Weekly Digest Number 6 - February 9, 2021 |
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Union Pacific worker killed in accident in southern Arizona |
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VAIL, Ariz. (AP) — A Union Pacific worker in southern Arizona has died in an accident on the job.
Company spokesman Tim McMahan confirmed that James Morgan, who worked on engineering matters as a systems laborer, was fatally hurt Sunday in Vail.
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US Department of Labor issues stronger workplace guidance on coronavirus |
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Implementing a coronavirus protection program is the most effective way to reduce the spread of the virus. The guidance announced today recommends several essential elements in a prevention program:
- Conduct a hazard assessment.
- Identify control measures to limit the spread of the virus.
- Adopt policies for employee absences that don’t punish workers as a way to encourage potentially infected workers to remain home.
- Ensure that coronavirus policies and procedures are communicated to both English and non-English speaking workers.
- Implement protections from retaliation for workers who raise coronavirus-related concerns.
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Amtrak offers pay, benefits to vaccinated workers as national railroad aims for 100% vaccination |
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Amtrak is aiming to get 100% of its workforce vaccinated for the novel coronavirus and it is willing to extend pay and benefits to make it happen.
The 50-year-old national train service sent a news released to FOX Business detailing its plans to encourage Amtrak workers in light of the public health crisis.
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Don’t Dismiss Freight Rail Electrification |
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Why challenge AAR’s professional conclusion that we should stick to Tier 4 or higher EPA-rated diesel-powered locomotives? Because the AAR conclusion appears, at least on its surface, too simplistic. It dismisses previous rail industry business-case studies for electrification.
In contrast, previous railroad company reports have shown cases where overhead electrification could work and be financed with reasonable internal rates of return. They have demonstrated that specific route studies are the best determinants of a business case for alternate fuels. That analytical approach has been true for longer trains, heavy-axle loadings and overhead-clearance business case evaluations. It should therefore be true for electrification or selective-route battery locomotive applications.
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GM to idle 3 plants in North America due to semiconductor shortage |
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General Motors is idling three of its assembly plants in North America and running a fourth in South Korea at half capacity for one week as it struggles with the ongoing semiconductor shortage that has already impacted production at Ford Motor Co., Stellantis and others globally.
On Monday, GM will idle the following plants — which run two shifts — for a week:
- Fairfax Assembly and Stamping Plant in Kansas City, Kansas: About 2,000 hourly workers build the Chevrolet Malibu sedan and Cadillac XT4 SUV.
- CAMI, Ingersoll, Ontario Canada: About 1,500 hourly workers build the Chevrolet Equinox SUV.
- San Luis Potosí, Mexico: GM builds Chevrolet Equinox and Trax and GMC Terrain SUVs.
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Biden Ousts All 10 of Trump’s Union Busters From Powerful Labor Panel |
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Joe Biden demanded the resignations of all 10 of Donald Trump’s appointees to the Federal Service Impasses Panel, a powerful labor relations board, in a major victory for federal unions.
Eight members resigned, and two were fired after refusing to step down. Trump’s appointees—a group of partisan anti-labor activists—had hobbled federal unions for years, sabotaging their ability to organize and bargain collectively.
Biden’s clean sweep, which was first reported by Government Executive’s Erich Wagner, marks a crucial step toward ending his predecessor’s campaign of federal union busting.
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Congressional Democrats Are Pushing For The Biggest Labor Reform In Generations |
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Senate and House Democrats renewed their effort to enact sweeping reform to U.S. labor laws on Thursday, reintroducing a broad bill that would expand collective bargaining rights and help rejuvenate labor unions.
The package of measures, known as the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, or PRO Act, is a priority for progressive Democrats and organized labor. If it becomes law, it would be the most significant labor legislation enacted in the post-war period, and the most beneficial to unions in nearly 90 years.
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NTSB issues preliminary report in 2020 death of short line worker |
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On November 11, 2020, at 9:43 a.m. local time, a Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad (DREI) conductor, riding the rear rail car of train 200-11, was killed while picking up rail cars in an industry facility outside of Tuscola, Illinois. Train 200-11 consisted of one locomotive and three rail cars. The train crew consisted of one engineer, one conductor, and one conductor trainee. Preliminary information from the event recorder indicated the train was moving at about 8 mph with the conductor and conductor trainee riding the rear rail car. Preliminary information further indicated that during the train movement, the conductor was struck by a gate at the facility entrance. |
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Rest in Power, Anne Feeney (1951-2021) |
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This week the U.S. labor movement lost its best-known and best-loved troubadour: the great folksinger-songwriter Anne Feeney. She died of Covid on February 3, at age 69, with her children at her side. With her fantastic songs and feisty spirit, she made an incalculable contribution to the movement. She is irreplaceable, and gone too soon.
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