Railroaders place to shoot the shit.

A rail worker's best friend on the job often is one who never speaks a word, but is there 24/7.

That friend is the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA), which has been protecting rail workers for more than 100 years.

In the hands of UTU Designated Legal Counsel, the FELA is a powerful prod forcing railroads to improve workplace safety. As a Supreme Court justice said, "The FELA was designed to put on the railroad industry some of the costs of the legs, arms, eyes, and lives which it consumed in its operation."

The FELA gives railroad employees the right to recover damages from their employers for injuries occurring at work.

Railroads have long sought repeal of the FELA, but Congress remains unwilling, owing in large part to the strength of the UTU PAC. The carriers also have included in their Section 6 notices a demand that we negotiate an end to the FELA.

Not on this administrations watch!

The carriers assert that by going to a federal/state workers compensation system, injured rail workers would somehow receive better and faster medical treatment and be treated more fairly.

Really? According to The New York Times, which recently looked at one of those allegedly "better" systems for handling injured-worker claims, the alternative is a nightmare. Said the newspaper:

"They come to [the workers compensation board] seeking authorization for medical treatment and replacement wages -- in short, a quick and fair resolution from a system set up to replace fractious court fights between employers and employees.

"What they find instead is a subbasement of the legal world, a state-run bureaucracy ... [where] claims dragged on, but hearings seldom exceeded a few blurred minutes. Comparing [a court] to this is like comparing a hospital to a MASH unit."

No wonder the U.S. General Accountability Office told Congress that the FELA is an effective law, working as intended.
 
UTU Designated Legal Counsel are skilled at handling rail employee injury cases because they understand the railroad industry, its safety hazards, and every aspect of the FELA. Their job is to represent you and they answer to the UTU.

When a worker is injured, the railroad's goal is to protect its rights. The injured workers rights are protected by UTU Designated Legal Counsel, who know how to stand up to the railroad.

A listing of UTU Designated Legal Counsel is found at www.utu.org (click on "Designated Legal Counsel" in the blue tile box on the left of the home page). A listing may be obtained from local officers or general chairpersons.