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MEMORANDUM
Officers and Staff
SMART Transportation Division

Dear Brothers and Sisters:
As the COVID-19 continues to impact our country and its day-to-day operations, I have received a number of inquiries concerning travel and day-to-day business for union officers and staff.
I will simply state that at this time, it is my personal decision to continue as normal with our mission to serve the membership. As a leader I would never ask our members who are working on buses, trains, and commuter operations every day to do something I would not do. I know they are in harm’s way every day they go to work, with or without COVID-19, and as long as they are there, I too will be traveling by all means necessary to move us forward. This past week, I flew to the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department executive council meetings and the UTUIA Field Supervisor annual training class. Next week, I look forward to traveling to Los Angeles to meet with many bus drivers and SMART-TD officers. Until a government agency tells me I can no longer travel, my schedule will not be altered.
In doing so, I will also be monitoring this situation and keeping current with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, while staying particularly mindful of the links provided below my signature. If you are not already, I would encourage you to do the same.
With that being said, should anyone have issues with having to travel while serving in a union capacity due to personal health reasons or fear of contamination of a family member, then I understand. That is your personal decision to make, in conjunction with your doctor or family members.
We will do our best to keep everyone apprised of any changes and we will take every precaution necessary to keep everyone safe. Many letters went out last week and early this week from my office requesting advice for the safety of our members, and also demanding relief from the draconian attendance policies currently in place. So far, the FRA has been the only one to respond. It is sad, yet not surprising, to see the FRA has responded in such a pathetic manner. It is also disconcerting how the FAA stepped up and issued advisories to airports, pilots, and flight attendants; yet the FRA relies on “having no authority in this area” (via Frank Wilner of Railway Age) as their excuse for inaction. We will continue to push all agencies to do everything possible to protect our membership when on duty.

Fraternally yours,

 

 

 

 

Jeremy Ferguson
President — Transportation Division

COVID-19 and Travel in the United States: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/travelers/travel-in-the-us.html
CDC Steps to Prevent Illness: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/protect/prevent.html
CDC Guidelines on Identifying Symptoms: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/symptoms.html

Two SMART Transportation Division members and their local union brothers and sisters are in mourning after two sudden and untimely deaths.

Joey Trianders Allen

Local 1565 member Laura Corley lost her son, Joey Trianders Allen, 43, of Lancaster, Calif., after police said a wrong-way driver slammed into his vehicle on the 405 Freeway in Los Angeles early Sunday, Feb. 16.
The driver suspected of being drunk behind the wheel in the crash that killed Allen has been charged with murder and a number of other counts associated with the crash. Services for Allen took place March 7.
In Michigan, the family of Grand Elk Railroad employee and SMART-TD Local 313 Local Chairperson Todd Vaughn is mourning the death of Vaughn’s daughter, Alison Sargent, 25.
The body of Sargent, the mother of two daughters from Pennfield Township, Mich., was found Saturday, March 7, after she had been reported missing last Thursday.
Alison Sargent

A GoFundMe account was established to assist the family and Sargent’s children by a family friend.
No suspects have been identified in Sargent’s death, and police are continuing to investigate her death as a homicide.
SMART-TD expresses its deepest sympathies to both Sister Corley and Brother Vaughn in this time of unimaginable loss to them and to their families.

SMART Transportation Division Washington State Legislative Director Herb Krohn reports that, despite a last-ditch effort by Senate Minority Leader Mark Schoesler to quash it, the two-person freight crew legislation bill passed through the state Senate by a 34-15 vote.


Krohn

Schoesler, a Republican, attempted to adjourn the legislative session rather than have the bill come up to a vote five minutes before the close of the legislative session on Friday afternoon, Krohn said.

“Schoesler attempted to shut down the Washington State Senate rather than allow our crewing bill to come to the floor for consideration and a vote,” Krohn said. “It’s an example of just how far the rail carriers and their allies are willing to go to kill off our safe train crewing bill as well as any other railroad safety legislation they oppose!”

That motion to adjourn was defeated by a party-line vote, and the bill subsequently was heard and voted upon early Friday evening.

Five Republicans and a Democrat who caucuses with them voted with every Senate Democrat in favor of the bill. The 15 senators who voted against H.B. 1841 were all Republican.

Krohn and the Washington State Legislative Board have been working for seven years to get the two-person crew legislation passed. Krohn has affectionately referred to H.B. 1841 as a “zombie” bill — it has been buried and put on hold numerous times by legislators but keeps coming back. It now enters the reconciliation phase because of differences in language involving short-line carriers between the Senate and House versions of the bill.

Krohn said the state House will consider amendments adopted by the Senate, and if representative do not agree upon the Senate amendments, a conference committee of two Democrats and one Republican from each chamber of the Legislature will be assigned to attempt to work out differences between the versions of this bill.

The deadline for the process is midnight March 12 — the last day of the 2020 legislative session. Once the reconciliation process is completed, the bill will be sent to the desk of Gov. Jay Inslee.

“We may need to mobilize again to generate high levels of constituent contacts with state legislators to get this bill across the finish line,” Krohn said.

He urged members to be on the lookout for email blasts — contact him at hskrohn55@hotmail.com — to add your name and stay up-to-date.

He thanked all TD members, their families and friends and all who helped for their persistence in advocating for the legislation and getting it closer to the governor’s desk.

“We wouldn’t be here without your support and willingness to take action to help push our train crewing bill forward,” Krohn said.

CLEVELAND, Ohio (March 6) — SMART Transportation Division (SMART-TD) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) jointly petitioned the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) on March 6 to take action in responding to the rapidly spreading COVID-19 (coronavirus) in the United States.

“With at least 231 patients treated in 22 states, and at least 14 deaths at the present time … we and other rail labor Organizations take this issue very seriously, and we have been monitoring it closely,” wrote SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson and BLET President Dennis R. Pierce in a letter to FRA Administrator Ronald J. Batory.

The two union presidents pointedly questioned the FRA’s lack of an action plan to help address the potential spread of the coronavirus among rail workers.

“As you are likely already aware, over the last several weeks multiple departments within the Department of Transportation … have issued guidelines to employers on how to approach this issue, along with statements and guidelines focused on educating and protecting the crew members, passengers, and consumers who may be impacted by this deadly disease,” the union presidents wrote. “To our knowledge, the FRA has overlooked, or perhaps outright disregarded, its responsibility to get involved with this matter.”

The presidents urged FRA to issue guidelines directed at U.S. rail carriers, employees and passengers similar to those issued by other departments within the DOT.

Those would include:

  • Sanitizing equipment such as (but not limited to) locomotive cabs, computers, remote control boxes and communal areas such as passenger cars, offices, crew staging areas, company provided ground transportation, and away-from-home lodging facilities.
  • Providing crews and passengers with personal protective equipment, alcohol-based hand sanitizer strong enough to kill viruses, and other cleaning supplies as deemed appropriate.
  • Encouraging employees to stay home if they have respiratory symptoms (such as coughing, sneezing, shortness of breath, and/or fever) that are similar to those associated with the coronavirus and to leave if they develop such symptoms while working.
  • Strongly encouraging rail carriers to relax current attendance policies which can be described as unforgiving, at best, to employees who miss work due to illness.
  • Educating all rail employees (including supervisory staff) on the appropriate guidelines for self-monitoring of their health, as well as monitoring and addressing others who appear to be symptomatic.
  • Reporting to appropriate health departments where employees have shown aforementioned symptoms that prevent them from carrying out their assigned duties.
  • Developing plans for employees who reside with, and/or come into direct contact with individuals who are symptomatic.
  • Encouraging carriers to develop health programs and practices which exceed FRA’s recommended guidelines.
  • Encouraging all parties to understand and comply with other such guidelines issued by the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Presidents Ferguson and Pierce concluded by again urging prompt action from FRA to protect the safety of railroad workers and the traveling public.

“Further, we ask that you provide continual updates to these guidelines, as other departments have done. Please advise of your plans pertaining to this very serious situation,” they wrote.

Read the letter to FRA Administrator Batory.

The SMART-Transportation Division has reached out to the chairman of the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC) seeking answers as to what the rail industry’s response would be to the spread of the COVID-19 respiratory illness, especially when considering the strict attendance policies of carriers.

This is the first of what will be a number of outreach efforts by the union to transportation stakeholders to protect the health and jobs of SMART-TD members as the illness, commonly known as the coronavirus, spreads.

At present, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and other reputable sources report 158 patients being treated in 17 states for the disease, which starts out with respiratory symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, shortness of breath and/or fever. In order to prevent the virus’s spread, CDC has recommended that affected workers remain at home.

“As we have discussed on numerous occasions, this philosophy is incongruent with many of the rail carriers’ current attendance policies, which can be described as unforgiving, at best, for employees who miss work due to illness,” SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson wrote to the NCCC’s Brendan Branon.

Ferguson said that the communications efforts of the NRC/UTU Health and Welfare Plan Governing Committee in conjunction with the Railroad Employees’ National Health and Welfare Plan to inform, educate and help protect members from coronavirus could have a positive impact in stopping the spread of the virus among transportation workers.

However, he asked Branon to map out a more detailed response in cooperation with the governing committee to answer questions about the industry’s response to the virus going forward:

Do the carriers plan to adopt the CDC’s guidelines, specifically, the CDC’s Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers to Plan and Respond to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), as published on the CDC.gov website?

If the answer is yes, do the carriers plan to relax their current attendance policies for employees who miss work accordingly?

If the answer is no, then what are the carriers’ alternative plans or suggestions?

Do the carriers plan to relax their current attendance policies for employees who miss work as a result of a family member, or someone who resides in the same household, contracting coronavirus or showing such symptoms?

Do the carriers plan to relax their current attendance policies for employees who miss work because they determine that they should be tested for coronavirus?

What steps are the carriers taking, if any, to sanitize the workplace (including but not limited to equipment, company provided transportation and away-from-home lodging facilities, and other common areas such as offices and crew staging areas)?

COVID-19 is easily spread through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, the CDC said. It also may be possible that a person can get COVID-19 by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose, or possibly their eyes, but this is not thought to be the main way the virus spreads, CDC said.

Additional outreach is planned by SMART-TD to the federal Department of Transportation, federal Health and Human Services Department, Federal Railroad Administration and the Association of American Railroads.

Read President Ferguson’s letter here.

The SMART Transportation Division is primed to assist members in their time of need when disaster strikes.

The deadly tornadoes this week in Tennessee affected a number of families and TD members may be among those whose lives have been devastated by the killer storms that claimed at least 24 lives.

The generosity of citizens around the country has risen up as people give what they can to help those affected by the disaster to reclaim their lives.

We are asking the SMART-TD family to heed the call and give what you can so that the difficult task of starting over and rebuilding can begin for any members who have been affected by the fury of the storm.

Any donations will help lessen the struggle and bring real hope and relief to SMART-TD members who are suffering after this great loss. SMART-TD will administer donations sent to the SMART TD Disaster Relief Fund.

Contributions may be sent and made payable to:

SMART TD Disaster Relief Fund
24950 Country Club Blvd.
Suite 340
North Olmsted, OH 44070-5333

Questions:
Please call the Transportation Division office at 216-228-9400 referencing the SMART TD Disaster Relief Fund.

Union Plus also has disaster relief grants of $500 available to help participants in the Union Plus credit card, insurance or mortgage programs who are facing financial hardship due to severe weather. The money does not have to be repaid.

Union Plus mortgage holders may also be eligible to receive payment extensions or other special help.

To qualify for a Union Plus disaster relief grant, the union member must:

  • Have been a victim of the severe weather in counties designated by FEMA as qualifying for individual assistance.
  • Have experienced a significant loss of income or property due to the disaster.
  • Have had a Union Plus credit card, Union Plus insurance policy or Union Plus mortgage for at least 12 months, with the account or policy up to date in payments.
  • Describe his or her circumstances and document the income or property loss.

To apply for a disaster relief grant, eligible union members should call:

Union Plus credit card: (877) 761-5028
Union Plus mortgage: (800) 472-2005
Union Plus insurance: (800) 472-2005
Go to https://www.unionplus.org/hardship-help/disaster-relief-grants

The Rail Workers Hazardous Materials Training Program has opened registration for a hazmat/chemical emergency response training program in April for rail workers in Arizona, western New Mexico, southeastern California and the Navajo Nation.

This training addresses OSHA- and DOT-required training in addition to procedures, different levels of response and worker protection in a hazardous materials emergency or release, weapons of mass destruction awareness and the incident command system. The Rail Program will conduct the 30-hour Chemical Emergency Response and OSHA 10 Hour Awareness Training Program, and the training also provides completion of the OSHA 10-Hour General Industry Outreach requirements.

The training will be held April 1 to 5 in Winslow, Ariz., in the back room of Bojo’s Grill and Sports Club 117 W. 2nd St.

The Rail Workers Hazardous Materials Training Program is funded to provide this training by a federal grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). The funding provides the following student expenses: travel, lodging and meals. In addition, an incentive of $175 per day is available to all training participants of these programs, except those who are able to secure regular pay through their employer, or are paid union officers. Lodging is available to attendees traveling more than 50 miles to the workshop.

A flier about the session is available to post at your worksite.

Follow this link to register online.

For more information, call 202-624-6963 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern, Monday through Friday.

Richard Deiser, a former Bus Department director and union vice president, died Feb. 28. He was 79 years old.

Richard Deiser, a former Bus Department vice president, passed away Feb. 28 at age 79.

“Rich was a great union brother who will be sorely missed by those who had the pleasure to work with him,” SMART Transportation Division Vice President Calvin Studivant said. “We extend our deepest and heartfelt condolences to his wife and kids as well as all his loved ones.”

Deiser, of Dumont, N.J., was born July 2, 1940, in Bronx, N.Y. After high school, he joined the U.S. Air Force and served for eight years while also attending the University of Maryland at the same time, taking extension courses.

After his discharge from the service, he worked for many years with Trans World Airlines in the air freight, meteorology and crew scheduling departments.

He began his career as a bus operator with Rockland Coaches in 1983. Immediately active in the affairs of his local, Deiser was appointed shop steward in 1985 and elected secretary in 1988. In 1998 he was elected as general chairperson of Local 1558, Bergenfield, N.J. He was re-elected three times to that position and also attained the offices of delegate and legislative representative.

After serving for six years as alternate vice president-bus-East, Deiser was elevated to vice president and director of the Bus Department in July 2009.

He served in that capacity until his retirement in 2011.

Brother Deiser is survived by his wife of 56 years, three children, five grandchildren, a great-grandson and a number of brothers and sisters.

Family and friends are welcome to celebrate Richard’s life from 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 p.m. at Frech-McKnight Funeral Home, 161 Washington Ave., Dumont, NJ 07628. A funeral Mass is scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday, March 3 at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Church in Dumont. Donations in Deiser’s memory and in lieu of flowers may be made to the Wounded Warrior Project, P.O. Box 758516, Topeka, KS 66675-8516.

SMART Transportation Division expresses its condolences to Brother Deiser’s family, friends and his brothers and sisters out of Local 1558.

Read the full obituary.

SMART-TD National Legislative Director Greg Hynes

In an interview to appear in the April edition of Trains Magazine, SMART-TD National Legislative Director Greg Hynes was interviewed about key issues and industry trends including Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR), two-person crews, autonomous trains and the effect presidential elections have on the railroad industry.

In the interview, Hynes spoke about how PSR is a threat to jobs, the industry and the public because fewer safety inspections are being performed with fewer people and that there is a blatant disregard by Class I management toward fatigued and ill individuals who aren’t being allowed time off.

When asked if autonomous train technology could come to the U.S., Hynes responded:

“Where they have the autonomous trains out in Australia is on a route that doesn’t have any grade crossings, there are no people nearby, and it’s basically out in the middle of nowhere. But if you try to do that in the United States, where you have thousands and thousands of grade crossings, it will be a really bad thing. The people on a train are the first responders in every crossing incident. You won’t have that with an autonomous train.”

Trains closed the interview asking how the 2020 presidential election will impact railroads and unions. Hynes noted that whoever is in the White House determines who runs the FRA.

“If we see a continuation of what we have right now, it will not be good for rail safety or labor. This current administration has not been friendly to labor at all. Rail safety is not their primary function anymore, as we saw in their decision to not implement a national crew-size rule. How is that in the best interest of safety? It’s all about protecting the railroads’ bottom line, but that’s not the FRA’s job.”

To read the full interview, check out the April print issue of Trains Magazine.

Jennifer Homendy, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), said that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) final rule for Class I railroads and certain smaller railroads to establish risk-reduction safety plans issued Feb. 18 falls well short of the intent of the Rail Safety Improvement Act (RSIA) that was passed by Congress in 2008.

NTSB member Jennifer Homendy

“As the lead @TransportDems staffer who drafted the Act, I’m glad the rule’s out but it doesn’t comply with the RSIA,” Homendy said on Twitter. “It leaves out commuter and passenger railroads (that rule has been stayed 9 or 10 times now) and it fails to require freight railroads to implement fatigue management plans as part of their risk reduction program (which was required in RSIA).”

Later in her Twitter thread, she cited five accidents investigated by NTSB involving both freight and passenger rail that were linked to fatigue and reminded her followers that fatigue management is on the NTSB’s most-wanted list in preventing railroad accidents.

She also mentioned that FRA has seemed to reverse course over the years as in 2015, agency leadership had told NTSB that fatigue management would be addressed in a final rule.

The final rule as published requires Class I railroads to compose an FRA-approved RRP plan.

“These comprehensive, system-oriented safety plans are required to identify and analyze hazards and their associated risks, and develop and implement plans to eliminate or mitigate those risks,” FRA said in a release announcing the final rule. “An RRP is designed to improve operational safety, complementing a railroad’s adherence to all other applicable FRA regulations. Each railroad must tailor an RRP for its individual operations, and the RRP must reflect the substantive facts on any hazards associated with each railroads’ operations.”

“Railroads’ ongoing evaluation of their asset base and employee performance associated with operations and maintenance, under FRA regulations, can now follow a more uniform path of standardization, towards further reducing risks and enhancing safety,” FRA Administrator Ronald L. Batory said in the release.

Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao said the final rule will improve freight rail safety in America in the same release.

It remains to be seen whether fatigue management will be addressed in a future rulemaking.

Read FRA’s final rule on risk-reduction programs as published in the Federal Register.