Meetings
& News
(Scroll to the bottom of this page to get all the updated
news)
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Monthly Union Meeting Schedule
1st
Wednesday of each month
3:00 pm
Edgemont Senior Center
We hope you will attend
News
TREASURERS' PAYROLL TAX UPDATE
The UTU International is receiving calls from local
treasurers unsure of Railroad Retirement, Medicare and
Social Security payroll taxes in effect for 2011.
Following are the tax rates:
Railroad Retirement Tier I:
* Paid by employer: 6.20% on wages up to $106,800.
* Paid by employee: 4.2% on wages up to $106,800.
Social Security (non-railroad employment):
* Paid by employer: 6.2% on wages up to $106,800.
* Paid by employee: 4.2% on wages up to $106,800.
Medicare (railroad and non-railroad employment):
* Paid by employer: 1.45% on all wages (no cap).
* Paid by employee: 1.45% on all wages (no cap).
Railroad Retirement Tier II
* Paid by employer: 12.1% on wages up to a $79,200.
* Paid by employee: 3.9% on wages up to $79,200.
Railroad Unemployment Insurance:
* Paid by employer: 2.15% on wages up to $15,960.
* No tax on employee.
2011: SO WHERE ARE WE HEADED THIS YEAR?
By UTU International President Mike Futhey
We continue making progress in negotiations to amend the
national rail agreement, affecting some 40,000 UTU members
employed by BNSF, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk
Southern, Union Pacific and many smaller railroads
represented by the National Carriers' Conference Committee (NCCC).
The national rail contract was opened for amendment in
January 2010. The existing agreement remains in force until
amendments are concluded under provisions of the Railway
Labor Act.
We have held eight formal negotiating sessions with the NCCC.
A ninth is scheduled this month. Our objective is to reach a
voluntary tentative agreement that recognizes the many and
significant contributions our members have made to soaring
railroad profitability.
When I took office in January 2008, negotiations in the
previous round had stretched aimlessly into their third
year. Within 30 days, our new negotiating team reached an
agreement with the NCCC that was overwhelmingly ratified by
our membership.
Again, this round, our negotiating team is relying on
rock-solid research to counter carrier arguments that the
recession requires employee give-backs. We have developed
financial and economic data on carrier profits and worker
productivity to justify our contract demands.
We are utilizing a healthcare consulting firm to produce
hard data on healthcare costs, and to assist both sides in
exploring innovative solutions to slow the spiraling of
healthcare costs.
It is not good enough to say we simply want something,
because that list is endless. As our negotiating team did in
January 2008, we are utilizing interest-based bargaining --
joint problem solving whereby each side understands the
needs of the other.
In a collaborative atmosphere, we are negotiating toward a
win-win agreement, which requires that both sides attempt
solutions not anticipated by either side individually, but
achievable jointly through commonality of interests.
There are other issues high on our 2011 agenda:
We are placing increased emphasis on improving workplace
safety and security by expanding the role of the Rail Safety
Task Force. This includes working jointly with the carriers
to refine and improve provisions of the Rail Safety
Improvement Act, as requested by UTU members who
participated in the task force’s exhaustive safety survey on
workplace concerns. Objectives include the matter of
time-off -- between yard assignments and at away-from-home
terminals.
Of importance to our bus and transit members, we are working
collectively with other labor organizations to improve --
through regulation and legislation -- workplace safety and
quality of life.
For our highly trained and skilled airline members, we are
working to solve some of unimaginable workplace conditions
they endure. We represent pilots and flight attendants who
can’t afford basic dental care and who qualify for food
stamps.
Education of members is a high priority. We are beefing-up
the educational offerings -- air, bus and rail -- at
regional meetings, and building on initiatives of several of
our progressive rail locals to provide educational seminars
at away-from-home terminals.
Education includes communication, and within a few months we
will launch a redesigned, expanded and easier to navigate
webpage at www.utu.org.
Cost control at the International -- and within the UTUIA --
is of great importance, and is being pursued through more
efficient and responsive delivery of services to our members
and policy holders.
I pledge that we will continue to represent our members with
honesty, ferocity, courage, resiliency and adaptability.
The UTU will be recognized universally as representing
hardworking men and women who deliver, with integrity and
dedication, essential transportation services to the
American economy, which remains the envy of the world.
(Click on links to view)
Safety Summit Agreement
MCO
& Crew Issues
UTU
RAILS URGED TO TAKE SURVEY ON SLEEP, FATIGUE
An educational website focusing on sleep, sleep disorders
and fatigue management is being created in a collaborative
effort among the UTU, the Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers and Trainmen, the Federal Railroad Administration,
sleep medicine experts at Harvard Medical School, and Boston
Public Radio station WGBH, which is Public Broadcasting's
largest producer of education web and television content.
Input from UTU rail members, nationwide, is essential to the
project.
UTU members are encouraged to complete an anonymous, online
survey that should take no more than 15 minutes.
To respond to the question and complete the survey, click on
the following link:
www.zoomerang.com/Survey/WEB22BBLHSEXZA
Additional information on the project and its website --
Sleep Health for Railroaders -- is available by clicking on
the following link:
http://sleep.med.harvard.edu/ext/railroaders/
RAIL RETIREMENT PAYROLL TAX SET FOR 2011
Railroad Retirement payroll taxes will remain at 2010 levels
in 2011, reports the Railroad Retirement Board.
For Tier I, carriers and employees each will pay 6.20
percent on a maximum of $106,800 of wages.
For Medicare, carriers and employees each will pay 1.45
percent on all wages.
For Tier II, carriers will pay 12.10 percent and employees
3.9 percent on a maximum of $79,200 of wages.
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If you are concerned by demands of
environmentalists to reduce American coal transportation and
American coal use, which will have a negative impact on rail jobs,
wages and benefits, you may wish to let your congressional
representatives know.
As demands are being made to shut down coal-fired electricity plants
in the U.S., and restrict transportation of low-cost and abundant
domestic coal, China is sending armadas of ships to Australia,
Canada, Colombia, Indonesia and South Africa to carry back coal for
hundreds of new coal-fired electricity plants it is constructing,
reports The New York Times.
The bottom line is that as attacks on U.S. coal use escalate, the
cost of generating electricity also escalates, and that puts
railroad, mining and other U.S. jobs in jeopardy as China reaps the
economic rewards. It also makes the U.S. more dependent on expensive
foreign oil from nations that are not our friends.
Wes Vernon, a former CBS radio reporter, writes in the current issue
of Railfan & Railroad magazine that environmental groups are
opposing federal approval of a proposed new railroad line that would
haul additional low sulfur coal out of the Montana and Wyoming
Powder River Basin.
“All over America,” writes Vernon, “environmental groups have
mounted major campaigns against building new coal-fired plants and,
where possible, to shut down [others].”
Coal currently provides 50 percent of America’s electricity, says
Rep. Shelley Capito (R-W.Va.). Railroads deliver 70 percent of
America’s coal to meet our demand for electricity – a demand that
will continue to grow unless we want to freeze in wintertime as did
pioneers 150 years ago; darken our televisions; toss out our cell
phones, iPods, iPads, Game Boys, and Kindles; and return to candles
after dark.
Renewable energy sources – such as wind farms -- are being
developed, but are not practical for the near term. And new
technology is being developed making coal-burning power plants more
environmentally friendly.
Coal, according to the Association of American Railroads, provides
25 percent of the industry’s revenue and one of every five railroad
jobs. One coal train, with an engineer and conductor, departs the
Powder River Basin every minute of every hour, 24/7, reports Vernon.
Meanwhile, according to The New York Times, China is consuming half
of the world’s annual output of six billion tons of coal. In
America, according to The New York Times, one environmental group
says it has helped to block construction of 139 proposed coal plants
in the U.S.
CONDUCTOR CERTIFICATION COMING
JAN. 1, 2012
To stay informed go to
WWW.UTU.ORG
WASHINGTON -- In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)
published in the Nov. 10 Federal Register, the Federal Railroad
Administration proposes to make Jan. 1, 2012, the effective date for
implementation of conductor certification.
The rulemaking on principles, elements and methods of conductor
certification was ordered by Congress in the 2008 Rail Safety
Improvement Act..
The NPRM -- preceding implementation of the final rule, expected
in early 2011 -- was developed through the FRA's Rail Safety
Advisory Committee (RSAC), comprised of stakeholders, including
affected labor unions, railroads, suppliers, manufacturers and FRA
safety experts.
The various stakeholders had many conflicting objectives for the
rulemaking, and the NPRM is a consensus document that required
compromise among all stakeholders.
The UTU was represented on the RSAC Conductor Certification
Working Group by a team appointed by International President Mike
Futhey:
* Local 1470 Chairperson Director David Brooks
* General Chairperson (GO 049) John Lesniewski
* UTU Training Coordinator and Local 528 Legislative
Representative Ron Parsons
* National Legislative Director James Stem
* Alternate National Legislative Director John Risch
* Local 645 Chairperson Vinnie Tessitore
* UTU Rail Safety Coordinator for Designated Legal Counsel Larry
Mann
The UTU will respond to NPRM with recommendations for
improvement and change in the final rule -- as will all
stakeholders. The FRA will make the sole determination as to
contents of the final rule.
Following are major provisions of the rulemaking. A more
detailed summary will be posted on the UTU website following a
thorough review of the 53-page Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
* Conductors who must be certified are defined as "the
crewmember in charge of a train or yard crew."
* Trains are defined as freight and passenger trains on
railroads that connect to the national rail network.
* Conductor certification does not cover assistant conductors,
brakemen, yard helpers, switchmen, utility men, switch tenders,
flagmen or others not in charge of a crew.
* Railroads must implement a formal process -- to be approved by
the FRA -- for training conductors and determining they are
competent.
* To be qualified for certification, a conductor must
successfully complete all instruction, training and examination
programs required by the carrier. Conductors must also meet minimum
federal safety standards, including minimum hearing and vision
standards.
* Passenger train conductors must have received emergency
preparedness training to be certified.
* Current conductors will automatically be certified
(grandfathered).
* Conductors may be decertified for between 30 days and three
years, depending on the number of violations.
* Decertification may occur for violations stemming from
operation of their personal motor vehicles, such as impaired
driving.
* Decertification may also take place when FRA safety
regulations are violated (such as failing to take appropriate action
to ensure a locomotive engineer adheres to train speed limits and
signals and signposts, or fails to perform or have knowledge that a
required brake test was performed).
* Decertified engineers will not be allowed to work as a
certified conductor while decertified, nor will decertified
conductors be allowed to work as certified engineers. An exception
is that a conductor, decertified for violating a 49 CFR Part 218
safety regulation, will be able to work as a certified engineer.
* If the railroad permits, a decertified engineer or decertified
conductor may work, for example, as a brakeman, a passenger train
assistant conductor, or in another non-certified position.
* If the railroad permits, decertification time may be used for
retraining.
* All crews are required to have a certified conductor assigned.
The NPRM is crew consist neutral, but provides that a lone engineer
must be certified as both an engineer and a conductor, or be
accompanied by a certified conductor.
* The process for appealing decertification can be extremely
lengthy, and require an attorney-at-law. Mann cites a
decertification he is challenging -- involving an engineer -- that
has now dragged into its fifth year. Mann said streamlining the
appeals process, before the final rule goes into effect, will be
among the top priorities of the UTU.
Although conductor certification carries the risk of
decertification, the UTU RSAC Conductor Certification Working Group
said certification will enhance the proficiency of UTU members,
making them ever more professional and indespensible.
Collective bargaining, not the FRA rulemaking, will determine
whether a certified conductor receives additional pay.
Click here to read the 53-page Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.
FRA TO MAKE CELL-PHONE BAN PERMANENT
WASHINGTON -- The Federal Railroad
Administration has announced it will make permanent its
Emergency Order No. 26 restricting the use by on-duty train
crews of cell phones and other electronic devices.
Some changes, as described below,
are to be included in the permanent ban.
The emergency order was issued in
October 2008, and the permanent ban will go into effect in late
March 2011, following mandatory carrier instruction of train and
engine workers covered under the ban.
During the interim, Emergency Order
No. 26 will remain in effect.
The emergency order and the
permanent ban prohibit the use of an electronic device --
whether personal or railroad supplied -- if it interferes with
that employee's or another employee's performance of
safety-related duties.
The permanent ban, going into effect
in six months, contains some different provisions from the 2008
emergency order and/or the FRA's May draft final of the
permanent ban:
Engineer and conductor
certification
The final rule will not immediately
subject engineers or conductors (when conductor certification,
required by the Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2008, is
implemented) to revocation of their certification for a
violation of the ban.
However, the FRA said it "may be
appropriate" in the future to revoke such certification
following a violation.
After the FRA unveiled its draft
final rule in May, the UTU and other rail labor organizations
filed written comments in June, strongly objecting to making
such violations subject to revocation of certification.
Personal cell phone records
The final rule scraps an FRA
suggestion in its draft final rule that train and engine workers
provide railroads access to their personal cell phone records in
the event of an accident. The FRA said it already has such
authority under the law. The UTU and other rail labor
organizations had argued that such a provision would "result in
harassment of our members by accessing their personal phone
records for any and every incident."
Personal emergencies
The final rule will not create an
exception for personal emergencies. The FRA said such an
exception "would present significant obstacles," as an operating
employee "found with a cell phone turned on while on a moving
train could easily say the phone was on because of a sick family
member, whether true or not."
The UTU and other rail labor
organizations had urged adoption of a personal emergency
exception. But as the rule is now written, an employee will be
prohibited from contacting healthcare providers or sick family
members in emergency situations no matter how serious the
situation is and even if their railroad employer would have
permitted them to do so.
GPS devices
In the final rule, the use of
personal global positioning service (GPS) devices is not
permitted. "Locomotive engineers," said the FRA, "are required
to be familiar with the physical characteristics of the routes
over which they operate. Thus, engineers should already be aware
of where sidings, road crossings, and other physical
characteristics are located."
Calculators
The FRA's final rule does permit
calculators to be used to determine formulas such as train
stopping calculations or tons per operative brake.
Cameras
The final rule allows for
stand-alone cameras (not part of a cell phone or other
electronic device) to document a safety hazard or a violation of
a rail safety law, regulation order, or standard. However, the
FRA final rule will permit the use of railroad-supplied
multi-functional devices that include a camera for "authorized
business purposes as specified by the railroad in writing" and
only after being approved by the FRA.
The UTU and other rail labor
organizations had argued that it "is unnecessary to require
employees to carry several separate electronic devices on a
daily basis to effectively and safety perform their duties." The
labor organizations recommended -- but the FRA rejected -- that
a cell-phone camera be allowed to document a hazard or violation
of a regulation and then be turned off immediately.
To read the FRA's Sept. 27 final
rule, which is more than 40 pages when printed out, click on the
following link:
http://edocket.access.gpo.gov:80/2010/2010-23916.htm
To read the June 17 joint filing by
the UTU and other rail labor organizations to the draft final
rule, which is 17 pages when printed out,
click here.
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