SMART UnionAn FAA advisory committee decided Thursday that passengers should be allowed to use electronic devices during takeoffs and landings on airplanes.
WASHINGTON — A Federal Aviation Administration advisory committee recommended Thursday that airline passengers be allowed to use smartphones, tablets, e-readers and other personal electronic devices during takeoffs and landings, according to industry officials familiar with the committee’s deliberations.
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OMAHA – U.S. Veterans Magazine named Union Pacific Railroad among the nation’s top veteran-friendly companies. The results were announced in the publication’s 2013 “Best of the Best” list, created to encourage diversity-inclusion practices among industry leaders.
“Being named a top veteran-friendly company is an honor that highlights our commitment to hiring and supporting veterans,” said Roy Schroer, Union Pacific vice president-human resources. “Military experience translates very well into the railroad industry. Veterans’ leadership skills and teamwork focus enhance our railroad’s safety, service and efficiency.”
Approximately 23 percent of Union Pacific’s nearly 3,900 hires in 2012 were veterans. Union Pacific is a member of the Army Reserve’s Employee Partnership Initiative; is a supporter of the Army Partnership for Youth Success program; and is a past recipient of the Freedom Award, the U.S. government’s highest employer recognition, and the Military Officers Association of America Distinguished Service Award.
U.S. Veterans Magazine selected Union Pacific based on evaluations that identified efforts to be accessible and outreach to veteran populations. The review process utilized independent and market research, interviews, diversity conference participation and survey responses.
Robert C. Lauby has been selected as associate administrator for railroad safety/chief safety officer for the Federal Railroad Administration.
In that position, he will provide regulatory oversight for rail safety in the United States and oversees the development and enforcement of safety regulations and programs related to the rail industry.
Lauby has 35 years of railroad and rail transit experience. He joined the FRA in August 2009 and has been a member of the senior executive service since March 2010.
As the deputy associate administrator for regulatory and legislative operations, he was responsible for safety rule making activities and has served as chairperson of the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC).
“Bob Lauby was formerly in charge of rail accident investigations at the National Transportation Safety Board and was very supportive of the UTU’s efforts at the NTSB with our Transportation Safety Team. He was very helpful at our Boston regional meeting this year,” SMART TD National Legislative Director James Stem said.
The FRA also announced that Les Fiorenzo, regional administrator for Region 1, will serve as acting deputy associate administrator for safety compliance and program implementation. In this role, Fiorenzo will be directly responsible for the safety inspection and enforcement program in the FRA’s eight regions.
President Barack Obama Sept. 24 nominated Steven Anthony as the management member of the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, replacing Jerome F. Kever, whose term is expiring.
Anthony’s appointment will require Senate confirmation.
Anthony most recently served as senior general counsel and secretary for the Norfolk Southern Corporation from 2007 to 2012. Previously, he was a Washington lobbyist for NS from 1997 to 2007 and NS general counsel from 1981 to 1997.
From 1978 to 1981, Anthony was secretary and general counsel of the Illinois Terminal Railroad.
Anthony received a bachelor of science degree in business administration from the University of Missouri and a juris doctorate from the University of Tulsa.
Kever was appointed to serve as management member of the RRB by President George H.W. Bush in 1992 upon the recommendation of the Association of American Railroads and the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association. He was reappointed to a second term of office by President Bill Clinton in 1995, and then to a third term in May 2000, which ended in August 2003. He was reappointed by President George W. Bush.
The RRB is an independent agency in the executive branch of the federal government that administers comprehensive retirement-survivor and unemployment-sickness benefit programs for the nation’s railroad workers and their families. As part of the retirement program, the RRB also has administrative responsibilities under the Social Security Act for certain benefit payments and railroad workers’ Medicare coverage.
SEATTLE – Environmental regulators from the Northwest deliberated Wednesday about the dramatic changes in the way oil and other energy products are carried through the region.
At a task force meeting of West Coast states, Linda Pilkey-Jarvis of the Washington Department of Ecology described the sudden increase in oil trains coming into the state and traveling along the Columbia River. She said oil-spill response resources have typically focused on tanker traffic off the coast or pipeline routes, so the new transport strategies will require new tactics, new technologies and new personnel around inland water resources.
Read the complete story at the Mail Tribune.
President Barack Obama has nominated former Kansas Secretary of Transportation Deb Miller to the Surface Transportation Board, reportedly replacing George Bush-appointee Francis Mulvey.
Miller, a Democrat, was the Kansas secretary of transportation from 2003 to 2012, making her the first female and longest serving transportation secretary of that state. She was appointed by former Gov. and current Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and then retained by Republican Gov. Sam Brownback.
Miller is currently a senior associate at Cambridge Systematics, a transportation consultancy firm located in Cambridge, Mass. The company’s clients include the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Transit Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, 44 state transportation agencies, Amtrak, CSX, Norfolk Southern and the Long Island Rail Road.
Before being appointed secretary, Miller was the director of planning and development at KDOT from 1986 to 1997 and was previously a planner at HNTB Infrastructure Solutions.
She graduated magna cum laude from Kansas State University in 1976 with a bachelor of arts degree in sociology.
The STB is an economic regulatory agency that Congress charged with resolving railroad rate and service disputes and reviewing proposed railroad mergers.
The board is authorized to have three members, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, each with a five-year term of office.
Four people were injured in a three-train collision about 4:30 a.m. Wednesday near the intersection of U.S. Highway 60 and Farm-to-Market Road 1912 east of Amarillo, the Potter County Sheriff’s Office said.
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway spokesman Joe Faust said a stopped train heading east was stopped on the tracks when another train also traveling east rear-ended it. The collision caused about 20 to 30 trailers traveling with the trains to become derailed. Shortly after, a westbound train hit some of the derailed cars from the first accident.
Read the complete story at the Amarillo Globe-News.
NEW YORK – The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has asked six railroad and transportation experts to examine recent safety-related incidents at three of its operating subsidiaries.
The panel will study the causes of recent derailments at Metro-North, the Long Island Rail Road and New York City Transit, examine maintenance and inspection programs and review safety procedures and the overall safety culture.
Read the complete story at the Times Herald-Record.
HARTFORD, Conn. – An October hearing will be held to address railroad issues including track inspection and maintenance as well as safety standards for both passengers and workers, federal officials investigating two recent Metro-North Railroad accidents in Connecticut announced Tuesday.
Representatives of Metro-North, government officials, labor unions and others will be witnesses Oct. 22-23 and discuss track work, crash standards for railroad passenger cars, protection of on-track work zones and organizational safety.
Read the complete story at the San Francisco Chronicle.
Company refused to allow employee with disability to return to work after treatment, federal agency charges
ATLANTA – A Norfolk, Va.-based railway company unlawfully discriminated against an employee because of his disability, degenerative disc disorder, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit it filed Sept. 23 in Atlanta.
According to the EEOC’s suit, Norfolk Southern Railway Company violated federal law by not allowing a laborer to return to work after receiving treatment for his disability and being cleared by his treating physician to return to work with no restrictions.
According to the EEOC’s complaint, Norfolk Southern’s medical director disregarded the treating physician’s opinion as to the employee’s ability to work and determined he was medically disqualified from working without ever examining him. Norfolk Southern subsequently terminated the employee.
Disability discrimination violates the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which requires employers to not discriminate against employees with disabilities or a record of a disability. In addition, employers who perceive employees as disabled when they are not disabled also violate the ADA. The EEOC filed suit (EEOC v. Norfolk Southern Railway Company, Civil Action No. 1:13-cv-03126) in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta Division after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process. The EEOC is seeking reinstatement, back pay and compensatory and punitive damages for the employee, as well as injunctive relief designed to prevent future discrimination.
“An employer cannot terminate an employee because of a disability, or merely because it perceives that person to be disabled,” said Robert Dawkins, regional attorney for the EEOC’s Atlanta District Office. “Here, the employee was ready, willing and able to work, but was fired based on preconceived notions about his abilities. Such conduct violates the ADA.”
Bernice Williams-Kimbrough, district director of the Atlanta office, said, “The EEOC is committed to stopping workplace disability discrimination in Georgia and across the country. Given the size of the employer, this lawsuit could assist in protecting the rights a large number of employees.”
The Atlanta District Office of the EEOC oversees Georgia and parts of South Carolina.
The EEOC is responsible for enforcing federal laws against employment discrimination. Further information is available at www.eeoc.gov.