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Maintenance-of-way employees on Georgia & Florida Railway — where train and engine workers have been UTU members since 2006 — have voted unanimously in favor of UTU representation.

UTU organizer Mike Lewis, who has secured numerous previous organizing wins, led the organizing drive. Lewis thanked UTU International President Mike Futhey for “his continued strong commitment to organize non-union workers on railroads, transit and bus properties, and regional airlines.

“Since Mike Futhey was elected UTU International president in 2008, we have organized 21 properties — 14 shortlines, three regional airlines, two commuter railroads, and two bus properties,” Lewis said.

The UTU organizing department is headed by Rich Ross. In addition to Lewis, International organizers include Billy Moye, Carlos Wallace, Bonnie Morr, Ed Carney, Larry Grutzius and Calvin Studivant.

Georgia & Florida Railway, an OmniTrax property, is a 264-mile shortline serving southcentral Georgia, including the cities of Albany, Adel, Thomasville and Valdosta, and extending into Foley, Fla. It interchanges with CSX and Norfolk Southern. Its principal commodities include beer, wood pulp, ethanol and agricultural products.

Federal legislation affecting how Medicare reimburses physicians requires Medicare providers to reprocess claims dating back more than a year.

This reprocessing, required by federal law, may result in your receiving a refund for Medicare services you received in 2010, or your being billed for additional amounts under your co-pay obligation. In some cases there will be neither a refund nor a balance due.

Because of volume, the reprocessing of Medicare claims by your Medicare provider may continue through February 2012.

To identify reprocessed claims, scan your Medicare Summary Notice for a “5” appearing as the first digit of claim numbers. If there is a balance due, your Medicare provider will notify you directly; and you will receive, directly from your Medicare provider, any refunds due.

For Railroad Medicare beneficiaries, questions should be directed to the Railroad Medicare Beneficiary Contact Center by calling (800) 833-4455 — or the hearing-impaired line, (877) 566-3572 — between 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern Time.

Those not covered by Railroad Medicare should call their Medicare provider.

If you think Medicare should have paid for an item or service, or did not pay enough, you have 120 days from the date you receive your Medicare Summary Notice to file an appeal. Instructions on filing an appeal appear on your Medicare Summary Notice.

For Railroad Medicare recipients, the claim should be filed with:

Railroad Medicare — Palmetto GBA
Attn: Redeterminations
P.O. Box 10066
Augusta, GA 30999

More information on Railroad Medicare may be found at

www.PalmettoGBA.com/RR

by clicking on the link, “Additional information is available for Railroad Medicare Beneficiaries.”

Railroad Medicare beneficiaries may also sign up at that website for email updates.

Recent tornados in southern states — from Mississippi to Virginia that killed more than 340 and injured thousands more — plus severe flooding in other parts of the country have likely affected UTU-member families living in those areas.
While identification of the destruction and hardship is still in the early stages of assessment, it is important we remain aware and be prepared to help our brothers and sisters.
UTU members, as always, are deeply concerned will be anxious to assist our brothers and sisters who may need assistance in the ravaged areas.

Train and engine employment on major U.S. railroads climbed by almost 7.5 percent in March 2011 to 62,627, versus March 2010, according to U.S. Surface Transportation Board data.

The 7.47 percent increase in train and engine employment is more than double the increase in any other craft.

The total Class I workforce totaled almost 156,000 in mid-March, up almost 4.5 percent from March 2010.

The increased headcount reflects the rise in carloadings — especially intermodal (trailer and containers atop flatcars) and an economy climbing out of recession.

Brakemen, conductors and engineers on Chicago South Shore & South Bend Railway (CSS), all represented by the UTU, have ratified a new five-year agreement by a four-to-one margin.

The contract, retroactive to Jan. 1, provides for hourly wage increases, a cap on health care contributions, productivity allowances and wage parity for those hired prior to Dec. 15, 2010.

The UTU retains the right, throughout the life of the agreement, to negotiate profit sharing in lieu of general wage increases.

UTU International Vice President John Babler, who assisted in negotiations, praised the skills of General Chairperson Anthony Wojasinski (GO CSS), Local 1526 Chairpersons Brian Krueger and Frank Fraser, and Local 1526 President John Higginbotham.

CSS, an Anacostia & Pacific short line, serves industries in northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana.

Most major North American freight railroads reported strong earnings for the first quarter 2011 versus first quarter 2010.

Following is a wrap-up for the quarterly earnings reported by the railroads to the investment community.

Not included is BNSF, which is privately held and does not report its financial results to the investment community.

Mention is made of each railroad’s operating ratio. Operating ratio is a railroad’s operating expenses expressed as a percentage of operating revenue, and is considered by economists to be the basic measure of carrier profitability. The lower the operating ratio, the higher is profit.

Canadian National

Canadian National reported a 31 percent increase in first quarter 2011 profit versus first quarter 2010. This comes following a 19 percent increase in CN profit for calendar year 2010.

CN’s operating ratio for the first quarter 2011 was 69 percent, slightly better than the 69.3 percent reported for first quarter 2010. The railroad’s fourth-quarter 2010 operating ratio was 63.6.

CN is primarily a Canadian railroad. Its U.S. holdings include what were formerly Detroit, Toledo & Ironton; Elgin, Joliet & Eastern; Grand Trunk Western; Illinois Central; and Wisconsin Central.

Canadian Pacific

Canadian Pacific Railway was the only major North American rail system reporting a drop in profit for the first quarter 2011 compared with first quarter 2010. CP cited severe winter weather as the cause of its profit decline.

CP’s calendar-year 2010 profit increased by 39 percent.

The railroad’s first quarter 2011 operating ratio soared to 90.6 compared with 82.3 in the first quarter 2010. CP’s fourth quarter 2010 operating ratio was 77.6.

CP said its 15,143 employee count increased by 613 during the quarter, but gave no indication of whether it would add employees the remainder of 2011.

First quarter 2011 train speeds fell by almost 14 percent and the number of train accidents soared by 57 percent — both attributed to a dramatic increase in the number of avalanches in the Canadian Rockies and winter-long blowing snow throughout CP’s North American rail network.

Canadian Pacific is primarily a Canadian railroad. Its U.S. holdings include Class I Soo Line and regional railroad Delaware & Hudson.

CSX

CSX profit jumped 30 percent during the first quarter 2011 versus the first quarter 2010, the railroad reported April 19. This comes on the heels of a 35 percent improvement in operating profit for calendar year 2010.

The CSX employee headcount rose in March to 30,464 employees, up 3 percent from March 2010, the railroad said.

The CSX operating ratio for the first quarter 2011 was a record low 72.5 for any first quarter. The fourth quarter 2010 CSX operating ratio was 71.1.

CSX operates some 21,000 route miles in 23 states and the District of Columbia.

Kansas City Southern

Kansas City Southern’s first-quarter 2011 profit was almost double that of the first quarter 2010. This followed an 82 percent increase in profit for calendar-year 2010.

The employee headcount remained constant at 6,080. The railroad did not indicate whether it would be increasing its headcount in 2011.

The KCS first quarter operating ratio declined significantly, from 75.2 percent the first quarter 2010 to 73.8 for the first quarter 2011. The railroad’s fourth-quarter 2010 operating ratio was 73.2.

KCS operates some 3,500 route miles in 10 states in the Central and South-Central U.S., as well as Kansas City Southern de Mexico, a primary Mexican rail line.

Norfolk Southern

Norfolk Southern reported a 26 percent increase in profit for first quarter 2011 versus first quarter 2010. This follows a 45 jump in NS profit for calendar-year 2010.

NS said it would add some 1,100 new workers during 2011, returning employment to the same level as in 2008.

NS operating ratio for first quarter 2011 was 77.1 percent, higher than the 75.2 percent in the first quarter 2010, owing, in part, to severe winter weather. The fourth-quarter 2010 NS operating ratio was 71.9 percent.

NS operates some 20,000 route miles in 22 states and the District of Columbia.

Union Pacific

Union Pacific profit rose 24 percent in first quarter 2011 compared with first quarter 2010, This follows a 47 percent jump in Union Pacific profit for calendar-year 2010.

UP said the railroad would increase its 43,000 employee headcount by about 4,500 in 2011.

The railroad reported a best-ever first quarter operating ratio of 74.7 percent — one of the more difficult for railroads because of winter weather. The fourth quarter 2010 UP operating ratio was 73.2.

Union Pacific operates some 32,000 route miles in 23 states in the western two-thirds of the U.S.

A tentative new five-year national rail agreement covering wages, benefits and working conditions has been reached between the UTU and the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC).

The tentative agreement is retroactive to Jan. 1, 2010, and extends through Dec. 31, 2014.

The tentative agreement, which amends the existing national agreement, must be ratified by each affected UTU craft under the craft-autonomy provisions of the UTU Constitution. The existing national agreement remains in force under provisions of the Railway Labor Act.

Details of the tentative agreement are being withheld pending their presentation at a June 2 meeting of the Association of General Chairpersons – District 1. General chairpersons will then have 15 days to submit written questions. The questions and answers will be provided to all members prior to the ratification vote.

Railroads represented by the NCCC include BNSF, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific and many smaller railroads. Some 38,000 UTU members are affected by the tentative new agreement.

This is the first agreement reached in this round of national bargaining with the NCCC. It was reached, voluntarily, without need for mediation. However, two members of the National Mediation Board — Elizabeth Dougherty and Linda Puchala — served as facilitators during the two most recent rounds of talks between the UTU and the NCCC, leading to this tentative agreement.

UTU International President Mike Futhey thanked his negotiating team for “their hard work and long hours. I am confident our general chairpersons will react positively when the details of this agreement are presented to them.”

In addition to UTU lead negotiator Futhey, the negotiating team includes Assistant President Arty Martin; National Legislative Director James Stem; UTU International Vice Presidents Robert Kerley and Delbert Strunk; and General Chairpersons John Lesniewski (CSX, GO 049), Pate King (NS, GO 680) and Doyle Turner (CSX, GO 347).

Futhey also praised retired UTU General Secretary & Treasurer Dan Johnson for his emphasizing, early in the process and through a series of opinion articles published on the UTU website, the value of interest-based bargaining whereby both sides strive to understand the needs of the other.

“Interest-based bargaining worked well for the UTU in reaching a ratified national agreement in 2008, and interest-based bargaining was instrumental again this round in guiding both sides to a voluntary tentative agreement,” Futhey said.

Other labor organizations — bargaining as part of two separate coalitions — remain in negotiations with the NMB, and mediation has been invoked in those separate talks.

One coalition includes the Transportation Communications Union, the American Train Dispatchers Association, the International Association of Machinists, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and the Transport Workers Union.

A second coalition still negotiating with the NCCC includes the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes, the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, the Brotherhood of Boilermakers and Blacksmiths, the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers, and the Sheet Metal Workers International Association.

America is still mired in recession, but the railroad industry continues to show financial strength.

Most railroads over the past week reported strong improvements in profit and operating efficiency for the first quarter 2011. Stocks of Union Pacific and Kansas City Southern hit 52-week highs this week, while Norfolk Southern’s stock reached an all-time high.

For the first 16 weeks of 2011, U.S. rail carloadings are up 4 percent over the same period in 2010, while intermodal (trailers and containers atop flat cars) are up 8.9 percent.

In expectation of an improving economy, railroads have boosted orders for new freight cars, ordering as many during the first quarter 2011 as for the entire calendar-year 2010.

What’s driving the rails? Fuel efficiency has a lot to do with increased intermodal traffic. The Federal Railroad Administration says railroads are from 1.9 to 5.5 times more fuel efficient than trucks, and with diesel fuel prices spiking, there is a clear competitive advantage available to railroads so long as they can maintain reliable and consistent service quality.

 

Norfolk Southern reported a 26 percent increase in profit for first quarter 2011 versus first quarter 2010. This follows a 45 jump in NS profit for calendar-year 2010.

NS CEO Wick Moorman said the railroad intends to add some 1,100 new workers during 2011, returning employment to the same level as in 2008.

NS operating ratio for first quarter 2011 was 77.1 percent, higher than the 75.2 percent in the first quarter 2010, owing, in part, to severe winter weather. The fourth-quarter 2010 NS operating ratio was 71.9 percent.

Operating ratio is a railroad’s operating expenses expressed as a percentage of operating revenue, and is considered by economists to be the basic measure of carrier profitability. The lower the operating ratio, the higher is profit.

Moorman told Wall Street analysts, “We see continuing opportunities for growth in almost every segment of our business, and we’re optimistic about our prospects for the balance of 2011.”

NS operates some 20,000 route miles in 22 states and the District of Columbia.

 

California’s Amtrak-operated Pacific Surfliner and San Joaquin routes are due for an equipment upgrade following a Federal Railroad Administration $100 million direct grant to the California DOT (Caltrans).

Amtrak operates the routes under contract to Caltrans.

The money must be used for 27 domestically manufactured bilevel passenger cars and two domestically manufactured diesel-electric locomotives, under Buy America provisions of the grant.

The Pacific Surfliner route experienced a 65 percent increase in ridership over the past 10 years, while the San Joaquin route had a 45 percent increase in ridership over 10 years.