Rail & Labor News from RWU
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Weekly Digest Number 35 - August 27th, 2024 | |
Welcome to the RWU Rail & Labor News! This news bulletin is produced and emailed out each Tuesday morning. We hope you find each week's news and information useful. If so, please share with co-workers, friends, and colleagues. If you like, you can sign them up to get all the news from RWU HERE. Or forward them the link. Got a hot tip? Please forward the article and a link to raillabornews@gmail.com. Note: If you read over this news bulletin each week, you will be sure to never miss the important news of what is going on in the railroad world from a worker's perspective! | |
THIS WEEK'S RAIL AND LABOR NEWS | |
Editor's Note: The Canadian government was looking for a minute there like it would stand up and do the right thing. But like their U.S. counterparts, they capitulated before the immense power of the Class One railroads and have in effect broken the strike of the rail workers. For what it is worth, at least north of the border the workers were allowed to briefly go on strike (or be locked out, take you pick) before being mandated back to work. In the U.S., the government voted overwhelmingly to stop any strike before it could even happen. | |
Common Dreams / August 23
The Canadian government on Thursday moved to end a lockout of workers at the country's two major rail corporations by forcing the two sides into arbitration, drawing sharp criticism from the union, which is challenging the move, and left-leaning political figures, including an ally of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Canadian National (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) locked out about 9,300 engineers, conductors, and yard workers starting Thursday morning, shutting down the vast majority of the country's freight operations—a major disruption to the national economy and supplies chains across North America. After months of negotiating, the two sides had failed to reach a labor agreement. Labor Minister Steven MacKinnon announced Thursday afternoon, referring the arbitration to the Canada Industrial Relations Board and ordering previous collective bargaining agreements to be extended until the CIRB process is complete. He said he expected trains to be running again within days. The government's move was widely seen as a victory for company executives and a loss for 9,300 workers, whom worker advocates say were effectively stripped of their right to collectively bargain.
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Editor's Note: The leader of the NDP Party in Canada gets it right with her statement of what it means to mandate the workers retiurn to work and accept arbitration. | |
National Post / August 23
On Thursday, less than 17 hours after Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) and Canadian National Railway (CN) locked out workers, Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon said that he would direct the Canada Industrial Relations Board to impose final binding arbitration. The news prompted a scathing reaction from NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, stating “Justin Trudeau has just sent a message to CN, CPKC and all big corporations — being a bad boss pays off,” he said. “The Liberals’ actions are cowardly, anti-worker, and proof that they will always cave to corporate greed, and Canadians will always pay for it. There will be no end to lockouts now. Every employer knows they can get exactly what they want from Justin Trudeau by refusing to negotiate with their workers in good faith. And that puts the safety of workers and communities at risk". The Conservatives, on the other hand, have remained notably silent on the issue. Despite the rail stoppage being the most pressing economic issue of the moment, requests for comment to Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre and labor critic Kyle Seeback about the ongoing conflict have remained unanswered in the past two days.
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Editor's Note: The last union at Amtrak to reach agreement, the conductors, nearly a year after the engineers reached agreement. There was very little coordinated/coalition bargaining at the carrier. Contracts have not come easy and many workers are not happy with the results. | |
Trains Magazine / August 24
The union representing Amtrak conductors and assistant conductors announced it had reached a new tentative agreement with the passenger operator for a seven-year contract covering more than 2,100 employees. The agreement with the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division (SMART-TD) will include a “substantial general wage increase,” the union said on its website, and will be retroactive to July 1, 2022. Other features include substantial paid parental leave; a paid holiday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day; increased away-from-home expenses; and increased training pay. Full details will be sent to members when it goes out for ratification in the next few weeks.
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Editor's Note: Together with unions at CSX, many craft unions are reaching "on-property" agreements with the various Class One carriers prior to the standard November 1st timing for the exchange of "Section 6" notices. It remains to be seen if the rank & file accept or reject them. All of this is unprecedented and deserves serious study. Does this portend the end of "national handling"? Is the idea of coordinated bargaining dead? What exactly is the game of the unions and the carriers here? Stay tuned! | |
Freight Waves / August 23
Norfolk Southern and BNSF late Friday said they had, in partnership, reached tentative, five-year collective bargaining agreements with a number of their unions. The railroad pacts come four months before the opening of the next bargaining round and cover approximately 30% of the unionized NS workforce and 15% of BNSF workers. The early deals are yet another sign of laborers’ growing bargaining strength as railroads and other employers struggle to fill out their workforces following the COVID-19 pandemic. Unions reaching an agreement with NS are the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen Division/TCU (BRC); the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers – Mechanical Department (SMART-MD); Transportation Communications Union/IAM (TCU), as well as multiple General Committees for the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers – Transportation Division (SMART-TD).
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See the Editor's Note above. | |
Progressive Railroading / August 22
CSX has reached tentative agreements on new five-year collective bargaining agreements with three rail labor unions that represent train service employees on Class I's northern Mid-Atlantic district territory. Subject to ratification, the tentative pacts are with the Transportation Communications Union, the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen, and the General Committee of Adjustment GO-049 of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers – Transportation Division (SMART-TD). The tentative agreements were announced more than four months before the current collective agreements became amendable under the federal Railway Labor Act, according to a CSX news release. Terms include average wage increases of 3.5% per year over five years and improvements in paid vacation and health care. These tentative agreements cover approximately 25% of CSX’s front-line union workforce.
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Progressive Railroading / August 23
CSX announced it has secured new five-year tentative collective bargaining agreements with the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers-Mechanical Division (SMART-MD) and the American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA). Subject to ratification by the union’s membership at CSX, the tentative agreements come more than four months before the current collective agreements become amendable under the federal Railway Labor Act.
These latest agreements mirror the terms of the agreements recently reached with other unions for a total of five. Additional details will be shared during the unions’ ratification processes, CSX officials said in a press release.
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Editor's Note: After many years, the STB will set a hearing to look into the endless delays that this underperforming Amtrak train has endured over the years. Will the STB take action under its new Director Robert Primus? We will see. | |
Progressive Railroading / August 20
The Surface Transportation Board (STB) issued a decision to establish a procedural schedule, address several motions and filings, and provide other directives regarding its investigation into the on-time performance of Amtrak’s Sunset Limited service between New Orleans, Louisiana, and Los Angeles, California. The board established the procedural schedule in anticipation of the end of the discovery period on Aug. 23, in the interest of advancing the proceeding, according to an STB press release. The purpose of an investigation is to determine whether, and to what extent, delays or failure to achieve the minimum standards are due to causes that could reasonably be addressed by the passenger-rail operator or the host railroad.
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Editor's Note: While freight traffic has rebounded from its dismal performance last year, the recovery is largely based in intermodal. Car loadings remain flat. | |
Progressive Railroading / August 20
U.S. freight-rail traffic climbed 8% to 516,819 carloads and intermodal units in the week ending Aug. 17 compared with the same week in 2023, according to Association of American Railroads data. The railroads hauled 231,081 carloads in the week, a 1% increase, and 285,738 containers and trailers, a whopping 14.3% increase. Eight of the 10 carload commodities that AAR tracks every week logged an increase. The gainers included grain, up 37.1% to 21,651; chemicals, up 6.4% to 33,599; and petroleum and petroleum products, up 19.6% to 11,267. The two commodities that posted decreases were coal, down 10.6% to 62,194 carloads; and nonmetallic minerals, down 6.2% to 31,897. Meanwhile, Canadian railroads reported 86,349 carloads for the week, down 4.6%; and 69,111 intermodal units, down 2.6%. Mexican railroads reported 15,764 carloads, a 7.4% increase; and 12,415 intermodal units, a 49.1% increase.
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Editor's Note: Like much of the nation's rail infrastructure - bridges, tunnels, etc - the Northeast corridor is in fact antiquated. Just to get the corrdidor into a state of good repair will take billions, capital investment that has been deferred now for decades. | |
The New York Times / August 20
The disruption on June 20 was just one in a series of delays this summer that exasperated commuters. More than any of the other failures, the explosion that day showed that much of Amtrak’s vulnerabilities along the Northeast Corridor can be traced back to the system’s astonishing age and long-outdated technology. Long stretches of that system are unchanged from when the defunct Pennsylvania Railroad first electrified it a century ago. Any wholesale modernization effort would come at a tremendous cost and take more than a decade. The system is far from state-of-the-art, Amtrak reported last year that none of the overhead wiring and just one-third of the catenary structures between New York and Washington were in a state of good repair. It estimated that remedying the situation would cost about $2.9 billion.
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Editor's Note: This is not a good sign, but under PSR we can hardly expect the numbers to ever make any significant rebound. | |
Progressive Railroading / August 22
As of mid-July, Class Is employed 121,085 workers in the United States, down 0.5% compared with June’s mark and down 1.41% from July 2023’s level, according to Surface Transportation Board data. On a month-over-month basis, two of the six employment categories posted gains. They were maintenance of way and structures, up 0.37% to 29,109 workers; and transportation (other than train and engine), up 0.26% to 5,043. The four categories that registered month-to-month employment decreases were maintenance of equipment and stores, down 1.78% to 17,174 workers; transportation (train and engine), down 0.64% to 52,005; executives, officials, and staff assistants, down 0.64% to 7,876; and professional and administrative, down 0.34% to 9,878. Year over year, two categories registered gains: transportation (other than train and engine), up 3.42%; and maintenance of ways and structures, up 0.57%.
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Editor's Note: The citizens of East Palestine keep on organizing to win justice for their town. As always, RWU urges all RR workers to support this and all efforts of the townspeople to win what is rightfully theirs after their town was ruined by NS irresponsible management of the railroad. | |
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Mississippi Valley Publishing / August 20
On Saturday, Aug 17, several individuals showed up at Keokuk Labor Temple for the Justice for East Palestine Residents And Workers National Conference. Originally scheduled from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., the event ran later than anticipated due to a few technical snags. The conference, chock-full of information and replete with guest speakers, was well worth the wait. Along with a luncheon arranged by Penny Logsdon were numerous presentations. Speakers were well-versed in environmental emergency issues and the nationwide repercussions of disasters. An activist protest march was planned, and many took part in making signage for the walk.
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Editor's Note: It is always good to see rail crossings either closed, upgraded or better yet, grade separated. | |
Progressive Railroading / August 23
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) has approved safety upgrades at 42 grade crossings in Athens, Fairfield, Franklin, Gallia, Meigs and Perry counties. The PUCO will provide 85% of the project cost — a maximum total of $251,000 — from the State Grade Crossing Protection Fund. CCR will cover 15% of project and maintenance costs, and 100% of costs exceeding $251,000. The preliminary cost of the project is $295,253
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Editor's Note: With its vast size, large population centers and vast open spaces and relatively level topography, Texas just might be the perfect proving ground for regional high speed rail in North America. Politically, however, making this happen will be no cake walk. | |
High Speed Rail Alliance / August 22
Amtrak and Texas Central Partners have made headlines since partnering last year to explore high-speed rail for the Lone Star State. But the proposed 200-mph line connecting Dallas and Houston is not the only project in development. Texas received several other Corridor ID grants to do initial planning for new or improved train service to many other communities, including Fort Worth and San Antonio. The FRA’s long-distance study also raised the possibility of turning Dallas-Fort Worth into a major hub for interregional trains that would connect to cities such as Denver, Kansas City, and Atlanta. Additionally, local leaders are calling for more frequency on existing trains like Amtrak's Texas Eagle and Heartland Flyer. In this talk, we'll hear from Peter LeCody, President of Texas Rail Advocates.
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NEWS FROM AROUND THE LABOR MOVEMENT | |
Each week, RWU includes a few articles about advances and developments in the larger labor movement that are of interest to railroad workers. Got an artcile to submit for possible inclusion next week? Email it along to raillabornews@gmail.com. Thanks! | |
Editor's Note: Like the rail industry, the telecommunications industry in North America is largely controlled by a few big powerful companies. And like the rail industry, perhaps it should be a candidate for public ownership as well. | |
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Communication Workers of America / August 22
Late last week, over 17,000 CWA workers across the Southeast went on an unfair labor practice strike in protest against AT&T’s bad-faith bargaining tactics. CWA District 3 members in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee walked off the job. Though negotiations began in late June, AT&T has refused to bargain over mandatory subjects and has failed to send a representative with authority to make decisions. CWA President Claude Cummings Jr. said, “I have been in close contact with CWA District 3 Vice President Richard Honeycutt, and I have complete faith in our bargaining team. I have told AT&T executives that the striking workers and the bargaining team have my full support. I expect AT&T to treat every member with respect and send representatives to the table who have authority to bargain and are serious about bargaining in good faith.”
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Editor's Note: Just like on the Class One railroads, if there is any workplace that needs a strike - or threat of one - to assist in straightening out a rotten corrupt monopolistic corporation, it is Boeing. | |
Labor Notes / August 22
Mondays and Wednesdays are loud at the vast Boeing factory in Everett, Washington. As the Machinists’ contract campaign heats up, the workforce has been serenading management at lunch with air horns, train horns, and vuvuzelas—plus chants of “Out the Door in ’24.” Forty miles south, in Renton, where workers construct the moneymaking 737, second shift workers have used their meal breaks to blast Bluetooth speakers at top volume with ’90s rap, death metal, ’80s pop, and opera—all simultaneously, said Jon Voss, a 13-year mechanic in the wings building. The resulting racket “really drove management and HR nuts.” The Boeing contract expires September 12 for 31,000 members of Machinists (IAM) District Lodge 751 in Washington and 1,300 District W24 members in Gresham, Oregon. The last time a full contract was negotiated was in 2008, with a 58-day strike. A workday rally on July 17 at the Seattle Mariners baseball stadium drew 25,000—including a procession of 800 motorcyclists—and 99.9 percent of members attending voted to sanction a strike, the first step towards a walkout under the Machinists constitution. They will vote again when they see a proposed contract.
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Editor's Note: After Presidential nominee Donald Trump's recent self incriminating ant-union comments, his opponents like Auto Workers president Shawn Fein are going on the offensive to alert working people of just where the billionaire is coming from vis-a-vis unions and the labor movement | |
Common Dreams / August 20
The president of the United Auto Workers used his appearance onstage during the opening night of the Democratic National Convention on Monday to blast Republican nominee Donald Trump as a union-buster who "laughs about firing workers who go on strike." About halfway through his remarks, Shawn Fain removed his jacket to reveal a shirt emblazoned with the words, "Trump Is a Scab"— a line that the DNC audience chanted throughout the UAW president's speech as he condemned the GOP nominee's anti-worker record and praised Democratic nominee Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz. "For the UAW and working-class people everywhere, this election comes down to one question: Which side are you on?" said Fain. "On one side, we have Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, who have stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the working class. On the other side, we have Trump and [Republican Sen.] JD Vance, two lap dogs for the billionaire class who only serve themselves"
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WEEKLY DERAILMENT DEPARTMENT | |
Each Tuesday in this news bulletin, RWU does our best to present a picture of what has been happening over the course of the previous week in terms of derailments in North America, and investigation determinations of previous accidents. NOTE: This list is by no means comprehensive. Smaller and less consequential mishaps are generally not reported here. If the wreck results in injury or fatality, or is especially damaging/extreme, a full article will appear as a feature in the dozen or so rail articles above. Know of a train wreck? Please feel free to forward a link to raillabornews@gmail.com for possible inclusion next week. Thanks! |
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