Rail Workers Weekly News Digest
Number 5 - April 23rd, 2019
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Below is a series of article compiled over the previous week.
They are of interest to railroad workers
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2019-5 Article 1
Railroad Workers Memorial Day - Sunday, April 28th, 2019
With the tragic death of Railroad Conductor Jared Boehlke on Mother's Day, May 10, 2009, the number of fatalities on the nation's railroads surged to a record pace for the year. In all, twelve rail workers had been killed on the job for the year and it was only half over.
At the end of March, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued an appeal to all railroad organizations and employees for help in stemming this disastrous record. The FRA letter said in part, "If a culture exists whereby workers feel they are put in situations where they are making poor decisions for fear of losing their jobs, we must work together to change this culture. The elimination of fatalities, injuries, and accidents depends upon it. "
RWU agreed with the FRA that something must be done
to change the situation.
RWU had actively campaigned
for a safety approach that would put eliminating hazards first and foremost on the safety agenda for the nation’s railroads. Unfortunately, the rail carriers continued to emphasize worker behavior over hazard elimination. As a result, the carriers tend to downplay, overlook, or ignore altogether the problems and hazards that are created by management practices.
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2019-5 Article 2
Senators seek answers from Amtrak CEO
WASHINGTON — A group of 11 U.S. Senators sent Amtrak’s Richard Anderson a letter earlier this month, seeking the passenger railroad CEO’s “firm commitment that Amtrak will abide by its statutory purpose — maintaining a truly national network for our rail system.”
Those signing the letter include the bipartisan group of six lawmakers from Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico who secured a $50 million appropriation for Southwest Chief route improvements in the 2019 federal budget, compelling Amtrak to spend a $3 million grant match. They are joined by five Democrats: Catherine Cortez Masto of Nevada, West Virginia’s Joe Manchin III, Kyrsten Sinema from Arizona, Montana’s Jon Tester, and Dick Durbin of Illinois.
Read more ...
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2019-5 Article 3
Canadian investigators: Prior crew struggled with train involved in fatal wreck
FIELD, British Columbia — Hours before a Canadian Pacific train derailed in the rugged mountains of British Columbia, killing three railroaders, the previous crew had struggled to keep the doomed grain train under control on a steep grade.
On Thursday, investigators with the Transportation Safety Board of Canada provided new details about their inquiry into the fatal Feb. 4 derailment on Kicking Horse Pass near Field, B.C., and offered suggestions to regulators on how to prevent future tragedies.
According to TSB investigators, the previous crew aboard CP train 301-349 made an emergency brake application near Partridge — the last station before the train entered the Upper Spiral Tunnel — because the train was exceeding the posted speed limit of 15 miles per hour. The crew tried to use normal brake procedures to slow the train down but was unsuccessful. According to investigators, the train was traveling at 23 miles per hour when the engineer decided to make an emergency application. According to CP operating rules, any time a train is going 5 miles per hour over the speed limit on a descending grade it is considered an “uncontrolled movement and must be stopped immediately by whatever means available,” including an emergency brake application.
After stopping, the train sat on the 2.2% grade with the air brakes applied for nearly three hours. During that time, the air brakes slowly lost their grip on the parked train.
Read more ...
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2019-5 Article 4
Worker killed by train while Switching
A rail worker is dead after being struck by a train at the former Seneca Army Depot, the Seneca County Sheriff's Office announced Thursday. Thomas J. Horn, 46, of Romulus, Seneca County, was trying to move rail cars with another employee when it appears he fell and was struck by the train, deputies said. Horn, who works for Andersons Rail Group, was pronounced dead at the scene around 10:17 a.m. Thursday, deputies said.
Read more ...
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2019-5 Article 5
UP halts work on Brazos hump yard, will idle two others
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific has stopped building its new classification yard in Texas, idled the humps at yards in Oregon and Arkansas, and plans more yard rationalizations in the coming months as it switches freight cars fewer times under its new Precision Scheduled Railroading operating plan.
UP has paused construction at the $550 million Brazos Yard outside Hearne, Texas, for two reasons: Its switching capacity isn’t needed now but longer passing sidings are. The railroad had touted Brazos as its largest capital project in history, and as recently as December said it was still needed.
Read more ...
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2019-5 Article 6
Record Profits Roll In at the Class One RRs
Amidst all the tears about the expense to the Class I railroads of PTC installation, the Class I rail carriers continue to rake in record profits practically every Quarter. Meantime, they cry the blue about "over-regulation" and two-person crew legislation that is gaining momentum across the country. Read the results of their profiteering below.
CSX
yesterday posted record results for the first quarter, including an operating ratio (OR) that fell below 60 percent. Net income during the quarter soared 20 percent to $834 million, or $1.02 per share, versus $695 million, or 78 cents per share a year ago. The OR dropped to a company first-quarter record of 59.5 percent — a significant improvement from 63.7 percent set in the year-ago period, CSX officials said in a press release.
Read more ...
Union Pacific Corp.
today announced a 6 percent increase in net income during the first-quarter, despite dealing with severe flooding and a 2 percent decline in business volumes.
The Class I posted Q1 2019 net income of $1.4 billion, or $1.93 per diluted share, compared with $1.3 billion, or $1.68 per diluted share, in the same period a year ago, according to a UP press release. UP also reported Q1 operating income of $2 billion, up 1 percent; total revenue of $5.4 billion, down 2 percent; and operating expenses of $3.4 billion, down 3 percent. UP's operating ratio for the quarter was 63.6 percent, a 1 point improvement from Q1 2018.
Read more ...
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2019-5 Article 7
Crew of runaway grain train in Manitoba improperly trained
MINNEDOSA, Man. — A Winnipeg newspaper says it’s learned that a train with more than 100 loaded grain cars careened down a hill through the southwestern Manitoba town of Minnedosa last year.
The Free Press also says federal investigators have determined that Canadian Pacific Railway staff had been improperly trained.
The runaway happened Jan. 1, 2018, on a line that is increasingly moving petroleum products, as railways make up for stalled pipeline projects.
The Transportation Safety Board says the train was heading up a hill in the town of 2,500 when the crew encountered difficulty after a knuckle connector that links cars broke, initiating the train’s emergency brakes.
The board says some 112 cars and a mid-train locomotive rolled uncontrolled for about a kilometre or more before stopping on their own.
Read more ...
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2019-5 Article 8
Trade Union for Energy Democracy - Bulletin #84
RWU is affiliated with this international labor organization. This is the latest of their monthy Bulletins.
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2019-5 Article 9
UK Engineers Union Takes up the Issue of Menopause
Deborah Reay, Northern Line Branch Secretary and Chair of ASLEF's Women's Representative Committee, writes for the
May 2019 ASLEF Journal
, available soon:
The railway industry, as it began, and developed, in the 19th century, was designed for men. Facilities, policies, uniform and ergonomics were all geared to suit the male driver. Well, why wouldn't it be? There were no female drivers, so why would you cater for them?
Last year we marked 40 years since the first woman drove a train in Britain – Hannah Dodds, the first female London Underground driver, passed out on 5 October 1978 and began driving tube trains on the District Line – but the industry has been slow to adapt to these 'strange creatures'.
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Railroad Workers United
Solidarity -- Unity -- Democracy
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