(Via Mark Gruenberg, Press Associates News Service) Corporate ineptitude on a big U.S. Navy shipbuilding contract in Mobile, Ala., is looming over the latest organizing drive among Austal shipyard workers there, a drive run by the AFL-CIO’s Metal Trades Department.
As a result, one point that department President Ron Ault makes to Pentagon officials to get them to ban Austal from using taxpayer dollars to defeat the union organizers is to explain that a unionized workforce at the yard would help solve the mess in Mobile.
MTD’s drive at Austal USA is important for several reasons. One is that success would add yet another Navy-oriented shipyard full of union workers, preventing builders from undercutting union workers elsewhere. A second is unionizing Austal would be yet another beachhead – aiding underpaid, exploited workers – in the anti-union South.
Right now, there are two battles brewing in the Austal shipyard, where workers toil at constructing the littoral combat ship (LCS), a multipurpose warship that is supposed to be able to sail with a relatively small crew and easy ability to change missions by changing modules of high-tech equipment.
One is between Austal USA, the U.S. subsidiary of an Australian firm known for anti-union attitudes Down Under – attitudes and actions it repeats in the U.S. Austal is one of two contractors building the littoral combat ships. Northrop-Grumman, in Wisconsin, is the other builder in the combined 52-ship $40 billion 10-year program.
Austal is so hostile to unions, says Ault, that when workers at one of its Australian shipyards unionized, the company retaliated by unilaterally closing the yard and moving the work to Singapore.
And Austal broke U.S. labor law so flagrantly during past Sheet Metal Workers organizing drives that the National Labor Relations Board threw out two prior elections, which the union lost, as tainted. Some 2,100 workers toil on the LCS in Mobile.
“They’re more worried about the union coming in than they are about building a good ship for the Navy,” Sheet Metal Workers organizer Jim White says of Austal.
So the Sheet Metal Workers turned to Ault’s department for more power, after losing the first election to the firm’s general labor law-breaking in 2002 and the second to racism-laced labor law breaking – including linking unions with the “n” word and the anonymous posting of a noose and a threatening note in the men’s bathroom – in 2008.
“They were extremely aggressive and played things along racial lines,” adds Paul Pimentel, the Sheet Metal Workers’ Director of Research.
Ault’s department took over the organizing at the Mobile yard, and the latest drive involves all the Metal Trades unions, just as MTD organized the Avondale Shipyard in New Orleans almost a decade ago.
In the Sheet Metal Workers’ prior election drives, pro-union workers were harassed and their welding machines were sabotaged. White says the harassment continues. “The workers are excited, but they’re feeling the heat with one-on-one meetings, long anti-union group meetings” called by management “and workers getting written up if they go outside their areas” to get supplies, he adds.
When MTD started the third drive, in mid-June, Austal promptly fired one worker whom bosses observed signing an union recognition election authorization card. That forced the department to file a labor law-breaking charge with the NLRB’s Atlanta regional office. And White says the firm is taking the cards from workers’ lockers.
“Everybody’s watching them every minute,” he adds in a telephone interview.
The other battle is between Austal and the Navy: Costs have escalated and the mission has shrunk for the littoral combat ships.
The non-partisan federal auditors, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), recommended on July 25 that the Pentagon should either slow down its purchases of the littoral combat ships, or temporarily halt buying them, until the department figures out what the ships’ mission should be – and how to adapt them to it.
“Significant questions remain about the littoral combat ship program and its underlying business case,” GAO procurement specialist Paul Francis testified, even as the Navy continues to order ships from Austal and Northrop-Grumman and weapons packages from other suppliers.
“Given the program’s cost growth and schedule delays, the cost cap has increased from $220 million in fiscal year 2006 to $480 million in fiscal year 2010 per ship. Expected capabilities have lessened from optimistic, early assumptions to more tempered and reserved assumptions,” Francis added.
So Ault of the Metal Trades Department uses Austal’s ineptness as a tool in lobbying the Navy to enforce an Obama administration executive order barring the use of taxpayer dollars for or against union organizing drives. “All we want is a fair fight” in organizing, rather than the firm using federal (taxpayer) dollars against unions, he adds.
“Navy Secretary Ray Mabus is very accessible and we’re asking him for a Navy
audit of Austal,” Ault says. “The company lost $12 million last year and now they’re a penny stock on the Australian stock exchange. They’re stretched out for cash, yet they’re spending money on an anti-union drive.
“And they haven’t hit any of the contract’s benchmarks on price” of the littoral combat ships, Ault adds. “Congress is up in arms. But we’re telling Mabus that if we go in there with training and programs for the workers, we can fix this mess.”
White elaborated on how the yard, if workers went union, could solve the problems the firm faces.
“We spend $70 million a year on specialized training in SMWIA,” he explains. “We have certified welding instructors and certified welding inspectors” to train and evaluate the workers before they start working on the littoral combat ships.
White says the union can quickly bring the Alabama yard workers up to speed on highly technical skills. Austal now trains the Alabama yard workers and gets a state subsidy for doing so. The Sheet Metal Workers stepped in with such specialized training, White explains, to provide 350 welders within one year for a major project refurbishing and retrofitting the Savannah River, Ga., nuclear power plant.
Austal may need the help. The ship’s problems have attracted congressional attention. In a floor speech, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., criticized the LCS purchases.
During House Armed Services Committee work in July on the Defense Depart-ment’s money bill, Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., proposed, then withdrew, an amend-ment to eliminate two of the four littoral combat ships the Navy wanted to build in the fiscal year starting Oct. 1. Speier wants the Navy to respond to the critical GAO report, first. The Navy rejected GAO’s go-slow recommendations out of hand, Francis testified.
“I am troubled by the idea that we are purchasing first and testing second,” Spe-ier said. “How do we make sure this 2-year oversight opportunity we have is actually exercised in a way that we just don’t say at the end: ‘Well, too bad we missed the window. We are going to build all these ships, they’re not going to meet the standards, the cost overruns are going to be extraordinary and that is just the way it is.'”
Author: paul
The collapse of U.S. transportation funding bills in both houses of Congress points to a broader stalemate over fiscal 2014 spending and threatens to extend across-the-board budget cuts into next year.
Senate Republicans yesterday blocked a $54 billion measure funding highways, aviation, passenger rail and other transportation projects because it exceeded spending limits earlier agreed to by both parties. House Republican leaders called off this week’s vote on a more-austere $44 billion measure amid signs it lacked enough support to pass.
Read the complete story at Bloomberg Businessweek.
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The chief executive officer of the state-owned Alaska Railroad is stepping down after his three-year contract expires in September.
Chris Aadnesen announced his departure at a board of directors meeting July 30.
Read the complete story at the Miami Herald.
A train carrying highly flammable and corrosive materials derailed in Louisiana on Sunday. Over 100 homes have been evacuated as a precaution, Gov. Bobby Jindal said, adding there were no fatalities or injuries and air monitors have not picked up anything to cause concern.
According to a press release from Jindal’s office, three cars were leaking as of late Sunday. One is leaking lubricant oil while a second is leaking Dodecanol, a tasteless, colorless alcohol that can cause mild skin irritation. The third, however, is carrying a highly corrosive substance called caustic soda, or lye.
Read the complete story at the Times-Picayune.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) August 2 issued an emergency order and safety advisory to help prevent trains operating on mainline tracks or sidings from moving unintentionally. The FRA’s announcement was made in response to the July 6, 2013, derailment in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, Canada, as it awaits additional data once the investigation into the crash is complete.
The actions announced today build on the success of FRA’s rigorous safety program, which has helped reduce train accidents by 43 percent over the last decade, and made 2012 the safest year in American rail history.
The emergency order is a mandatory directive to the rail industry, and failure to comply will result in enforcement actions against violating railroads.
“Safety is our top priority,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “While we wait for the full investigation to conclude, the department is taking steps today to help prevent a similar incident from occurring in the United States.”
The emergency order outlines measures that all railroads must undertake within the next 30 days:
•No train or vehicles transporting specified hazardous materials can be left unattended on a mainline track or side track outside a yard or terminal, unless specifically authorized.
•In order to receive authorization to leave a train unattended, railroads must develop and submit to FRA a process for securing unattended trains transporting hazardous materials, including locking the locomotive or otherwise disabling it, and reporting among employees to ensure the correct number of hand brakes are applied.
•Employees who are responsible for securing trains and vehicles transporting such specified hazardous material must communicate with the train dispatchers the number of hand brakes applied, the tonnage and length of the train or vehicle, the grade and terrain features of the track, any relevant weather conditions, and the type of equipment being secured.
•Train dispatchers must record the information provided. The dispatcher or other qualified railroad employee must verify that the securement meets the railroad’s requirements.
•Railroads must implement rules ensuring that any employee involved in securing a train participate in daily job briefings prior to the work being performed.
•Railroads must develop procedures to ensure a qualified railroad employee inspects all equipment that an emergency responder has been on, under or between before the train can be left unattended.
•Railroads must provide this emergency order to all affected employees.
View the complete emergency order here.
For guidance on Emergency Order 28 implementation, click here.
“Today’s action builds upon a comprehensive regulatory framework we have had in place for some time,” said FRA Administrator Joseph C. Szabo. “The safe shipment of all cargo is paramount and protecting the safety of the American public is fundamental to our enforcement strategy and we are encouraged by the industry’s willingness to cooperate with this approach going forward.”
“This is an important step being taken by the FRA as the issue of the consists of crews is now in the public debate,” said SMART Transportation Division President Mike Futhey. “As a result of the actions taken by the FRA, coupled with the legislation entered by U.S. Reps. Michael Michaud (D-Maine) and Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), this provides our organization with the opportunity to ensure that train operation, as it pertains to the consists of crews, is performed in correlation with public safety.
In addition to the emergency order, the FRA, together with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), issued a safety advisory detailing a list of recommendations railroads are expected to follow.
U.S. DOT believes that railroad safety is enhanced through the use of multiple crew members, and the safety advisory recommends railroads review their crew staffing requirements for transporting hazardous material and ensure that they are adequate. Other recommendations in the safety advisory include: conducting system-wide evaluations to identify particular hazards that may make it more difficult to secure a train or pose other safety risks and to develop procedures to mitigate those risks. A copy of the safety advisory can be viewed here.
“When PHMSA talks about the transportation of hazardous materials, safety is a prerequisite to movement,” said PHMSA Administrator Cynthia Quarterman. “We are taking this action today and we will be looking hard at the current rail operating practices for hazardous materials to ensure the public’s safety.”?
As FRA continues to evaluate safety procedures following the recent crash, it will convene an emergency meeting of its Railroad Safety Advisory Committee to consider what additional safety measures may be required. FRA plans to develop a website that will allow the public to track industry compliance with the emergency order and safety advisory issued today. FRA has developed a plan that outlines six major actions that have occurred or will occur to further ensure that our regulatory response to the Canadian rail accident remains transparent.
Under current DOT regulations, all freight railroads are required to develop and implement risk assessments and security plans in order to transport any hazardous material, including a plan to prevent unauthorized access in rail yards, facilities and trains carrying hazardous materials. Railroads that carry hazardous materials are required to develop and follow a security protocol while en route; railroad employees are subject to background checks and must complete training. Training programs and protocols are reviewed and audited by the FRA routinely and generally designed to be progressive so as the level of risk increases so does the level of security required. A description of past, present, and proposed FRA actions on this issue can be found here.
CLEVELAND — The Transportation Division of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation International Association (SMART) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET/IBT) have jointly announced that legislation requiring at least two crew members on all freight trains in the U.S. has been filed in Congress.
Initial sponsors for H.R. 3040 are U.S. Reps. Michael Michaud (D-Maine) and Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and the bill is expected to be assigned to the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee for consideration.
The legislation reflects heightened concerns over crew size arising from the tragic July 6 derailment of a Montreal, Maine & Atlantic (MM&A) fuel train in Lac Mégantic, Quebec, which killed 47 and destroyed the center of the town. The MM&A train was crewed by a single person.
BLET National President Dennis R. Pierce called on the House to take up the bill at its earliest opportunity. “The American people are justifiably concerned that the single-person crewing practice used on M&MA and some other short line railroads places the public safety at risk,” Pierce said. “We urge Chairman Schuster and the T&I Committee to hold hearings on this issue after the recess.”
SMART Transportation Division President Mike Futhey said, “This is a responsible piece of legislation that recognizes the correlations between the consist of crews and public safety. We thank Reps. Michaud and Pingree and urge more representatives to join in support.”
CLEVELAND — The Transportation Division of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation International Association (SMART) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET/IBT) have jointly announced that legislation requiring at least two crew members on all freight trains in the U.S. has been filed in Congress.
Initial sponsors for H.R. 3040 are U.S. Reps. Michael Michaud (D-Maine) and Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) and the bill is expected to be assigned to the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee for consideration.
The legislation reflects heightened concerns over crew size arising from the tragic July 6 derailment of a Montreal, Maine & Atlantic (MM&A) fuel train in Lac Mégantic, Quebec, which killed 47 and destroyed the center of the town. The MM&A train was crewed by a single person.
BLET National President Dennis R. Pierce called on the House to take up the bill at its earliest opportunity. “The American people are justifiably concerned that the single-person crewing practice used on M&MA and some other short line railroads places the public safety at risk,” Pierce said. “We urge Chairman Schuster and the T&I Committee to hold hearings on this issue after the recess.”
SMART Transportation Division President Mike Futhey said, “This is a responsible piece of legislation that recognizes the correlations between the consist of crews and public safety. We thank Reps. Michaud and Pingree and urge more representatives to join in support.”
Authorities say a bus driver in northern New Jersey was talking on his cellphone when he crashed, triggering a chain reaction accident that killed an 8-month-old girl.
Authorities have issued summonses for reckless driving and using a cellphone while driving for 48-year-old Idowu Daramola of New York.
Read the full story at Fox News.
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration has delayed by nearly a year a plan to boost safety standards for the type of rail car involved in a fiery explosion that killed at least 47 people in Canada this month.
Officials began work on the rule more than a year before an oil train derailed and exploded in Quebec on July 6 — but the rule was never put in place. The proposal by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is intended to fix a dangerous design flaw in a rail car commonly used to haul oil and other hazardous liquids from coast to coast. The soda-can shaped car, known as the DOT-111, has come under scrutiny from safety experts because of its tendency to split open during derailments and other major accidents.
Read the complete story at WRAL.com.
The driver of a Spanish train that derailed and killed 79 people was talking on the phone when the train flew off a tight curve, court documents show.
In the moments before the derailment, Garzon received a call on his work phone from Spain’s national train company Renfe, court documents show. The call was to inform Francisco Garzon, 52, of the route that he needed to take. The court said Garzon was talking to train company personnel and based on black-box data recorders, appeared to be consulting a paper document at the time of the derailment.
Read the complete story at NBC News.