Weekly Digest Number 24 - June 13th, 2023

(Editor's Note: The rail carriers now understand they pushed a little too hard a little too fast. Their cockiness led them to believe they could go whole hog all at once. Now they are trying to make nice with the workforce. Cool. We need to ask for the moon and stars from these crooked corporations, not just apolgies and promises to be nice to us.)

Freight Rail Leaders Realize That Relationship Rebuilding Required

‘What’s it costing us to have our employees not motivated, our employees mad and our employees quitting and leaving?’

Joanna Marsh Freightwaves Friday, June 02, 2023

(Editor's Note: At the end of the day, BNSF most likely finds that - despite the penalties - it is still worthwhile to destroy eveidence and lie about train wrecks and accidents.)

Destroyed Evidence and Retaliation: The Alarming Pattern at Minnesota’s Largest Railroad

Ryan Raiche KSTPUpdated: June 9, 2023

5 INVESTIGATES identified nearly 20 cases over the past decade that show the pattern of misconduct continued, including the destruction or withholding of evidence and retaliation against employees.

(Editor's Note: Great to see that the long train issue is getting broad airplay. PBS mistakenly states that "longer trains allow for more goods to move more efficiently," but railroaders know that this in fact is not the case. While they might be saving money in the short run for the Class Ones, these long trains slow down the railroad, reduce average train speeds, clog up terminals, break down more frequently, cause train crews to "go dead on the law" more often, and more. They are a menace to the communities they run through, passenger trains, shippers, and to train crews, yardmasters, car inspectors, in fact most all rail crafts.)

Long Trains Cause Problems for Communities Near Crossings

June 1, 2023 - PBS NewsHour

Freight trains are getting longer in the U.S. with some stretching for two or three miles. Longer trains allow for more goods to move more efficiently, lowering fuel costs for the railroads. But these trains, especially when they stall, are cutting some communities in half. That's the focus of a new report from Investigate TV and ProPublica. William Brangham discussed the impact with Joce Sterman.

(Editor's Note: Well the CP-KCS merger certainly is off to a fine start....)

Canadian Judge Finds CPKC in Contempt for Making Train Crews Work Excessive Hours

By | June 8, 2023

Penalty still to be determined; railroad says it will appeal

“Canadian Pacific recklessly puts lives on the line in forcing so many train crews to work longer than allowed,” the National President of Teamsters Canada, François Laporte, said in a statement. “They do this because they operate under the dangerous delusion that they are above the law, and that it’s OK to ignore the court orders on safety issues. This company needs to smarten up and stop putting profits over people before another tragedy occurs.”

(Editor's Note: If there is a silver lining to the horror of the wreck at East Palestine, OH it will be that the feds actually investigate and learn of the details of the atrocious behavior of the nation's Class One railroads.)

US to Conduct Safety Review of All Major Railroads

By David Shepardson June 6, 2023, at 2:57 p.m.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration will conduct safety assessments of all major U.S. railroads following the Feb. 3 derailment of a Norfolk Southern operated train in Ohio, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

Engineer of Amtrak Train That Derailed in Philly in 2015 Sues Company Over Legal Costs

By Nicholas Malfitano June 6, 2023

PHILADELPHIA – The engineer of an Amtrak train which crashed and derailed in Philadelphia in 2015 is now suing the transit company, seeking indemnification and restitution for the costs he incurred in defending himself both civilly and criminally in proceedings stemming from the accident.

(Editor's Note: Every working railroader must remember that the carriers were adamantly opposed to sick time a few short months ago and refused to agree. And while the rail union officials told their members to vote for contracts that did not address the issue, RWU fought back with everything we had. The officials of the unions of the operating crafts settled for a deal of "pretend sick time" brokered by Biden-Walsh. So why are the Class Ones now negotiating? Because of the relentless pressure that Railroad Workers United applied throughout the bargaining process. If we had not kicked up such hell, these on-property agreements on sick leave would simply not exist today.)

Norfolk Southern is 1st Railroad to Give All Workers Sick Time as Others Negotiate with Unions

By JOSH FUNK June 4th, 2023

Last fall, the railroads refused to add paid sick time to the deal they had already been negotiating for several years, but they relented this year after intense pressure from the public, the Biden administration and several key lawmakers, including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.

(Editor's Note: This piece originally appeared earlier this spring and is being reprinted by University of Connecticut staudent newspaper.)

The Daily Campus: Nationalize the Railroads

By Zach Scruggs June 3, 2023

In Europe, the vast majority of rails are state-owned. Even in the United Kingdom, which privatized their system in 1997, many of the lines are currently operated by other countries’ national rail companies. If we compare safety, we see that U.S. Class I railroads have more than double the accident rate than their European counterparts per million train-km. Nationalization would greatly increase the public accountability of rail companies.

(Editor's Note: We include the NS pofficial quote from the article because of its absurdity. The logic NS is using is that any piece of equipment it might use - cars, locomotive, ties, rail, signals - were built by some one other than NS, so therefore, NS is not liable for any failure to operate as intended.)

Norfolk Southern Files Motion to Dismiss Lawsuit Over Ohio Train Derailment

Prem Thakker June 3, 2023

“The first car to derail did not belong to Norfolk Southern,” the company’s legal team claimed in its motion to dismiss the slate of lawsuits, filed Friday evening. “Nor did Norfolk Southern construct the wheel bearing that allegedly ‘overheated’ and ‘caused the train to derail.’”

(Editor's Note: Legislation is moving forward at the state level on rail safety, including train length limits, minimum ctrew size and more. After reading the article below on Pennsylvania - where Republicans joined Democrats to overwhelmingly pass the bill in the House, check out Nevada, where NOT ONE Republican supported similar bill, which was adopted by the legislature only to be vetoed by the Republican Governor. What a differnce geography can make.)

Pennsylvania House Passes Rail Regulation Bill

June 6, 2023

HB 1028 passed by a 141-62 vote, with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reporting 39 Republicans joined all 102 Democrats in voting for the bill. The legislation was introduced in the wake of the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment and toxic-chemical release. The legislation limits train lengths in the state to 8,500 feet; requires two-person crews for Class I railroads; prohibits delaying an emergency vehicle at a grade crossing for more than 5 minutes

(Editor's Note: Here is a shot and sweet description of how the Railway Labor Act works, which is to say how it works to keep rail workers down. Note at its conclusion it states that the Congress can "legislate an end to the dispute and impose a contract." In the most recent round of national handling, we saw Congress actually pre-empt any strike - or lockout - before one could even take place, likely ushering in a whole new era of increased oppression of rail workers "right to strike.")

BMWED Video: A Synopsis of the Railway Labor Act in 3 Minutes

Our first video in the On Our Way: Shortlines series outlines the basic functions of the Railway Labor Act (RLA), a federal law that provides the structure for how rail unions organize new members, bargain, and resolve disputes with rail carriers.

(Editor's Note: Railroad locomotives, trucks, and ALL forms of transportation must reduce emissions. Dirty trucks are just one of many reasons why shippers find trucking a cost effective option rather than ship by rail.)

Tell the Environmental Protection Agency to Slash Emissions from Trucks

The EPA has proposed a new standard for reducing pollution from heavy-duty trucks and buses. Tell them to strengthen the proposal to help reach our climate and health goals!

(Editor's Note: Every conductor and engineer will cheer for the elimination of dangerous rail crossings. But shouldn't the rail industry itself - fluch with cash - be paying for these crossing improvements?)

FRA Awards $570 Million in Rail Crossing Elimination Grants

June 5th, 2023

The Federal Railroad Administration today announced the award of $570 million in Railroad Crossing Elimination (RCE) grant program funding to 32 states for 63 projects.

Last year, more than 2,000 crossing collisions occurred in the United States and more than 30,000 reports of blocked crossings were submitted to the FRA’s public complaint portal, they said.

"Kofi’s Recovery": CN Conductor Critically Injured

On May 19, 2023, after travelling from Sarnia to Vaughan yard, Kofi and his fellow crew members were on route to a hotel to get some much needed rest before the trip back the next day. That is when a man driving a stolen Jeep Wrangler, ran a red light and collided with the dodge caravan, in which the crew was travelling.

(Editor's Note: Similar forces - including profiteering and cost-cutting - are at work in both the East Palestine and Indian train disasters.)

Overcrowded Trains Serve as Metaphor for India in Western Eyes – But They are a Relic of Colonialism and Capitalism

Ritika Prasad Published: June 8, 2023 4.37pm EDT

A devastating rail crash that left almost 300 people dead has refocused international attention on the importance of railways in the lives of Indians.

Indeed, to many Western observers, images of men and women crammed into overcrowded cars serve as a metaphor for modern India.