Railroaders place to shoot the shit.

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It ain't over until the fatman sings

Freddie Krueger · Unstable & Irrational

Yeah, and it will be a Jackson 5 tune.....

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Freddie Krueger wrote:

Yeah, and it will be a Jackson 5 tune.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLxqsZHgAmk

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UTU-SMWIA meeting results in status quo

UTU International President Mike Futhey and the entire UTU board of directors met with Sheet Metal Workers' International Association General President Mike Sullivan and other SMWIA officials April 13-14 in a continuing effort to convince SMWIA that a SMART constitution must be negotiated and presented to the UTU membership for ratification.

A federal district court, which had halted implementation of a merger between the two organizations, had urged just that. But the effort by Futhey and the UTU board of directors failed to accomplish that result.

Thus, there is no change in the status of the proposed SMART merger.

Futhey said of the meeting, "We remain awaiting any positive development that would permit a democratic vote by our membership."

The merger remains halted as a result of a preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Court Judge John Adams. An appeal of the preliminary injunction will be argued April 21 before a panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, April 21.

UTU board members who met with Sullivan in the effort to convince the SMWIA that a SMART constitution must be negotiated and presented to the UTU membership for ratification included Futhey, Assistant President Arty Martin, General Secretary & Treasurer Kim Thompson, National Legislative Director James Stem, and International Vice Presidents John Babler, Vic Baffoni, J.R. "Jim" Cumby, Tony Iannone, Robert Kerley, and Dave Wier.

April 16, 2009

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We now have the excellent opportunity to augment the power behind our endeavor to represent our members in the best possible way and to reach goals dreamt of but unobtainable separately.

Malcolm B. (Mike) Futhey Jr.
International Vice President

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In securing a partner to ensure the continued high standard of representation that our members expect and to which they are entitled, SMART embodies the core elements of the labor movement of which we can be proud to be a part.

Kim N. Thompson
International Vice President

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The SMWIA and the UTU both originated from 19th century rail labor unions. This merger will afford both the UTU and the SMWIA a huge opportunity to organize short line railroads, bus companies and regional airlines that today are without union representation.

Arty Martin
International Vice President

Calvin · Upgraded Condition?

Because all members of Alaska Railroad train crews are represented by the UTU, new technology is not a concern on Alaska Railroad, said UTU Local 1626 President Gerald Valinske. "We're not afraid of new technology. And we certainly know it can't be stopped. What we do know is there will be no impact on our jobs." This is because the UTU represents all members of the train crew, permitting the UTU -- as in the past -- to negotiate agreements protecting employment, seniority and wages of every member of the train crew, Valinske said.

"If this system proves to be effective, it is going to be implemented throughout the United States," said UTU Vice President Arty Martin, who is in Alaska this week to monitor the test runs. "Eventually new technology is going to replace the locomotive engineer," Martin said. "That writing has been on the wall for a long time. But railroads still will require on-board trainmen to monitor the technology and to make setouts and pick-ups. Where the UTU represents train crews, we will make the agreements to protect everyone just as we did with remote control technology," Martin said.

"New technology is here and it is something we have to live with whether we like it or not," Martin said. "It is the certainty that more new technology is coming that makes it so essential to having a single organization representing every member of the train crew. That allows us to concentrate on protecting the jobs, seniority and wages of every train-crew member," Martin said. "Nothing is to be gained by running from new technology, marching in the streets or hiding our heads in the sand. The other organization proved the folly of such an approach. It is time to quit the squabbling and get together so one organization can protect everyone," Martin said.

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ARTY MARTIN
Vice President
"I have worked in the rail industry since March 1966 and this is probably the best overall agreement for railroaders that I have seen in those 36 years. I encourage all UTU members, regardless of which craft they may work in today, to look at the complete proposed agreement before casting their vote. Don't vote on one single issue. Vote the overall package. Remember, this UTU proposal does not take away any current work rules. It does give us back full pay for dead-heads and eliminates entry rates, while putting the Van Wart Study Commission recommendation (160-mile basic day) to bed for good."

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Calvin wrote:

Because all members of Alaska Railroad train crews are represented by the UTU, new technology is not a concern on Alaska Railroad, said UTU Local 1626 President Gerald Valinske. "We're not afraid of new technology. And we certainly know it can't be stopped. What we do know is there will be no impact on our jobs." This is because the UTU represents all members of the train crew, permitting the UTU -- as in the past -- to negotiate agreements protecting employment, seniority and wages of every member of the train crew, Valinske said.

"If this system proves to be effective, it is going to be implemented throughout the United States," said UTU Vice President Arty Martin, who is in Alaska this week to monitor the test runs. "Eventually new technology is going to replace the locomotive engineer," Martin said. "That writing has been on the wall for a long time. But railroads still will require on-board trainmen to monitor the technology and to make setouts and pick-ups. Where the UTU represents train crews, we will make the agreements to protect everyone just as we did with remote control technology," Martin said.

"New technology is here and it is something we have to live with whether we like it or not," Martin said. "It is the certainty that more new technology is coming that makes it so essential to having a single organization representing every member of the train crew. That allows us to concentrate on protecting the jobs, seniority and wages of every train-crew member," Martin said. "Nothing is to be gained by running from new technology, marching in the streets or hiding our heads in the sand. The other organization proved the folly of such an approach. It is time to quit the squabbling and get together so one organization can protect everyone," Martin said.

UTU defends two-person crews

OMAHA -- Since the 1980s, most freight trains have been operated by a crew of two -- an engineer and a conductor, reports Stacie Hamel in the Omaha World-Herald.

That's one too many, the nation's largest railroads now say.

Eight railroads, including Union Pacific and BNSF Railway Co., filed notice with the engineers and conductors unions of their intent to negotiate one-person crews and to consolidate engineer and conductor jobs into a single category: transportation employee.

Monday, April 25, the railroads requested that a federal mediator step in, saying negotiations have stalled with the United Transportation Union, which represents conductors.

The UTU filed suit against the railroads in March in U.S. District Court in Southern Illinois, saying crew agreements are protected and are a local issue not subject to national bargaining.

The agreements require that every train have a conductor, the UTU says, and the union would discuss one-person crews only if that one person is a conductor and if safe and reliable technology is available for computerized trains.

(UTU editor's note: UTU International President Paul Thompson has made clear that there is no technology available that would allow for safe operation with a one-person crew. "Both crew members are needed," Thompson said.)

"It may be 10 years off. The technology is not perfected enough today," said UTU spokesman Frank Wilner.

There's nothing to wait for, said one railroad official.

"We're ready now," Union Pacific spokesman John Bromley said. "There are situations where one person could safely operate a train."

The railroads don't agree that pacts negotiated with the UTU in the '80s included a moratorium on reopening the issue of crew size, Bromley said.

The other railroads are: Alton & Southern Railway Co., CSX Transportation Inc., Kansas City Southern Railway Co., Manufacturers Railway Co., Norfolk Southern Corp., and Terminal Railroad Association.

The railroads could move to one-person crews without renegotiating the UTU crew-consist agreements, Wilner said. The agreements require only that every train have a conductor, not a certain number of crew members.

The union won't, however, discuss changing the crew-consist agreement itself.

"The UTU is not going to negotiate an end to a protective agreement that would perhaps permit engineers represented by another union to take work that is now guaranteed to the UTU."

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen -- now part of the Teamsters -- represents train engineers. A spokesman for the BLET said no one was immediately available to comment on contract negotiations.

Bromley said he had no information on how transportation employee jobs would be divided among engineers and conductors.

The industry wants to lower labor costs as "it struggles to fund the enormous infusion of capital needed immediately to deliver service expected by our customers and to expand capacity," the railroads' notice to the unions reads.

Current agreements require more employees than are needed, producing "relentless labor cost inflation," it continues.

Bromley said crew size would vary depending on the conditions.

"If we determine that a one-person crew fits whatever operation, we would do it in a safe manner. We're not saying there would be one person in all situations. It would depend on what a train is going to be doing."

Wilner said the union believes the one-person crew issue is tied to technology that would allow computerized train operations, which is at least five to 10 years away, according to industry estimates.

The concept -- called positive train control -- is to use sensors and global positioning systems to prevent derailments and other accidents, even stopping a train remotely, if needed.

Some short-line railroads, Amtrak routes and other rail uses already have one-person crews in place, Bromley said.

Alerters and restrictive signals long in use in some situations require an engineer's response. If there is no response, brakes to stop a train are applied, he said.

Wilner said the UTU has deep reservations about the safety of such a change, especially considering the possibility that a train could be targeted by terrorists.

"It is not inconceivable that one person on a crew could somehow be incapacitated and a train with deadly chemicals be left alone," Wilner said. "And it's not uncommon for the various mechanisms that keep a train together to come apart, which would require the one crew member to go investigate. That could leave no one in the cab of the locomotive."

Nonetheless, Wilner said one-person crews are "highly probable" someday, and the UTU must move to protect its members.

"No union has ever stopped the introduction of new technology and no union ever will," Wilner said. "As a union, we would rather explain to our members why we have the work involving this new technology than why we didn't get the work."

If one-person crews are likely soon, how far off could unmanned trains be?

Bromley said, "On a freight train, I don't think that's too likely in the near future."

(The preceding story, by Stacie Hamel, was published in the Omaha World-Herald. Information in parenthesis was added by UTU News editors.)

April 27, 2005

Railroaders place to shoot the shit.

This is the official end of my post.