Ratified National Rail Pact Signed
Washington, D.C.
July 2, 2008
utu.org
Having been ratified by the highest margin in UTU history, a new national rail contract was formally signed July 1 in Washington, D.C., by UTU International President Mike Futhey and the railroads' chief negotiator.
The agreement, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2005, and extending through Dec. 31, 2009, required more than 38 months of difficult negotiations with the National Carriers' Conference Committee, which represents BNSF, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific and numerous smaller railroads party to the agreement.
It covers conductors, brakemen, engineers, firemen, hostlers, switchmen and yardmen. Yardmasters voted separately on an agreement -- similar in most respects to the national agreement covering all other UTU crafts -- and it also was ratified by a record margin.
The contracts provide for:
•A 17 percent general wage increase over its life.
•Retroactive pay. By agreement, the carriers will make all reasonable efforts to pay the retroactive portion of the general wage increase as soon as possible, and no later than within 60 days.
•No change in work rules.
•An increase in the meal allowance.
•A cap on health care contributions, with no reduction in health-care benefits.
•New hires to gain (effective Jan. 1, 2010) a reduction in the waiting period to 30 days, rather than 120 days, for health-care coverage.
•Arbitration to settle the dispute over entry rates tied to training, and with arbitrators that the UTU will have a hand in choosing. The arbitration process will begin prior to Aug. 1 under terms of the agreement.
•Continuation of a cost-of-living allowance (COLA), beginning in 2010 while a new agreement is being negotiated. The UTU was the only organization to gain continuation of the COLA, which put some $7 more per day in members' pockets while the agreement was being negotiated.
Left undisturbed are locally negotiated crew-consist agreements, and the carriers dropped their attack on the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA).
UTU International President Mike Futhey praised the UTU negotiating committee, which he said "pursued a positive and cooperative interest-based bargaining approach with the carriers when stalled negotiations were resumed in January. The carriers responded with a positive and cooperative attitude, leading to the tentative agreement ratified by members," Futhey said.
The reconstituted negotiating committee, which sat down again with the carriers in January, included Futhey, Assistant President Arty Martin, International Vice Presidents John Babler and J.R. "Jim" Cumby, National Legislative Director James Brunkenhoefer, and General Chairpersons Robert Kerley (GO 001), John Lesniewski (GO 49) and Delbert Strunk (GO 687).
This was only the second national rail agreement ratified by members in the 39-year history of the UTU. The 2002 national rail agreement was ratified by all crafts, with 76 percent of those voting in 2002 favoring the agreement.
This latest agreement ratified with 85 percent of those voting favoring the agreement.
Votes were tabulated by the American Arbitration Association.
DOT Targets Drug-Test Cheaters
Washington, D.C.
July 1, 2008
Final Register
The U.S. Department of Transportation has instituted a new rule -- effective Aug. 25 -- designed to make it more difficult for transportation workers to cheat on their required drug tests by requiring drug testing labs to analyze every test for tampering.
"We want to make sure there are no doubts about the ability of anyone working in transportation do their job as safely as possible," said DOT. "There is no margin for error when it comes to the public safety."
The new rule covers the nation’s approximately 12.1 million transportation employers, safety-sensitive transportation employees, collectors, labs and medical review officers.
Under the terms of the rule, labs would no longer have the option of testing urine samples for signs of cheating, but instead would be required to test every specimen for possible adulterants and urine substitutes.
"In addition, all collectors will be required to put in place new procedures designed to prevent tampering with drug tests," DOT said.
Observation procedures will include checking employees for items designed specifically to cheat the test. The rule also requires collectors to observe all tests for transportation workers who return to their jobs after a previous test failure.
DOT said it would treat any invalid test results as the same as a refusal to be tested by any employee who admits to tampering with or adulterating their test.
House Bill Proposes $1.7 Billion to Help Transit Agencies Handle Soaring Fuel Costs
Washington, D.C.
June 29, 2008
Progressive Railroading
The House passed the “Saving Energy Through Public Transportation Act of 2008” (H.R. 6052), which authorizes $850 million in both FY2008 and FY2009 to help transit agencies keep fares down and expand service despite rising fuel costs, according to the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).
Co-sponsored by Reps. James Oberstar (D-Minn.) and John Mica (R-Fla.) — who serve as the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s chairman and ranking member, respectively — as well as Subcommittee on Highways and Transit Chairman Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), the bill now is subject to Senate passage and the appropriations process.
Between 2004 and 2008, transit agencies’ fuel costs rose 166 percent, causing many of them to raise fares, cut service or defer projects, according to an APTA survey conducted in April.
Re-making Maine "A State of Trains"
Lewiston, Maine
June 27, 2008
AAR News
The June 2, 2008 editorial in the Lewiston (Me.) Sun Journal calls for "Re-making Maine into a state of trains, saying the system is an "efficient, smart alternative" for moving both people and goods.
The editorial notes that with more trains coursing across the state, residents must practice appropriate safety measures.
"By necessity and practicality, Maine must return to embracing the efficiencies of rail," the editorial said. "The state has put its weight behind trains."
The state's governor on May 21 signed legislation to approve $30 million in federal financing for various rail projects across the state.
"This state, and nation, cannot achieve energy independence without embracing diversification of transportation. Train travel is heading in the right direction. But while for many, train service signals nostalgia, for others, they are innovation. Innate respect for trains, their power and danger is just not widespread, because for years, tracks either went silent or were used so infrequently as to understate the traffic. Part of making Maine, again, a state of trains, will be changing this perception, and fast."
Railroad Bridge Collapses Into River in SE Iowa
Ds Moines, Iowa
June 26, 2008
AP
A railroad bridge collapsed into the flooded Iowa River, dropping a locomotive and two tanker cars into the water, authorities said Wednesday.
Three employees of the Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad were on the train and one of them was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries, company spokesman Herb Jones said.
The Louisa County sheriff's office said the railroad called late Tuesday to report the collapse near Columbus Junction in southeastern Iowa.
Federal Railroad Administration spokesman Steve Kulm said Wednesday he did not know if the flooding was a factor in the collapse.
Columbus Junction, population 2,000, suffered record flooding last week because it sits downstream from the confluence of the Iowa and Cedars rivers, which both caused widespread flooding. A levee broke and water 10 feet deep flooded the town's medical center, pharmacy, day-care, senior center, a hotel and a dozen other businesses.
Kulm said the locomotive was pulling four tanker cars off the bridge when the span occurred. The tanker cars were loaded with water and had been parked on the bridge to give it added weight during the flooding, he said.
Two of the tanker cars went into the river with the locomotive, Jones said.
Kulm said the bridge is owned by Iowa Beef Packers, which is now owned by Tyson Foods, Inc.
He said Iowa Beef Packers has a contractor that conducts official inspections of the span. IC&E also looks at the bridge "from time to time, but they are not responsible for inspections," Kulm said.
Tyson Foods, which has a meatpacking plant in Columbus Junction, said it would issue a statement later.
Iowa Homeland Security spokesman Brett Voorhees said the bridge would be inspected after the water recedes.
Representatives of the Federal Railroad Administration are en route to investigate.