between the UTU and the SMWIA was predicated on severe UTU financial problems.

“When Arty Martin, Kim Thompson and I took office Jan. 1, and gained access to the books, it became apparent that UTU finances were not as dire as had previously and wrongfully been presented to us and our members,” Futhey said. “And as a result of our financial stance taken, UTU finances have continued to improve since taking office on Jan. 1.”

Of the current false rumor being spread about UTU finances, UTU General Secretary and Treasurer Kim Thompson said, “This is the same outrageous, incorrect and irresponsible allegation that was made by the previous UTU International president when he attempted his merger cram-down last year. The allegation was wrong then. The allegation is even more wrong today.”

The UTU’s executive director of finance, Stu Collins — who shares with the GS&T a legal and ethical responsibility to provide accurate financial reports — said, “Aggressive budget monitoring has improved the International’s funds by 50 percent since Jan. 1. The general fund, alone, has increased by more than 85 percent this year,” Collins said.

One example provided by Kim Thompson is the UTU convention fund. “The previous administration said we had been wiped out by the 2007 convention. In fact, more than $1 million in the convention fund went unspent.”

Said Kim Thompson: “Action taken by delegates to the 2007 convention mandated the GS&T prepare an annual budget for the operation of the UTU.

“The budget President Futhey, Assistant President Martin and I prepared for 2008 was developed with a goal of improving the reserves of the International funds by 50 percent by year end,” Kim Thompson said. “Within just the first eight months of 2008, we have accomplished that goal — and our funds continue to grow.

“Every effort is being made to put International funds to the best use for the membership — the most bang for the buck,” Kim Thompson said. “We are improving our financial situation as we deliver more to the membership.

“Since the Futhey administration took office, we negotiated a new national agreement with substantial back pay, we have stepped up organizing efforts in the rail and bus departments, and we have begun a training program for our local, general committee and state legislative officers through the UTU University,” Kim Thompson said.

“Within the UTU International headquarters operation, we have improved office productivity by ending the war that was started against International employees and their own union by the previous administration,” Kim Thompson said.

“Natural attrition has helped us cut costs,” Kim Thompson said. “At the International-officer level, we are doing more with fewer International vice presidents by utilizing each of them in the most cost-effective manner, including reduced travel budgets.”

UTU Executive Director of Finance Stu Collins said, “We remain on track to exceed the goals of the 2008 budget. The general fund has increased since Jan. 1 from $1.8 million to $3.9 million. Total International funds have increased from $7.6 million to $11.3 million, since Jan.

“Even the Discipline Income Protection Fund, which previously had difficulties, now exceeds expenses by $572,000, which is a tremendous turnaround since 2007,” Collins said.

“As for our union assets that are invested, they are invested primarily in cash accounts and short term bonds, and are largely unaffected by the stock market problems,” Kim Thompson said.

“As for the UTU Insurance Association, it has assets — like those of all insurance providers, and even the Railroad Retirement Trust Fund — invested in the stock market, as well as in bonds and cash accounts, but the UTUIA investments are generally conservative in nature,” Kim Thompson said.

Brothers & Sisters:

I am writing this as I return from the Democratic National Convention in Denver.

A high point of my week was an invitation-only luncheon with Michelle Obama and Jill and Joe Biden on Friday, Aug. 29.

What a privilege it was to hear Michelle Obama speak first-hand of her husbands’ concern and support for working families, for making our tax code more equitable, for strengthening laws in support of organized labor, and investing in transit and Amtrak. Sen. Biden also voiced a similar message of support.

Sitting with AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Rich Trumka, in a box above the convention floor to hear Sen. Obama deliver his historic acceptance speech, was another special event.

I also had opportunity to meet with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, and House Transportation Committee Chairman Jim Oberstar of Minnesota — who, incidentally, is among those mentioned as in the running to join President Obama’s cabinet as our nation’s transportation secretary.

I also had a chat with Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, who shares many of our concerns about CSX and its management.

For sure, I was afforded these opportunities NOT because I am International President of the UTU. It is because the UTU has one of the largest political action committees (PACs) among organized labor, and one of the most effective Washington legislative offices.

The UTU PAC has helped countless labor-friendly candidates win and hold office, and those candidates never forget the assistance from our 125,000 active and retired members whose careers are, and have been, dedicated to keeping freight trains, intercity-rail and bus-passenger operations, and local transit on time and safe.

As high an honor as it was to represent UTU members in Denver, the real benefit of our political involvement occurs every day that the House, Senate and state legislatures are in session. It is on those days that UTU PAC contributions pay their compound interest, as our political friends — those who share our dreams, our concerns and our sense of justice — go to work for us in support of laws that advance the economic interests of working families.

Speaker Pelosi knew that many of our members are not Democrats. And she understood that the UTU is bipartisan in its political dealings — that we support Republicans, as well as Democrats, so long as the candidate is labor-union friendly.

Speaker Pelosi also noted that the overwhelming majority of Democratic lawmakers vote in support of working families, and that is why it is so essential to keep the House, Senate, White House and state legislatures from being controlled by anti-labor conservatives, who would privatize and endanger Social Security and Railroad Retirement, forever block the Employee Free Choice Act, destroy Amtrak, cut transit spending, continue exporting jobs, and tilt our tax codes even more in favor of corporations and the super-wealthy.

I assured Speaker Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Reid and all our other friends in Congress with whom I met that what the UTU would concentrate on during this election season is to help elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden to the White House.

We will do this, I said, by concentrating our efforts in registering our members, their families, neighbors and friends to vote. And we will then devote our efforts to explaining in a positive way to our members why it is so essential they vote their paychecks on Election Day.

While working families have legitimate differences on various social issues, we all agree that goal number one is job security, as well as better wages, benefits and workplace safety. To achieve these goals, we depend on judges and regulators (nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate) who are labor friendly. A President Obama will make those appointments; a President McCain will not.

It was anti-labor conservatives who set in motion policies that eliminated labor protection in railroad short-line sales.

It is anti-labor conservatives who want to turn Social Security and Railroad Retirement over to the free-wheeling, private-sector financial whiz-bangs who brought us the Enron, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debacles.

It was anti-labor conservatives who called Federal Railroad Administration safety inspectors “meter maids,” and who oppose stiff carrier fines for serious safety violations.

It is anti-labor conservatives who are trying to eliminate the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA).

It is anti-labor judges to whom the carriers run for injunctions against strikes.

And it is anti-labor lawmakers and regulators who keep in place such horrendous laws and regulations that, for example, put a commercial driver’s license at risk for minor traffic infractions in a private automobile, or who impose degrading direct-observation drug-testing procedures.

These are our paycheck issues, which can insure or destroy a secure economic future for our families — now and in retirement. A labor-friendly White House is essential to change in support of working families.

As I spoke with delegates, other labor leaders, and, especially, so many young Americans who traveled to Denver just to be part of the convention, I was reminded of John Kennedy’s thrilling line from his 1961 inaugural address — that, “The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans . . .”

Barack Obama is about change — about change that will improve our job security, wages, benefits and workplace safety.

And this is why it is so essential that UTU members, their families, their friends and neighbors come together to help elect Barack Obama president on Tuesday, Nov. 4.

In solidarity,

Mike Futhey

International President

DENVER — “I will not stand down, I will not retreat and I will not surrender until our members have the right to vote on their own constitution,” UTU International President Mike Futhey told some 700 cheering UTU officers and members here at a regional meeting in explaining his position on the court-sidetracked merger with the Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMWIA).

Futhey’s comments came during his first state of the union message since taking office Jan. 1.

He said the finances of the UTU, the United Transportation Union Insurance Association (UTUIA) and the UTU Discipline Income Protection Plan (DIPP) are showing improvement owing to internal cost cutting and new efficiencies, increased revenue and less aggressive disciplinary actions by carriers.

Futhey pledged to devote every resource at the UTU’s disposal to assuring the November election of Barack Obama and other labor-friendly candidates.

In regard to the SMWIA merger — currently halted by a federal court-imposed preliminary injunction — Futhey said he never opposed the merger. In fact, he voted for it.

But after learning that the “merger promised” wasn’t the merger to be delivered, Futhey demanded — as the federal court subsequently suggested — that a merged-union constitution be written and submitted to the UTU membership for approval.

“I was all for the merger that promised craft and general committee autonomy,” Futhey said. Then, before taking office, Futhey heard former UTU President Paul Thompson tell a UTU gathering that an intent of the merger was to subvert union democracy and “get accomplished what couldn’t be accomplished through democratic procedures” — specifically, an end to the UTU’s long and cherished craft and general committee autonomy.

At that point, Futhey said, he realized that he, and all other UTU members, had been misled — that the promise of the UTU constitution being inserted, intact, into the SMWIA constitution was a sham.

“I want the merger promised me, promised the UTU board of directors and promised UTU members,” Futhey said. To accomplish that, “let’s get a constitution written, put it out to our members, and let our members decide if the constitution written is the one they want.”

Futhey said he had several meetings with SMWIA General President Mike Sullivan to discuss the writing of a constitution for the merged union. Such a constitution has not yet emerged.

In regard to seven members of the UTU Board of Directors who seek, through SMWIA-financed court action, to force the merger’s implementation without an approved constitution, Futhey said he “never asked [them] to change their position. This is a democratic union and they have a right to say what they want to say.” Their appeal of the preliminary injunction is currently pending before the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Chief among the UTU successes in 2008, Futhey said, is a ratified and signed national rail contract reached by the negotiating team “that is superior to the agreement the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen got for their members.”

Futhey also cited recent Bus Department agreements as among “the strongest in the nation,” and praised a new Amtrak agreement that preserves the jobs of all assistant conductors.

“We know workers can do better and we are proving it every day on behalf of our members,” Futhey said, pointing to the UTU’s ramp-up of organizing efforts.

By training UTUIA field representatives in organizing, the UTU added 13 new organizers without increasing costs, Futhey said. “Whether it is eight new members in Alabama, or 800 new members in Orange County, California, we are going to organize them and represent them.”

Futhey also cited, as a recent success, the start-up of a UTU University, whose objectives are to make precedential arbitration awards easier to access and use; create a Web-based communications system tying locals, general committees, state legislative offices and the International together; and provide new Web-based training tools to assist local and general committee officers and legislative directors in serving members more effectively.

Turning to finances, Futhey said the UTU general fund balance has increased substantially following Headquarters consolidation and efficiency improvements, and more effective use of fewer International officers.

“No longer do we have vice presidents with their feet propped up,” Futhey said. “We have VPs out there working, and we have eliminated a vice president of administration,” with that work now accomplished by Assistant President Arty Martin and General Secretary & Treasurer Kim Thompson.

Thompson already has moved to Cleveland — as has Futhey — and Martin is in the process of moving to Cleveland.

Futhey said the UTUIA has increased its sales and turned a profit during the first quarter of 2008.

In coming weeks, Futhey promised to coordinate a strategy using the UTU PAC, state legislative directors, the UTU Auxiliary, UTU for Life, UTU communications channels and International officers to help elect Barack Obama president, increase the labor-friendly majorities of the House and Senate, and elect more labor-friendly legislators at the state level.

“I will not stand down, I will not retreat and I will not surrender until our members have the right to vote on their own constitution,” says UTU International President Mike Futhey in Denver July 9.

Brothers and Sisters:

In a few weeks, the tentative national rail agreement with the major carriers on wages, rules and working conditions will be distributed to affected members for a ratification vote.

The negotiating committee recommends a “yes” vote, and on March 25 — before the mailing of the agreement — general chairpersons representing members on the major carriers will be given a briefing on details of the agreement and asked to provide their support. We also intend to hold briefing sessions around the nation to which members will be invited to participate.

Some members have sent e-mails and letters, and made telephone calls, to the International office expressing displeasure that the tentative agreement doesn’t provide “enough,” and that it should be rejected, and the negotiating committee instructed to go back to the bargaining table to demand more.

We firmly believe that this contract should be ratified on its merits, and in the coming weeks we will make that case to general chairpersons and the membership.

And while we neither wish nor intend to seek “yes” votes based on fear, there are certain facts members should consider carefully before choosing to vote against the agreement.

Railroad industry labor relations are governed by the Railway Labor Act, which provides that rail industry contracts never expire, but continue in force until a new contract is ratified by the membership, or imposed on the parties by Congress.

And therein lays the danger of rejecting this contract.

When the UTU negotiating team reached its tentative agreement with the carriers in late January, other rail labor organizations already had ratified new agreements — a so-called pattern settlement. Pattern settlements historically establish a ceiling that has rarely been busted, owing to the mechanisms of the Railway Labor Act.

The UTU, in its tentative agreement, was able to better the pattern in several areas because the carriers were anxious to put this round of bargaining behind them and avoid the delay and cost that typically involves creation of a Presidential Emergency Board and congressional action.

What the UTU gained over the other organizations includes arbitration to settle the dispute over entry rates tied to training, contributions to the yardmasters’ supplemental retiree medical insurance program, continuation of a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) during the next round of bargaining, and an increase in the meal allowance.

More information on these provisions can be found at www.utu.org by clicking on the “Rail Contract Negotiations” link.

Otherwise, the UTU agreement mirrors the pattern settlement achieved by the carriers with the other organizations.

In the past, after a pattern was established and one or more unions rejected the pattern already established, the carriers refused to budge; and, under provisions of the Railway Labor Act, the stage was set for binding arbitration or creation of a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB).

Binding arbitration is a “roll-the-dice” game, because that allows a third party to impose an agreement without a ratification vote by the membership. Moreover, binding arbitration almost always results in the imposition of the pattern settlement, meaning arbitrators likely would reject the pattern-busting additions the UTU negotiating team achieved.

If binding arbitration is rejected, we can expect creation of a PEB by late spring — appointed solely by President Bush. We would not expect any labor friendly members on that PEB. Those recommendations likely would also mirror the pattern settlement.

Yes, we could strike rather than accept those recommendations, but the congressional leadership, which includes labor’s friends in Congress, has made clear to us that Congress does not want a railroad strike, with its devastating effects on an already weakened economy.

This would mean immediate congressional action to halt a work-stoppage; and given that we have already been warned by our labor-friendly friends in Congress that they do not want a railroad work-stoppage, the writing is on the table that Congress would quickly impose the recommendations of a PEB. Congress likely would be acting in a fit of anger against the UTU, and the outcome could be even worse than the recommendations of a PEB.

Those are the facts, whether we like them or not. And those facts should be considered very carefully when this tentative agreement is sent to you for ratification.

In solidarity,

Mike Futhey, International President

President@utu.org

Arty Martin, Assistant President

AsstPres@utu.org

Kim Thompson, General Secretary & Treasurer

GST@utu.org

Brothers and Sisters:

The UTU Discipline Income Protection Plan (DIPP) has remained steadfast in looking for ways to pay claims of participants. By contrast, other job benefit plans are looking for ways to AVOID paying claims.

A pattern of harsh discipline imposed by the carriers — resulting in a significant and steady drain on assets as benefits are paid out — has drawn considerable reserves from the DIPP fund.

To adequately maintain this valuable service to UTU members — and ensure the DIPP’s survival — the UTU scheduled adjustments to premiums and benefits to become effective, March 1, 2008. However, the adjustments, which were published in the December-January issue of the UTU News, have drawn numerous comments from DIPP participants — and those comments have been heard.

We have no choice but to impose the premium increase on the scheduled date of March 1.

However, additional changes, which were to include a 15-day elimination period, a 20 percent reduction for a second claim within 12 months, recovery of benefits from a favorable discipline appeal, duration of coverage-period application, and the benefit reduction schedule have been put on hold.

The UTU will continue to monitor and review the DIPP fund, and may implement change in the future, as deemed necessary.

The DIPP fund is much like Railroad Retirement, in that it is a pooled-risk fund whose financial survival depends on a broad base of participants making contributions in order that benefits are available for payment.

In short, if the DIPP fund is to continue to be offered as a service to UTU members, then UTU members must participate in large numbers. We therefore ask all participants to continue their membership in the DIPP fund, and to encourage your brothers and sisters to participate, also.

There is strength in numbers, and the continuation of this beneficial DIPP program depends upon everyone’s support.

In solidarity,

Mike Futhey, International President

President@utu.org

Arty Martin, Assistant President

AsstPres@utu.org

Kim Thompson, General Secretary & Treasurer

GST@utu.org

By Mark Allen
Coordinator of UTU Designated Legal Counsel

Railroad workers sometimes jokingly say they spend more time in vans than trains as railroads transport their workers using contract limousine services. As agents of the railroad, these companies may be held to the same legal standard as the railroad if their negligence causes injuries. It is therefore important to look for all details of the incident that might point to fault on the part of the van driver (i.e. eating or talking on a cell phone while driving).

But, what if the van driver is not at fault? Where the van driver is not at fault in causing the collision, there is NO claim against the railroad or the van service company to compensate the injured railroad worker for any injuries. The claim or lawsuit must be brought against the other driver who caused the collision. In this example, the rail-road worker usually makes his claim against an insurance company. Insurance companies for drivers usually limit the amount of coverage to a per-person and per-accident basis. So where another driver is at fault, the insurance coverage may be small and insufficient to cover all of the railroader’s expenses. Or, even worse, the other driver may have no insurance at all.

If a driver who hits a hired van is totally at fault but is not insured or is underinsured, the railroader may be required to look toward the van company’s uninsured/underinsured motorist policy or possibly the railroad worker’s own vehicular policy (if it has uninsured/underinsured provi-sions). There may also be off-track vehicle insurance by agreement between the UTU and the railroad that may pro-vide benefits, as well. It is worthwhile to review your own vehicle policy NOW to determine if it provides you with appropriate benefits for uninsured and underinsured motorist claims.

Contact a designated legal counsel for specific advice on all injury questions.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Debbie Hersman is the first member of the 37-year-old National Transportation Safety Board to bring to the job a detailed knowledge of railroads, reports Railway Age magazine.

Hersman was confirmed by the Senate in June following five years as a senior staff member of the Senate Commerce Committee, where she advised Democrats on multimodal transportation topics, including rail freight and passenger economic and safety issues. From 1992 to 1999, she was a legislative aide to former Rep. Bob Wise (D-W.Va.), a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

At 34, Hersman is also among the youngest NTSB members — Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-Tex.) was 33 when appointed in 1976 — but don’t for a moment equate Hersman’s relative youth with uncertainty or shyness.

Hersman sees her mission as unambiguous: “Safety advocate. Other federal agencies balance benefits and costs through the regulatory process. The NTSB makes recommendations with one goal in mind: Improving transportation safety. Although it is naïve to assume we don’t think about costs, our decisions are not guided by that principle.”

Enter positive train control–a collision- and over-speed-avoidance technology railroads embrace as if kissing one’s sister, owing to its substantial costs of implementation beyond pilot projects.

“The NTSB can identify accident after accident that would not have happened were PTC in place,” Hersman says. “A safety-redundant system can override human error, such as resulting from train crew fatigue. Redundancy is not too much to demand when dealing with human life.”

Hersman is not the first NTSB member to advocate PTC. Its implementation has been on NTSB’s “10-most wanted” safety improvements list since 1990.

Hersman also advocates continued elimination of highway-rail grade crossings, and wants to see increased industry efforts to eliminate train crew fatigue, such as assuring adequate rest. Hours-of-service regulations mandating specific rest periods may be too simplistic, however. Too often, accident investigations reveal a train crew was in compliance with hours-of-service regulations, but had not used their off-duty time to rest, she says.

Hersman says she will be focusing on how train crews spend their off-duty hours, whether current HOS rules are adequate, and how employers and an employee’s family might help assure train crews receive adequate rest. She has interest in pilot programs that provide train crews with regular work schedules and assigned days off.

“The NTSB will make its recommendations in the interest of safety and leave for the regulatory agencies and parties of interest how best to implement the recommendations,” Hersman says. But don’t construe that comment as supporting performance standards–an objective the industry has been seeking. Hersman believes there are areas where performance standards make safety sense — such as allowing carriers greater leeway in installing continuous welded rail — but “pretty narrow and focused regulation” still has a meaningful role in assuring transportation safety.

Hersman advocates a greater role for locomotive cab voice and video recorders. Recently, Norfolk Southern installed cameras and microphones in locomotives to help document actions of train crews preceding vehicle/train crashes. Bowing to crew privacy demands, the cameras look forward from the windshield and the microphones are installed underneath the locomotive floor to record the sounding of whistle and bells.

Hersman prefers cameras that record locomotive gauges and microphones that record crew conversation. Both are of value to accident investigators. Since the 1970s, voice recorders have been used on airline flight decks. The Air Line Pilots Association initially opposed this. Laws are now in place protecting the privacy of audio recordings, and that privacy safeguard could be extended to video recordings, she says.

Although remote control operations are relatively new in the U.S., Hersman is aware of FRA data showing that where remote control is being used–as opposed to conventional switching operations–rail accidents have been reduced by almost 14% and injuries are down by almost 60%. Her initial concern with remote control is “human factor performance. When new operating practices are established, it is especially important that stringent safety procedures be established and that training and oversight be a priority,” she says.

Hersman’s term expires in December 2008.

(The preceding article was published by Railway Age magazine.)

By Dr. Norman K. Brown
UTU Medical Consultant

Most of us would agree that we should do all we can to preserve and protect the working of our brains, the part of us that makes us who we are and different from each other.

Aside from head injuries, the most common damage to our brain comes from circulation difficulties. These difficulties can occur from too little blood flowing to one area of the brain because of a clot in the blood vessel, or too much blood flowing to one place because of a sudden blood vessel leak, or hemorrhage. Both are commonly referred to as “strokes.”

There are steps each of us can and should be taking to reduce the chances of our having either of these types of strokes.

A cholesterol deposit in a brain artery triggers the most common clot-type injury. So, just as we can watch our diets (weight), engage in exercise, reduce or eliminate smoking, and control blood pressure and diabetes to protect our hearts, there are programs to protect our brain’s blood vessels.

It is always difficult to start and to stick to such programs, but your doctor will always be pleased to try to help you. Medications for both cholesterol reduction and blood pressure control are available to bolster your efforts. These medications have advanced greatly in effectiveness over the past 20 years.

The occurrence of the hemorrhagic or bleeding type of stroke, which is less common, is also reduced by attention to “blood vessel/heart healthy” programs — such as control of blood pressure.

Once the possibility of a stroke is present, there are some newer techniques for treating strokes that give us new hope — in particular, medications or lasers that help break up or dissolve blood clots and even devices such as snares and blades that are being developed to attempt removal of clot material. These last methods are still experimental, but for some people the results have been encouraging. In all cases, the time from the onset of symptoms to when treatment begins is extremely important.

When I say the sooner the better, I am talking about three to six hours maximum after the first symptoms. Former President Bill Clinton saved his own life by not waiting too long in the presence of symptoms of potential heart-muscle damage.

Let’s review some of the symptoms of early or threatened strokes:

• Sudden onset of weakness or clumsiness or numbness in an arm and/or leg, usually without pain;
• Walking or balance problems;
• Speech difficulty;
• Sudden vision loss;
• Sudden onset of very severe headaches.

If any of these happen to you or a loved one, please seek medical help immediately.

Your health will always be way ahead if you think prevention because protecting your heart and the blood vessels throughout your body will help you to a longer, healthier life.