Please visit the News Archive section for all past local news!

 

NEWS!!!!

June/July/August, 2010
 

Message From Georgia State Director Howell Keown

 

Please share this message with your NS Brothers and Sisters.

 

This is a reminder that your Union, Our Union, The United Transportation Union has declared and believes that every single day should be a Day of Safety and we are not, will not and should not be a participating partner in the August 18, 2010 Norfolk Southern "Day of Safety" for reasons we are all so familiar with. 

 

NS has decided that their "START" program is the best thing since sliced bread and we should be appreciative of the fact they have "New Steps" to hold you a little closer to the fire and make you be a safer employee and they have increased the levels of discipline to dismiss you with so it is not all done at once. Albeit it will be done in a more expedient manner. That means faster. And the new rules will hold you responsible for a much longer period of time so there are some cases where your "mistakes" will follow you until the day you retire or quit. It is kind of like being "beholding" to the company store for all of your supplies because it is the only place you can spend your "script" you are being credited with. I call it Indentured Servitude. Others call it Slavery. Where else does anyone promote the use of the addendum "Master" in their title assignment.

 

They do not and will not negotiate or even reconsider their failed policy and inasmuch as they have decided to hold the line on their recent policy changes our Union has chosen not to participate in their "Grandstanding" attempt to show how much they really care about your safety and well being. We know how much.

 

And rest assured NS will not consider you as "unavailable" if you don't bow down to the NS Safety Idol on August the 18th.

 

Just say "No Thanks".

 

Tell them you have already made a commitment to work safely and it has nothing to do with NS policy.

 

Tell them you actually have the desire to go home with everything you came to work with each and every day.

 

If you are a Safety Committee member on your property and you have been asked to participate in the "NS Day of Safety" you have the right to ask to be excused. It may cost you the position if you were selected by the Superintendent or a Train"Master", but it may also be the time for you to take a stand for the membership you have been chosen to represent.

 

If you want to know why they are mad and the reasoning behind their most recent policy changes give me a call and I will be glad to discuss those issues with you. Better yet, attend your local union meetings and get involved in the process of progress. It is undoubtedly the best way to find out what is going on with your Union.

 

As Brother Emert stated in his initial response to the so called NS Day of Safety "Continue to work safely so that you may reap the benefits of your labor."

 

Sincerely and Fraternally Yours,

Howell Keown

UTU State Legislative Director-Georgia

 

NS Hiring To Continue Through 2011

 

UTU Regional Organizing Coordinator J.C. Roy has reported that NS has 60 ACT's per week at their Goergia training facility and they plan to do that til at least January 2011.  At that point the Carrier will evaluate man power at each location and hire more if needed. 

 

Nominations In October

 

UTU Local 1328 will be accepting nominations for the following positions at our October meeting:  Switchman Local and Vice Local Chairman, Conductors Local and Vice Local Chairman, and Engineers Local and Vice Local Chairman. 
 

NS Local's Going To Direct Billing

 

Beginning in October of this year, UTU Locals from Norfolk Southern, Conrail Shared Assets, and Indiana Harbor Belt will change their UTU billing to the new direct receipts system.  The old UTU billing system was designed over 25 years ago based on technology of that day.  Under the currect system, the monthly billing is a very complex and tedious process for the Local's and International.  As technology advances, the Local's and Internationals work will be simplified and less time consuming.  On September 21-23 a representative(s) from our Local will visit UTU International to attend a workshop.  If you have any questions, they will be fielded at the July and October meetings of UTU Local 1328. 

UTU ID Run Proposal

 

Attached are copies of initialed ID Agreement concerning the notices served by the Carrier in January of 2010 concerning the proposed ID Service between Cincinnati, Louisville, Chattanooga, Knoxville and Grove Tate.  This proposal provides for the Carrier to operate through the Home Terminal of Danville Kentucky.  The Agreement commits the Carrier and the Organization to negotiate an Agreement that allows running through a District Home Terminal.  The Running Through the Home Terminal provisions of the Agreement only apply to the Danville District in this case and although most of Article 13 of the Agreement apply to all ID Service the underlined portions apply only to Runs that Operate Through a home Terminal.

 

The most of this Article applies to ID service in General but the bolded portions apply to Runs that Do NOT Operate through a Home Terminal only.

 

ARTICLE 13

INTERDIVISIONAL SERVICE

As used in this Article, the term interdivisional service includes interdivisional, interseniority district, intradivisional and/or intraseniority district service.

An individual Carrier may establish interdivisional service in freight service, subject to the following procedure.

A. NOTICE

An individual Carrier seeking to establish interdivisional service shall give at least twenty days’ written notice to the organization of its desire to establish service, specify the service it proposes to establish and the conditions, if any, which it proposes shall govern the establishment of such service.

B. CONDITIONS

Reasonable and practical conditions shall govern the establishment of the runs described, including but not limited to the following:

1. Runs shall be adequate for efficient operations and reasonable in regard to the miles run, hours on duty and in regard to other conditions of work.

2. All miles run in excess of the miles encompassed in the basic day shall be paid for at a rate calculated by dividing the basic daily rate of pay in effect on October 31, 1985 by the number of miles encompassed in the basic day as of that date. Car scale and weight-on-drivers additives will apply to mileage rates calculated in accordance with this provision.

3. When a crew is required to report for duty or is relieved from duty at a point other than the on and off duty points fixed for the service established hereunder, the Carrier shall authorize and provide suitable transportation for the crew.

NOTE: Suitable transportation includes Carrier owned or provided passenger carrying motor vehicles or taxi, but excludes other forms of public transportation.

4. On runs established hereunder crews will be allowed a $8.00 meal allowance after 4 hours at the away-from-home terminal and another $8.00 allowance after being held an additional 8 hours.

5. In order to expedite the movement of interdivisional runs, crews on runs of miles equal to or less than the number encompassed in the basic day will not stop to eat except in cases of emergency or unusual delays. For crews on longer runs, the Carrier shall determine the conditions under which such crews may stop to eat. When crews on such runs are not permitted to stop to eat, crew members shall be paid an allowance of $1.50 for the trip.

6. The foregoing provisions 1. through 5. do not preclude the parties from negotiating other terms and conditions of work.

C. PROCEDURE

Upon the serving of a notice under Paragraph A., the parties will discuss the details of operation and working conditions of the proposed runs during a period of 20 days following the date of the notice. If they are unable to agree, at the end of the 20-day period, with respect to runs which do not operate through a home terminal or home terminals of previously existing runs which are to be extended, such run or runs will be operated on a trial basis until completion of the procedures referred to in Paragraph D. This trial basis operation will not be applicable to runs which operate through home terminals.

D. ARBITRATION

1. In the event the Carrier and the organization cannot agree on the matter provided for in Paragraph A. and the other terms and conditions referred to in Paragraph B. above, the parties agree that such dispute shall be submitted to arbitration under the Railway Labor Act, as amended, within 30 days after arbitration is requested by the Carrier. The arbitration board shall be governed by the general and specific guidelines set forth in Paragraph B. above.

2. The Carrier and the organization mutually commit themselves to the expedited processing of negotiations concerning interdivisional runs, including those involving running through home terminals, and mutually commit themselves to request the prompt appointment by the National Mediation Board of an arbitrator when an agreement cannot be reached.

3. The decision of the arbitration board shall be final and binding upon both parties, except that the award shall not require the Carrier to establish interdivisional service in the particular territory involved in each such dispute but shall be accepted by the parties as the conditions which shall be met by the Carrier if and when such interdivisional service is established in that territory. Provided further, however, if Carrier elects not to put the award into effect, Carrier shall be deemed to have waived any right to renew the same request for a period of one year following the date of said award, except by consent of the organization party to said arbitration.

E. EXISTING INTERDIVISIONAL SERVICE

Interdivisional service in effect on the date of this Agreement is not affected by this Article.

F. CONSTRUCTION OF ARTICLE

The foregoing provisions are not intended to impose restriction with respect to establishing interdivisional service where restrictions did not exist prior to the date of this Article.

G. PROTECTION

The provisions of Article XIII of the January 27, 1972 Agreement (reproduced in Article 35.B. of this Agreement) shall apply to employees adversely affected by the application of this Article.

H. INDIVIDUAL ID SERVICE AGREEMENTS

The individual Interdivisional Service Agreements are reproduced in Appendix A of this Agreement.

This page last updated: March 02, 2005 

Each Local Chairman must poll their respective Local Committee memberships and vote the proposed agreement up or down.  UTU Engineers and Locomotive Engineer Trainees vote as Firemen as this agreement will apply to LET'S. If your Local has a Engineer Local Chairman that will be his voting authority but if your local has no Engineer Local Chairman the Local Chairman that represents UTU Engineers and LET'S will be voting for the E craft when they cast their vote for the other craft they represent.

I will be communicating with the International to determine if each separate Local must ratify the Agreement by craft, or if the collective group must ratify the Agreement by craft or if the collective group must ratify the Agreement without respect to craft just a simple majority.

I will advise you all of their response.

Should you have questions concerning the application of the proposal please call and I will explain any portion that you do not understand. If you would like I can attend a meeting and explain the proposal, just let me know the date you would like me to attend a meeting.

This Agreement represents our best effort but for the most part the provisions contained in the proposal were and have been a part of Article 13 beginning in 1972.  I was able to make some additions most of which concern the Danville District folks as that was where we had the most negotiating leverage. 

I was able to get the Guaranteed Conductors X Board due to convincing the Carriers of their need for stability in the availability of employees. The X Board earnings for so called non-protected employee of $1,900.00 represents 75% of protected employees rate as the non-protects will have scheduled off days that represent being off 25% of the time. Protected employees would have lost wages due to marking off deducted from their guarantee in accordance with Article 37 C part 2. 

There is a big benefit to having guaranteed X Boards as the X Board will have scheduled off time and a wage guarantee.  The Carrier will be studying how well these X Boards function and hopefully we will be able to put them in place at all locations.  

Everyone working as of January 2010 will be protected under the provisions of the Washington Job Protection Act (WJPA).  If furloughed as a result of this ID Service each employee will be protected in accordance with the WJPA.  The Carrier will provide Test Period Averages for every employee working on January 2010 upon request.  I would encourage every employee to make this request as this will enable the employee to determine if the ID service has impacted their earnings.

The Local Chairman will be required to meet with the Carrier and work out the Local Conditions such as the length of the call 1, 1 hr 30 min, or 2 hour calls, regulars pool or assigned pool service, HOS relief, equity, limited off duty time in the Away Terminal, scheduled off days of which I will need to know if you are able to work out schedule off days before any local understanding is signed, and any other issue that may come up concerning this proposed service.

Failure to ratify this agreement will mean immediate arbitration which will be final and binding on both parties. The arbitrator will arbitrate this proposal not the original proposal served by the Carrier in January of this year.  A negotiated Agreement will be much simpler to change should we run into some unforeseen problem down the road.  Final and binding arbitration means just what it says and sets a precedent for all future ID Service.

I will need to have your votes no later than 3:00 PM July 30, 2010.  Should you need more time due to scheduling a meeting that you would like me to attend, just call and I can arrange for an extension.

Harriman In Jeopardy, Harassment Likely

 

NS is currently in second place (behind CSXT) in the Harriman race.  The race is close but the organization suspects that NS has yet to report all of it's injuries to the FRA (including some in Louisville).  The Organization speculates that NS has taken the stance that this drop from first place is the fault of the Transportation workers.  Where was the praise for the Transportation workers when NS won countless Harriman's?   Expect a spike in rules checks, discipline, and harassment.  What better way to raise morale, promote focus, and avoid injuries.  You have been warned, protect yourself and your job. 100% rules compliance is required!

 

Summary Of Recent Meeting Between Union Officials/Carrier Officers 

 

All General Managers, Dr. Prible, and Mssrs. Wheeler, Manion, Mobley, and Rathbone attended. There are several significant policy changes that I hope you will share with our brothers and sisters. My notes are in a rough draft format. Please keep this in mind. If you have questions and would like a more in-depth explanation, please call. 

In the order the issues were discussed at the meeting:

• Safety - In the current year-to-date Harriman competition, the NS ratio is 0.97 and the CSX ratio is 0.86. 
• A thorough discussion of the safety statistics on the various territories was held. 
• Virginia Division is not doing as well as last year.
• Pocahontas is doing better. Pocahontas had a 90-day injury free streak recently.
• Mr. Wheeler spoke to a new focus on Safety Rule 1080. While on moving equipment, stay seated until the movement stops. Moving about while on moving equipment when not necessary is considered a "risky behavior". 
• The General Chairmen had not heard of this new focus and commented at length about it being a culture change in many areas where employees are accustomed to being ready in the steps of the engine when the movement stops. NS will focus on road crews in getting out the new intent of Rule 1080. (Discussion with Mr. Wheeler included that it would be permissible for conductors to go back to check for problems or alarms on trailing units.)
• Safety Stock Incentive Plan Changes - For 2010, all unique road crew territories will acquire their own reporting groups. This is an answer to the valid concerns expressed over the fact road crews had only one chance to win and that was their division while yards/terminals had more than one chance. Incentives will continue to be paid in cash stock equivalent with tax estimation added.
• Vests -  On August 4, 2010, Vests will become mandatory when on and around tracks and highways and roads (as in flagging crossings, etc.) They are lime green/hi-visibility yellow and completely break away with all Velcro seams. They will not be required while in enclosed spaces like offices and vehicles and locomotives.
• General Chairmen brought up the murder/robbery of CSX conductor Frederick Gibbs in New Orleans on 6/20 and situations that place us on the ground in high crime areas. This may be an area that we should not be wearing anything to bring attention to ourselves. Some agreement from Mr. Wheeler.
• There is also a suggestion that we be deemed in compliance if we are wearing a high-viz shirt as a substitute, rather than having to wear yet another layer of clothing in the heat of the railroad in summertime.
• "Hands-Free Radio" Requirement - When the vest becomes mandatory, it is also going to become a rule requirement that lapel microphones and belt-clipped radios be used. (For some reason, they refer to this as a "hands-free radio".) The lapel mike may be used with a loop on the vest or with the separate orange "bib" mike holder.
• Business - Business is good, Service is poor. Service level is at 49.9% whereas a year ago it was 70%.
• System velocity has dropped badly.
• Power and crew availability are representing the biggest impediments to good service. 
• There are now HR authorities to hire 834 T&E employees. 
• All locomotives are out of storage and NS has leased 100 locomotives.
• 1500 T&E furloughs resulted in 85% coming back. (About 225 did not.) 
• Transfers to other districts have amounted to about 50 and are largely finished with paperwork.
• Weekend markoffs are a continuing area of concern and may result in further scrutiny and handling of pattern markoffs.
• FMLA Administration will revert to the same third party contractor, APS, at Roanoke Terminal and on the Georgia Division. 
• Expect some other FMLA problem areas to come under APS handling in the future.
• Pattern weekend FMLA markoffs will draw heat. "Weekends are horrible." We are going to see what FMLA purpose they serve. (Ex.- If the FMLA reason is to take a relative to the doctor, APS may ask about weekend doctor appointments.)
• START Changes- New focus on GR-13 and GR-14 compliance
• GR-13 and GR-14 will immediately become START Serious offenses due to violations historically leading to serious injuries.
• First offense:
• -Immediate Removal From Service
• -Three Day Suspension
• -Retraining without pay
• All agreement rights to investigation remain unchanged.
• These two areas of violations (GR-13 "Employee must nots" and GR-14 Three step) are going to be broken out from other START Serious policy violations and their treatment will be as outlined above. The alternative was have them listed as START Major violations.
• Mr. Manion will put out the word to all supervisors that the benefit of the doubt must go to the employee and field supervisors must be "100% sure" of the violation to handle it.
• General Chairmen suggest new meetings with local chairmen to address START changes. They will be held on a Division basis and will include Payroll and Crew Management.
• Mr. Wheeler will send out a letter to all employees' homes announcing the START changes.
• START Changes for RVD's (?and RVI's?) -
• RVDs will move away from handling based upon FRA threshold dollar reporting requirements to an automatic START Serious. 
• RULE VIOLATION DERAILMENTS
• Some interchangeable use of the term "RVI" was used but it was never explained whether this was meant to include NON-DERAILMENT rule violations like run-through switches. (??) Answer later.
• The change is because of the escalating "other costs" of derailments and the dangers any derailment poses to employees and public. 
• Main causes of RVDs:
• -Switches improperly handled
• -Shoving Movements
• -Securing Equipment
• After signing for a RVD/RVI START Serious, first offense will result in eight hours or less of formal retraining at half pay for employees with less than two years of service. This area of the new policy may be subject to change because of some objections raised about it.
• All agreement rights to investigation remain unchanged.
• Mr. Manion emphasized that this is a unilateral START policy change which they have every right to do and it will be effective July 1, 2010.
• Other START Changes-
• There will be a RESET of all Phase I (START Minor) handling on July 1st. (This amounts to turning the START Minor clock "ahead" one year. All minors reset as to progression.)
• The START Oversight Committee will now meet monthly to review all START Serious offenses resulting from the policy changes
• WERIS - 
• For engineers, the WERIS threshold for EXCESSIVE SPEEDING is raised to 5 mph. This does NOT mean anything except that the (automatic) DISMISSAL threshold changes to greater than 5 mph across the entire spectrum of speeds and speed limits. It does not mean that it is OK to run 4.99 mph over the speed limit.
• NS wants "track speed" running. The current fall in system velocity is getting bad and being noticed.
• General Chairmen pointed out that they were warned more than once as they rolled out WERIS. It has evolved into what it has because of the way WERIS has been handled.
• General Chairmen pointed out that, even with the new thresholds, NS should also look at the particular actions that lead to  the overspeed and the actions that the engineer took to correct them on an individual case basis. There was some agreement from NS management. 
• Again, Mr. Manion stated his intention was to run trains at the track speed limits.
• General Chairmen wanted to address as one body three issues:
• -NS Medical Department
• -NS Payroll 
• -NS Labor Relations
• Detailed complaints about the Medical Department resulted in a renewed commitment to change it. 
• They are addressing their staff shortages by hiring new nurses and Medical Standards Coordinators. 
• New hire employee physicals and evaluations have been sent to a third-party contractor. 
• In dealing with the perpetual problem of medical record "losses", there is now a single person who handles all incoming faxes and imaging and distribution of records to proper people.
• Railroad Retirement forms and Attending Physician Statements required by insurance companies will acquire a new higher priority to ensure that no one "goes without benefits".
• Return-to work physicals and the MED-15 problems will be solved "immediately". Nobody should come out of a RTW physical and not know whether or not they are "really" cleared to return to service.
• Hot button issues are going to be corrected "now". There will be a conference call once a month with the General Chairmen to address each and every area of concern. 
• Medical Department will again address issues of telephone manners and accuracy of information.
• Payroll problems and audits and recoveries generated a long discussion with nothing much to offer from it.
• The takeaway is that basic days are still not going to be paid for Safety Committees, Rules Classes, SQ Workshops, etc.
• If you attend on your off time, you may not be paid for attending. (This is a "long-standing Labor Relations policy" that nobody, including the Division Superintendents, seemed to know about.)
• The time was short, meeting wound down, and only a few other issues were addressed. None involved Labor Relations:
• -UTCS printouts are lengthy and are being looked at. Paper waste should be held down with the new conductor's print option from Crewcall to only print required clearances. 
• PLEASE REPORT PRINTERS THAT DON'T PRINT EASILY READABLE CLEARANCES. 
• High speed printers are being phased in.
• -At the suggestion that RailView recording be reviewed by agreement of General Chairmen in STOP signal cases, Mssrs. Manion and Wheeler said that all STOP signal cases have Railview examination by 'NS experts'. No need for General Chairmen to review them. (??)
• -Comments from General Chairmen that Supervisors are held to a different (lower) standard of honesty than employees. It was acknowledged by Mr. Wheeler that this may be the case in limited situations. They are working on correcting habitual offenders.
• -Look to all of their union leaders (local chairmen and general chairmen) for concerted help in safety and the concept that we all go home in good shape.

Another Pipe Bomb Found
 

SELLERSBURG, Ind. -- Clark County police say a pipe bomb found Thursday night could have killed someone, the WDRB Fox 41 Web site reports. Instead, people hunting snakes near railroad tracks saw it and called for help. It lay on Southern Indiana Railway tracks that cross Bean Road, in Sellersburg, north of Clark County Airport. A state police explosives technician disabled the device safely about two hours later. Officers called it an IED, short for "improvised explosive device," a term more commonly heard in talk of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. They described the device as a jar wrapped in duct tape, packed with a half-pound of black powder and a fuse. They said anyone could have made it at home. But that powder had enough force to kill someone if it had exploded. Now police want to know who built it and placed it on the tracks. "We sandbagged the device in order to preserve it for evidence, and we're going to try to remove the duct tape to see if we can get any fingerprints off of the container itself," said Maj. Chuck Adams, Clark Co. Sheriff's Dept. Adams was blunt about the potential power of the bomb. "It could have very well killed several people. Half a pound of black powder is very dangerous," Adams said. Railroad traffic was stopped so police could detonate the device safely. No one was hurt.  Officers ask anyone with information about the bomb to call the Clark County Sheriff's Department at 812-283-4471.  

DO NOT TEXT ON DUTY

We just received this information from the Arizona State Director:

The FRA is in the process of levying individual fines against the CONDUCTOR. They are referencing four separate occasions of texting while on a train with a $10,000 fine per infraction totaling $40,000. That doesn’t include the “time off” UP is pursuing.

In addition to the previous case, UP railroad in AZ has sited another conductor for allegedly texting while on a train. This time the UP is claiming they saw the conductor with binoculars from afar. UP is pursuing termination in this case.

PLEASE DON’T LET YOURSELF BE MADE AN EXAMPLE OF BE CAREFUL

FREIGHT CONDUCTOR SHOT DEAD IN NEW ORLEANS

 This just in: A freight railroad conductor was shot to death early Sunday, June 20, in what New Orleans police say was a botched robbery attempt that escalated to murder. There are conflicting reports, at present, as to what railroad is involved.

The still unidentified conductor, said by police to be age 52, was shot around 12:30 a.m., June 20. Police said that in response to a call of "shots fired," they discovered the victim beside an intermodal train and suffering "multiple" gunshot wounds. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency medical technicians, police said. The westbound train reportedly was stopped in downtown New Orleans when the crime occurred.  Police said the shooter had fled the scene by the time they arrived.

Take nothing for granted.  The railroad requires Conductors to inspect trains, work in unlit areas, work unsupervised at outlying points, etc.  If you ever question your safety, don't do the task.  Ask for some sort of security. 

2010 Golf Scramble

 

There will not be a UTU 1328/Wettermark Holland Keith golf scramble in 2010.  It will return in the summer of 2011.

John Yarmuth Responds To Alt Legislative Representative Wallin

Dear Mr. Wallin,

Thank you for contacting me to express your concerns about national identification cards. I appreciate hearing from you on this important issue.

As you may be aware, in the immigration bill currently taking shape in the Senate, Senators Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have proposed a national biometric identification card that all legal U.S. workers, including citizens and immigrants, would eventually be required to obtain. This identification card would be embedded with information such as fingerprints to tie the card to the worker. Although this idea is currently being debated in the Senate, you can be assured that I will keep your views close in mind should it come to the House Floor for a vote.

I believe that our nation's immigration system is broken, and Congress should enact Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR). While we should not lose sight of the fact that we are a nation of immigrants, reform must curtail future illegal immigration. That is why I remain fully committed to enacting a CIR package that promotes humane immigration enforcement, enhanced border security, employer accountability with a strong verification system, and a worker program that will protect and create American jobs and businesses - while ensuring we have an accurate record of who is in our country and why they are here. 

It is unclear whether CIR legislation will be considered on the House Floor during this session of Congress, however I will keep your concerns in mind should it advance in the weeks and months ahead.

In the meantime, thank you again for contacting me, and please feel free to get in touch with me in the future regarding any matter of concern. If you would like to learn more about my work in Washington and in Louisville, please visit my website at www.yarmuth.house.gov where you will find the latest news, my weekly schedule, video from hearings, and information about constituent services.  You can also sign up for my e-newsletter to receive periodic updates on important issues and services for your family.

Sincerely,

John Yarmuth

Member Of Congress