Krohn The Washington State Legislative Board had some good news to report this week about its effort to get two-person crew legislation passed in the state. “For six consecutive years, we have doggedly pursued passage of this critical public safety bill. Today, for the first time we advanced train crew size legislation to the floor of the full House for a vote,” Washington State Legislative Director Herb Krohn reported. “House Speaker Frank Chopp personally presided over the chamber for this historic vote.”
The bill, H.B. 1841, passed, 72-24 (with two excused absent members), on March 13, marking the first time the Washington House of Representatives has OK’d final passage of train crew size legislation, Krohn said.
The passage marks the halfway point of efforts to get the legislation passed in Washington state. It next needs passage in the state’s Senate before heading to the governor’s desk.
“This year, the carriers have waged the most aggressive campaign ever against all of our rail safety bills,” Krohn said. “We can expect they will turn the heat up even higher and expend even greater resources in opposition as the bill is considered by the state Senate.
“It will continue to require dogged persistence along with considerable efforts on our part to overcome the organized business coalition the railroad carriers have strung together in their quest to block us from moving crewing legislation across the finish line into state law.”
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Calling on Congress and the Trump Administration to take seriously threats posed by automation, the Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the AFL-CIO on March 11 laid out eight principles for promoting safety, protecting the livelihoods of transit operators and ensuring public policy can adapt with the rapid pace of technological innovation. The policies come as workers in Ohio, Michigan, Arizona and other states want to prioritize safety and preserve good jobs as automated transit and ride-hailing services enter their communities. Among other priorities, the coalition of transportation unions, of which SMART Transportation Division is a member, is calling for operators to remain on board automated vehicles to ensure safety, respond in emergencies and provide backup in case of technological failure, and for Congress to establish a fund that would supplement wages, health care costs and training or retraining programs of workers affected by automation. “Driverless technology is coming at a time when the economy is balanced against working people, wages are stagnating, and workers are finding it harder and harder to get by. Not only do transit workers stand to see their jobs changed dramatically or automated away, but serious concerns about safety remain. So far, elected leaders do not seem to be taking these threats seriously,” said TTD President Larry I. Willis. “We cannot allow safety to be compromised or the good jobs in this sector to be steamrolled just so tech companies and Wall Street investors can have their way.” The eight key policies are as follows:
Transit agencies must give workers advance notice before deploying automated vehicles (AVs).
The collective bargaining rights of transit workers must be preserved. Additionally, transit agencies must negotiate the use of automated technologies with their unions.
Automated transit vehicles must adhere to strict federal safety standards.
Drivers must remain onboard on automated vehicles, regardless of how far technology develops, to ensure safety, respond in emergencies and provide backup in case of technological failure.
Congress should establish a transportation workforce fund to help cover wages, health care costs, unemployment benefits and training or retraining programs for workers affected by driverless technology. This fund will be paid for through a mileage-based user fee of highly or fully automated transit vehicles.
Transit agencies wishing to use AVs must examine the impact they will have on transit workers and issue a report.
The U.S. Departments of Labor and Transportation should also examine the impacts automation has on transit ridership, capacity and employment. This includes examining the direct and indirect impacts automated ride-sharing or ride-hailing services have on transit services.
Before transportation agencies implement automated technology, they must issue a workforce training plan.
These policies on AVs and driverless technology were laid out at the TTD’s Executive Committee meeting in New Orleans. Read the full policy statement here.
National passenger carrier Amtrak released its 2018 Host Railroad Report Card, which grades six of the Class I freight host railroads based on delays caused to Amtrak trains over the last 12 months. The grades ranged from A to F, with Canadian Pacific being the lone recipient of an “A.” Norfolk Southern got an “F.” All told, Amtrak averaged the overall performance of the Class I host railroads at a “C.” Eleven of 28 Amtrak state-hosted routes achieved 80 percent on-time performance (within 15 minutes of scheduled departure), according to the report card. Conversely, only one of the 15 long-distance routes, the “Auto Train,” had on-time performance of more than 70 percent, Amtrak said. See the full report card (PDF) by following this link.
This year, UTUIA has committed once again to supporting the children and grandchildren of our members by continuing to offer 50 four-year college scholarships and 50 two-year trade school scholarships, both at $2,000.00 per student, per year. Currently, UTUIA is paying out on almost 200 scholarships! We encourage all members of SMART TD to support these ongoing fraternal benefits by becoming a member of UTUIA through ownership in our uniquely designed insurance plans. “For over 150 years, we have served the members of SMART TD by providing insurance protection and fraternal benefits and we are committed to supporting our members for the next 150 years,” said UTUIA President Ken Laugel. The deadline for scholarship applications is March 31, 2019. For more information about scholarship requirements and to apply, visit www.utuia.org/scholarships.
Fraternally, Ken Laugel President, UTUIA
UTUIA College & Trade School Scholarship Program Rules
DISTRIBUTION
Fifty continuing $2,000 scholarships are awarded each year upon verification of enrollment for the fall term. The scholarships are prorated according to the number of SMART Transportation Division members in each of nine districts. The names of the 50 scholarship winners for the academic year 2019/2020 will be drawn at UTUIA headquarters in North Olmsted after the March 31 deadline for submission of applications.
ELIGIBILITY
Requirements of a UTUIA scholarship applicant are that he or she be a U.S. citizen, at least a high school senior or equivalent, and age 25 or under. Applicants must be associated with the UTUIA by either owning a UTUIA insurance policy, or by being the child or grandchild of a current UTUIA policyholder. Scholarship applicants must also be associated with the SMART Transportation Division by belonging to the union, or by being the child or grandchild of an active or lifetime SMART Transportation Division member. Applicants also must be accepted for admittance, or already enrolled, for at least 12 credit hours per quarter or semester at a recognized institution of higher learning (university, college or junior college, nursing or technical school offering college credit). Graduate schools are not included. Applications must be received no later than March 31, 2019. Please submit only one application per student. Incomplete or duplicate applications will not be accepted. The application form is only available at www.utuia.org by clicking on ‘scholarship information’ and ‘apply online today.’ Official and additional rules for the four-year college scholarships and trade school scholarships are available on the UTUIA website.
AWARDS
Scholarship winners are selected through a random drawing. A UTUIA scholar is expected to maintain a satisfactory academic record to keep the scholarship for the full four years.
ADMINISTRATION
The UTUIA Scholarship Committee decides whether individual scholarships should be continued or discontinued. Each successful applicant must provide annual proof of eligibility on or before a deadline set by the scholarship committee to qualify for a continuing award. The day-to-day management of the program is handled by the office of the UTUIA secretary & treasurer.
CONTACT
Further questions may be directed to Beth Thomas by calling 216-227-5254, or by emailing ethomas@utuia.org. Visit www.utuia.org for complete rules and to apply.
Certain Union Pacific (UP) workers who were employed by the carrier from 1991 to 2017 might get some money back in their pockets thanks to a ruling made in the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. If they meet certain criteria and were taxed on particular stock options or ratification bonuses, current and former UP workers will receive a refund after the appeals court sided with UP in the summer of 2017 and reversed a district court’s ruling in a fight over taxes with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). At the heart of the matter was whether stock options or ratification bonuses received by UP workers should have been treated as taxable income under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act. The IRS argued successfully in district court that this was the case and received a summary judgment of about $75 million in taxes owed by the carrier. However, UP appealed the decision, and the appeals court reversed the district court’s ruling. In June 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition by the IRS to hear the case, settling the matter in favor of UP and paving the way for the potential payouts. In order to determine their eligibility for a refund, people who were employed by UP from 1991 to 2017 must file a consent form by visiting www.unionpacifictaxrefund.com. The consent form must be turned in by a March 12, 2019, deadline in order to receive a refund, which is scheduled to be disbursed between June and August 2019. For additional information, see the FAQ about the refund program by following this link. For additional questions, contact Union Pacific’s tax refund administrator by emailing info@UnionPacificTaxRefund.com or call 888-724-0236 (toll-free). Retirees who claim refunds on stock options have been advised their annuities could be reduced. Follow this link to read the appeals court ruling (PDF).
One of two crew members of the CSX freight train that was struck by the Amtrak Silver Star on Feb. 4, 2018, recounted the accident in a segment for CBS’s “60 Minutes” program that was broadcast Sunday night. SMART Transportation Division Local 30 member Michael Cella, 36, the conductor on the Amtrak train, and engineer Michael Kempf, a former TD member, were killed in the accident near Cayce, S.C., that also injured 100 passengers. While the accident investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has not been finalized, a misaligned switch has been widely reported as the cause of the collision, which occurred in dark territory. Engineer Mark James told “60 Minutes” that he has experienced PTSD ever since the accident. “This is something I’ll never, ever get over,” he told correspondent Lesley Stahl. The segment also detailed features of Positive Train Control (PTC) technology. Stahl was shown how PTC operates by a Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) employee. NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt, also interviewed in the segment, criticized the Federal Railroad Administration and industry for the slow implementation of PTC. “The regulator needs to step up to the plate and do their job and regulate,” he said. The entire segment is viewable via this link.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced last week that Florida, New Jersey and New York have obtained federal certification of their rail transit State Safety Oversight (SSO) programs. The three states were the last of 30 to get the required approval before a mid-April federal deadline. Federal law requires states with rail transit systems to obtain FTA certification of their SSO programs by April 15, 2019. “FTA is pleased that Florida, New Jersey and New York have developed safety oversight programs that meet federal certification requirements and will strengthen rail transit safety,” said FTA Acting Administrator K. Jane Williams. Read the full press release here.
Two-person freight crew safety legislation is one step closer to becoming law in Colorado with the state Senate’s passage of House Bill 1034 (H.B. 1034). After its 19-15 passage on Feb. 25 in the Senate, the bill is on the desk of Democratic Gov. Jared Polis for consideration after a successful March 4 reconciliation vote in the House. Polis has three options — signing the bill to make it state law, vetoing the bill or not signing the bill. If he chooses not to sign the bill, it will then become law after 10 days of inaction. “We need to let the governor know that this is a grassroots effort with the safety of the public in mind,” Colorado State Legislative Director Carl Smith said. Through the process, members in the state, as well as their families and friends, have been instrumental in supporting the efforts of the Colorado State Legislative Board to get the two-person crew bill through the Legislature and onto the governor’s desk. Help is needed one more time for that final push. Members, their families and friends in Colorado all can voice their support for the legislation by following the link below: Show your support for the Colorado two-person crew bill. Smith said that he is optimistic that Polis, who as a U.S. representative was a co-sponsor of the 2017 Safe Freight Act legislation, will support the bill once he hears from SMART members, their families and anyone else in the state who is concerned about rail safety. H.B. 1034 first passed the Colorado House on Feb. 5 by a 39-23 vote.
Amtrak has informed federal, state and local officials along the route of the daily Chicago-to-Los Angeles Southwest Chief that it will provide matching funds to enable a federal grant to be awarded for safety and reliability upgrades in Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico, the carrier said in a news release Feb. 27. The funds available to upgrade the route came after Congress passed and President Donald Trump signed the FY2019 Appropriations Act, which included funding for Amtrak and intercity passenger rail, earlier in the month. The legislation set aside at least $50 million of its National Network grant for improvements to the Southwest Chief route. Amtrak is using $3 million of these funds to match a $16 million grant successfully sought by these states, counties and cities and awarded to Colfax County, N.M. The grant and matching funds from the partners will result in an investment of more than $26 million in preserving the daily route from Chicago to Los Angeles. Amtrak and BNSF Railway began community discussions regarding safety and other infrastructure improvements in 2011. Since then, more than $80 million has been committed from U.S. Department of Transportation grant programs, state and local governments, Amtrak and BNSF. As reported in prior articles published on the SMART Transportation Division website and in the SMART TD News, Amtrak has been considering “bus bridges” on portions of the route or the potential discontinuation of the route altogether. “We’re glad it’s getting funds to go through Colorado,” said Colorado State Legislative Director Carl Smith. “We’re supportive of all measures to continuing the Chief’s service through our state.” Amtrak said in the release that it will use the newly available federal capital funding to continue needed work on the next route segment in New Mexico. The carrier said in its release it is working on a long-term financial plan with state and local partners to address the unique challenges of the Southwest Chief route, particularly where Amtrak is the only user of BNSF tracks in Colorado and New Mexico.
