Weekly Digest Number 3 - January 19th, 2021 |
|
SMART-TD Wins Another Victory in the Crew Consist Battle |
|
(Editor's Note: Rank and file rail workers need to keep their guard up. These legal victories are defensive actions that are simply delay tactics. The carriers will not give up without a real fight. That fight is coming and we need to all be prepared for it!)
On January 8, 2021, Arbitrator Wendell Bell issued his arbitration award regarding the process and procedure in arbitrating the Carriers’ (UP, BNSF, NS & KCS) attack on the Crew Consist Moratoria. The arbitration, known as a “Procedural Public Law Board,” had the purpose of determining the terms of how any primary arbitration should proceed. Procedural PLBs 7959, 7960, 7961 & 7962 were a result of SMART-TD’s efforts disputing the improper action of the Railroads to prematurely re-open crew consist negotiations before the appropriate moratorium expired.
SMART-TD argued the Carriers improperly served their Notice to Arbitrate and failed to properly conference their suddenly new-found interpretations of the moratoria. SMART-TD not only prevailed in these arguments, it also secured a ruling ensuring the terms of the next round of arbitration will be conducted properly.
|
|
Unions Ask Feds to Beef up Security on D.C. Amtrak Service |
|
FRA Refuses to Act on Rail Security Improvements
The head of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has refused to take any action whatsoever to protect passenger railroad workers and the traveling public in and around the nation's capital following the deadly January 6 insurrection on Capitol Hill.
In a January 14 response to the BLET and SMART-TD demand, Administrator Batory declined to take any action whatsoever ....
|
|
Biden Announces Stimulus Plan with $20 Billion for Transit |
|
Some $20 billion in “relief for the hardest hit public transit agencies” is part of a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan released by President-elect Joe Biden on Thursday, a wide-ranging legislative package including $1,400 per-person payments to most households, a national COVID-19 vaccination program and increased testing program, aid to schools, a $15-per-hour minimum wage, and expanded access to health care. The document outlining the plan says the transit aid “will keep agencies from laying off transit workers and cutting the routes that essential workers rely on every day.” The Washington Post reports the plan is meant to be passed quickly and will be followed by a broader recovery package.
|
|
FTA Announces COVID-19 Relief Allocations |
|
FTA is allocating $14 billion to recipients of urbanized area and rural area formula funds, with $13.27 billion allocated to large and small urban areas, $678.2 million allocated to rural areas and tribes, and $50 million allocated for the enhanced mobility of seniors and individuals with disabilities, FTA officials said in a press release.
|
|
U.S. Railroads Kick Off 2021 with Volume Increase |
|
U.S. freight railroads posted a 4.7% increase in traffic hauled during the first week in January compared with traffic recorded for the comparable period in 2020, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data. Railroads hauled 235,4040 carloads, down 1.6%, and 289,849 containers and trailers, up 10.4%, for the week ending Jan. 9.
Four of the 10 carload commodity groups that AAR follows every week posted an increase. They included grain, up 9,386 carloads to 27,650; metallic ores and metals, up 2,524 to 23,600; and chemicals, up 2,458 to 36,195.
Commodity groups that posted a decrease included coal, down 10,088 carloads, to 60,780; nonmetallic minerals, down 4,640 to 25,395; and petroleum and petroleum products, down 3,144 to 11,167.
|
|
NTSB closes PTC recommendations for CN, CSX, Metra |
|
The NTSB's recommendations to CN, CSX and Chicago commuter railroad Metra are related to installing PTC, the safety technology that prevents equipped trains from colliding, missing signals or speeding. The recommendations will be classified as "closed — acceptable action," NTSB officials said in a press release ... "I've seen up close the devastation and heartbreak a rail catastrophe brings," said NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt. "We will silently mark our success with every train crash prevented, every life saved by this technology."
|
|
Amtrak Locomotives Return to Deadly Derailment Site in State of Washington |
|
Positive Train Control (PTC) could have prevented the Amtrak derailment over I-5 that killed three people in DuPont, Wash. The technology was not yet installed in 2017. It’s there now, and officials are ready to use the new safeguards to once and for all pull away from the tragedy. Testing will be conducted on the track this weekend, and for the first time since the accident Amtrak trains will be seen moving over I-5. Testing is needed to re-certify the corridor.
|
|
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) made its first recommendation calling for automatic train control in 1970; 20 years later in 1990, the need for a safety redundancy system on railroads still existed. Positive Train Separation (which was renamed Positive Train Control in 2001) was first placed on the NTSB Most Wanted List that year, and continues with the 2019-2020 Most Wanted List, as number four: “Fully Implement PTC.”
The following description of a PTC system was posted on FRA’s website from 2002 through 2012:
|
|
News from Railroad Workers United |
|
Derailments Compilation for 2020
After documenting 48 serious derailments in 2019, RWU has issued a listing of similar derailments in 2020. This year's total is 41. Read details at the button below...
|
|
Prices Drastically Reduced on All RWU Posters
Due to a big reduction in pout costs to print them. all RWU posters have been reduced by 30% to 50%. Check it out!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
