Rail & Labor News from RWU
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Weekly Digest Number 31 - August 1st, 2023 | |
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. 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!
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Editor's Note: This is a repeat note from last week's newsletter. "Incredulously, the engineer of this train had told the carrier in no uncertain terms that this train was not safe to bring down Field Hill. He was ignored. He was right, it derailed. Not long after, another problematic train derailed on Field Hill, that time killing all three crew members on board." Last week's newsletter carried the official TSB Report. This week we re-print a news article about that Report. Canadian citizens as well as rail workers should be outraged as this thing picks up steam and the truth comes out. | |
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Bill Kaufmann
Published Jul 22, 2023 • Last Updated 2 days ago
“The decision to proceed after the first UDR likely did not take into consideration the risks associated with potential high in-train forces should another UDR occur, especially on the steep descending grade and sharp curves of Field Hill,” the TSB report said.
The agency also said CP Rail failed to comply with general operation instructions, “which states that heavy cars must be placed as close as possible to the head of the train and light cars should be placed as close as possible to the rear unless the cars behind them are also relatively light.”
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Editor's Note: The company behind the train derailment in East Palestine wants to buy the only municipally owned railroad in the U.S.; RWU is partnering with local activists in Cincinnati to save the railroad. See the RWU Resolution and Press Release.
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Jake Johnson July 25, 2023
Matt Weaver, a maintenance-of-way worker and member of RWU’s steering committee, said in a statement that “the rail industry has robbed the American people blind for 150 years now. Millions of acres of land and massive subsidies were given to the ‘Robber Barons’ of old,” said Weaver. “Today’s rail industry is the same, indifferent to the needs and concerns of their own workers and customers, let alone the nation. The citizens of Cincinnati would be wise to hold onto their railroad infrastructure as their forefathers understood the perils of private rail ownership. They would not be well-served by this sale.”
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Editor's Note: This is an apparent victory for the Teamsters union (the contract is still subject to ratification by the membership) but also because UPS is demonstrating that a company can pay a living wage and still make more money than its non-union rivals. The Teamsters have to be looking at Amazon and FedEx as juicy targets for organizing. | |
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By Vanessa Yurkevich and Chris Isidore, CNN Updated 2:26 PM EDT, Tue July 25, 2023
UPS and the Teamsters have reached a tentative deal on a new contract, potentially avoiding a strike. A labor stoppage could have started as soon as next week and crippled US supply chains and been a multi-billion dollar hit to the economy.
“We’ve changed the game, battling it out day and night to make sure our members won an agreement that pays strong wages, rewards their labor, and doesn’t require a single concession,” said Teamsters President Sean O’Brien in a statement. “This contract sets a new standard in the labor movement and raises the bar for all workers.”
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Editor's Note: It is about time that the training process of new Conductors is professionalized and properly compensated. For years, rail workers have been training new hires randomly, without proper training themselves, to do the additional job of training while working, to say nothing of limited or no compensation for their efforts. | |
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Norfolk Southern Corporation and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers — Transportation Division (SMART-TD) announced Wednesday that they are partnering to launch several new initiatives to further enhance the training program for conductor trainees and increase compensation for conductors who help provide this important training. The agreement includes:
- A train-the-trainer program for all conductors and foremen to ensure consistency and quality in the training they provide to new trainees.
- A standardized process to monitor and report progress on all activities outlined in the existing trainee qualification book.
- A bilateral rating system to allow conductor trainers and trainees to rate each other's engagement, professionalism, and commitment to safety.
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Editor's Note: Great to see the airline unions jump out in front on this. Hopefully they can inspire the rail unions to be as vociferous. This practice was illegal 40 years ago, because for decades, folks understood the harm it could do to the economy and to working people. It is time once again to formally outlaw the practice. Make sure to read the green box entitled, The “No Stock Buybacks” Movement Poised to Expand to Rail Workers.
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Stop Stock Buy-Backs!
Dollars and Sense - Erica Wills
Before 1982, stock buybacks were generally considered a potential form of market manipulation by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934.
Both dividend payments and stock buybacks are ways that companies distribute profits to shareholders, including company executives who typically have stock options as part of their compensation package.
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Editor's Note: Yes this certainly is one of those RARE times when the rail unions and the rail carriers can and should make common cause. BUT it should be recognized as such, and should not lead to any delusions on the part of rail workers that "we are all in this together." | |
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Railroads, Unions Form Rare Alliance Over Sickness Benefits
Lillianna Byington, Diego Areas Munhoz July 24th, 2023
A recent cut in railroad workers’ sickness and unemployment benefits has made bedfellows of usually-adversarial groups—railroad companies and their employees—now pushing Congress to fix an issue that could strain their workforce and the nation’s supply chain it supports.
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Editor's Note: The saga at East Palestine continues, as residents continue to fight back and demand what is rightfully theirs. They are looking for a solution for healthcare guarantees through the law, as other environmentally devastated communities such as Libby, Montana have done in the past. | |
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STEPHANIE ELVERD Staff Writer JUL 24, 2023
It’s been nearly six months since a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed, spilling toxic chemicals and leading to a controlled release of vinyl chloride over East Palestine, and some residents say they are still fighting for their lives.
On Saturday, the Unity Council for the East Palestine Derailment — an advocacy group comprised of representatives from all the communities impacted by the rail disaster — held a rally in front of the Columbiana County Courthouse to demand a call for action in enacting Social Security Act 1881a, which provides free healthcare coverage for people exposed to environmental exposures.
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JESSICA CONARD , EAST PALESTINE RESIDENT ON 7/21/23 AT 6:00 AM EDT
My community learned the hard way when a train derailed with devastating consequences. We witnessed the callousness that the rail industry is capable of when they laid tracks over our poisoned soil only a day after conducting what is likely an illegal open burn of the vinyl chloride voluntarily spilled from five railcars—a decision we are only now learning may not have been necessary.
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Editor's Note: The investigation exonerates Amtrak, incriminates BNSF. This was big. Three people died. Together with the derailment in Missouri in summer of 2022 when another Amtrak train hit a truck at a improperly maintained grade crossing - that local residents had raised concerns about for years prior - killing 4 and injuring more than a hundred, | |
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AMY BETH HANSON and SAM METZ
Associated PressJuly 27, 2023 Updated: July 27, 2023 7:54 p.m.
Poor track conditions that should have been flagged by a freight railroad company’s inspectors caused the derailment of an Amtrak train in Montana that killed three people and injured 49 others in 2021, federal investigators said Thursday in a final report.
The severity of the injuries were made worse by the Amtrak train’s lack of seatbelts and windows that weren’t strong enough to keep passengers from being ejected when the train derailed, the National Transportation Safety Board found.
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Editor's Note: Trusting people who get bonuses based on quarterly stock prices to make environmentally responsible motive power choices is nonsensical. We need a fresh approach to ownership and public funding to implement the wholesale replacements for diesel. | |
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KARI LYDERSEN JULY 27, 2023
An alliance of labor and environmental groups is taking on the rail industry to pass a rule that would create both zero-emissions trains and good union jobs. A new California rule mandating a switch to zero-emissions locomotives could create scores of new union jobs, especially if other states follow suit. But last month, the railroad industry filed a lawsuit challenging the rule, charging that states do not have the right to pass regulations stricter than federal limits on emissions.
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Editor's Note: We have come too far down the road to a more robust and expanded Amtrak, with the promise of thousands of good union rail jobs - to have it all derailed by a handful of ideologues in Congress. Make your voice heard! | |
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The passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) has introduced a new era for America’s rail passengers, launching several important new passenger rail programs and providing guaranteed multi-year federal funding to upgrade and expand the national passenger rail network. Now that we have seen the House Committee on Appropriation's draft FY24 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) legislation, that could all be in jeopardy.
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Editor's Note: The chickens are coming home to roost. PSR made the industry short-term get-rich-quick profits ... But failure to invest in infrastructure, failure to gain new shippers and retain old ones, rotten customer service, and the failure to recruit and retain employees, are all factors coming to haunt the Class One carriers now. The "challenges" they face have largely been brought on by their own self-inflicted wounds. | |
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By Alex Whiteman 27/07/2023 Loadstar
Volumes also fell, year on year: CN’s were down 17%, at 550,000 tonnes, CSX’s down 10%, at 684,000 tonnes, and UP’s by 7%, at 749,000.... Year-to-date fared little better; CN revenues were C$1.9bn (down 16%) as volumes declined 15% to 1.06m tonnes; CSX half-year revenue fell 12%, to $991m, against a 10% volume dip (1.3m tonnes); while UP’s six-month revenue sank 12%, to $2.3bn, on a 5% volume shortfall.
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Editor's Note: Like last year, working people are organizing and fighting back. The high profile effort by rail workers in 2022 has no doubt had a knock-on effect, inspiring workers in many industries across the country. Railroaders should be proud of our important contribution to this collective working class movement! | |
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Summer of Strikes
Workers from coast to coast are standing together for better wages, working conditions, benefits and more. The number of people involved in major work stoppages last year increased nearly 50%. This year, we’re on track to break that record. We’re not waiting for politicians to step in. We’re taking matters into our own hands and saying, “We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.” Because while productivity and economic growth is increasing, workers are still seeing sluggish wage growth and low job quality. These strikes could make a real impact in reversing that trend.
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(Editor's Note: The carriers continue to use the bogie man of the US Constitution's "interstate commerce" clause to ward off any and all local/state attempts - like this one - to force an end to blocked road crossings and make for safer communities. The rail carriers take the position that the corporation can do ANYTHING, and that states and municipalities are powerless to take action in their defense.) | |
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July 27, 2023
Police in Chambersburg, Pa., have cited railroad 49 times this year in latest fight over local ability to address blocked crossings
Pennsylvania law prohibits grade crossings from being blocked for more than 5 minutes. The case by the law firm representing CSX that the law is unenforceable centers on the position that the federal government, not the states, regulate matters of interstate commerce. That has led to similar laws being struck down in a number of states, most recently in Ohio [see “Ohio Supreme Court strikes down blocked-crossing law,” Trains News Wire, Aug. 18, 2022].
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Weekly Derailment Department | | | | |
