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Private sector and public sector union membership fell sharply in 2010, reports The New York Times.

In the domestic private workforce, the percentage of workers represented by unions tumbled to 6.9 percent (from 7.2 percent in 2009), while in the public sector, the percentage dropped to 36.2 percent (from 37.4 percent in 2009), reports the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Private sector union employment is at its lowest point in more than a century, says the BLS.

Total union membership — combined private and public sector — is now at its lowest point in 70 years, or 11.9 percent of the total work force (down from 12.3 percent in 2009), says the BLS.

The good news, reports The New York Times, is that the median weekly earnings for union members is now $917, or $200 more than the median weekly earnings for non-union members. The median separates the highest 50 percent from the lowest 50 percent, meaning half of union workers earn more than $917 weekly and half less than $917 weekly.

States with the highest unionization rate (public and private sectors) are Alaska, Hawaii and New York; the lowest rates being in Arkansas, Georgia and North Carolina, says the BLS.

SAN FRANCISCO — First Student school bus drivers here, represented by UTU Local 1741, have ratified a new wage and benefits agreement by a 72 percent majority.

“Our strategy was to keep negotiations limited to economics because the work rules in our contract are the standard by which most other school bus drivers measure their contracts — by any measure, one of the best contracts for school bus drivers in the country,” said General Chairperson Paul Stein. “Also, our health insurance benefits far exceed most San Francisco city workers.”

“Negotiators for the local were able to hold on to our health-insurance plan without premium increases,” Stein said. “We asked for wage increases for ourselves and a series of raises for the office staff and dispatchers that would bring them up to the level of the drivers. The increases we got for the staff was very nearly what was asked for, and was viewed by most as a victory.

“The unity of drivers and staff and the hard work of the members of the local committee who did the hands-on work of negotiations is a tribute to the abilities of working people willing to fight for what they deserve,” Stein said.

WASHINGTON — Rail traffic for the week ending Jan. 15 continued its upward climb, reports the Association of American Railroads.

Carloads were up by 7.5 percent compared with the same week in 2010, and intermodal (trailers and containers on flat cars) showed a gain of 5.8 percent over the same week in 2010.

The AAR reported that for the first two weeks of 2011, U.S. railroads reported an increase of 13.5 percent in carloads and 7.2 percent in intermodal.

The UTU International is receiving questions about the quadrennial convention, Aug. 8-12, at the Westin Diplomat, Hollywood, Fla.

Delegates will receive, by early April, a packet explaining room reservation procedures and other convention details.

Room reservations will be handled by the UTU International. Room reservations will not be accepted until after the packets have been mailed.

On the same day (Jan. 20) Union Pacific reported record fourth quarter and record calendar year 2010 profits, UP Chairman Jim Young said he is headed to Washington to meet with President Obama’s economic advisers to oppose a congressional mandate that railroads implement crash-avoidance positive train control by year-end 2015.

UP told investors its 2010 fourth quarter earnings had soared by 31 percent from the same quarter in 2009, and that its calendar year 2010 profit rose by 47 percent to a record $2.8 billion.

Twice during 2010, Union Pacific raised its common stock dividend, raising the dividend by 40 percent in 2010. Since 2001, the Union Pacific common stock dividend rate has been raised by 280 percent, for an average of 28 percent annually.

Young called 2010 the “most profitable year in Union Pacific’s nearly 150-year history.

“Economic indicators point to growth [in 2011], and if jobs improve, there will be even greater strength,” said Young, according to progressiverailroading.com. “The bar is raised, and last year the floor was set. We’re setting our sights even higher.”

UP repeated a previous announcement that it will increase its workforce by more than 4,000 in 2011 — an increase of almost 10 percent in its workforce — while bringing back the remainder of furloughed workers.

As for the Washington trip, in which Young said he will be joined by executives from other railroads, the Journal of Commerce reported that Young “strongly complained about the heavy expense of developing and deploying positive train control technology, which means outfitting locomotives with automated braking gear and tying it into trackside warning devices and other remote control systems.”

The railroads’ opposition to PTC — that its costs outweigh benefits — is disputed by independent studies, some commissioned by the Federal Railroad Administration.

The National Transportation Safety Board has long advocated implementation of PTC as a necessary safety overlay. The UTU and other rail labor organizations similarly support implementation of PTC.

UTU member Patricia Smith, a conductor with the Port Authority Trans-Hudson Railway (PATH), has been elected general chairperson (GO 795, Local 1413, Jersey City, N.J.) — the first female general chairperson in the 103-year-history of PATH.
A subsidiary of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PATH — which began operations in 1908 — today transports more than 72 million commuters annually  between the New Jersey cities of Newark, Hoboken and Jersey City and two terminals in New York City, via tunnels under the Hudson River.
Among members of GO 795 are genuine 9/11 heroes — conductors credited with saving hundreds of lives the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists caused the destruction of the twin towers of the World Trade Center, which stood above the PATH station.
With the PATH World Trade Center station filling with smoke, PATH conductors held their outbound train’s doors open and ensured every passenger on the platform was aboard before departing the station. It was the last train out before the collapse of the towers.
Smith, who lives and breathes the principles of trade unionism — and especially the UTU — hired on at PATH in September 1989, and previously was secretary of GO  795.
Rather than comment on her elevation to general chairperson in January, Smith asked that the hard work and dedication of PATH GO 795 Vice Chairpersons Sean Smith, Dave McQuillan and Kevin Wendolowski, and Secretary Anita Aguilar be recognized.
“Pat Smith has a great attitude and is committed 24/7 to improving working conditions and job security for her PATH membership and moving the union spirit forward,” said UTU International Vice President Delbert Strunk, who was assigned to assist the general committee.
The UTU also represents tower operators on PATH (GO PAT).
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
International Vice President Delbert Strunk with General Chairperson Pat Smith

WASHINGTON — There is a lot of talk, hope and hype about high-speed rail in the United States, but savvy policy analysts, planners and economists expect only a very few of those projects to move forward in the near future.

One such project high on the list of pragmatists is a Florida high-speed rail line linking Tampa and Orlando — and, eventually, Miami.

Florida Congressman John Mica, the Republican who chairs the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, will have influence over federal funding for the project. This week, he voiced an opinion that for the line to move forward, private sector financing will also be necessary.

The Florida Times-Union newspaper reports that Mica, while supportive of the project — expected to carry an initial $2.7 billion price tag for the Tampa-Orlando leg — wants the private sector, and not the State of Florida, to commit at least $300 million to the project. Much of the remainder would come from federal funds.

“This project includes a link from Orlando International Airport to Disney,” Mica is quoted by the Florida Times-Union. “That should be a money maker for a private company.”

“I think my views are in line with what [Florida] Gov. Scott thinks,” Mica is quoted by the Florida Times-Unions. Scott has yet to indicate whether he supports the high-speed rail line.

The Times-Union notes that “if Scott decides not to build it, the federal government will take the money and give it to a project in another state. Ohio and Wisconsin refused [federal] money after electing Republican governors, and some of their [federal] money is now going to Florida.”

Decades ago, the chairman of New York Central Railroad complained that while freight could move cross country without being transferred from one boxcar to another, transcontinental passengers often had to change trains in Chicago.

Even today, on Amtrak, passengers must change trains in Chicago.

A similar complaint is heard regarding intermodal passenger transportation — the separation of terminals for train and motor coach transportation. In Washington, D.C., for example, an intercity bus terminal is blocks from Union Station, which hosts Amtrak and commuter rail.

In St. Paul, Minn., the intermodal passenger problem is being solved.

The Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority has broken ground on a $243 million multi-modal transportation facility in St. Paul, reports progressiverailroading.com.

The city’s 1920s-era Union Depot train station is slated to bring together rail, bus, motor vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian traffic by 2012, reports progressiverailroading.com. Local, state and federal funds are financing the project.

Amtrak intends to dispatch its Empire Builder through the renovated terminal, which will also serve as a transfer point for light-rail, Metro Transit and intercity bus service — and, eventually, be a hub for hoped-for high-speed trains between the Twin Cities and Chicago.

WASHINGTON — Two friends of labor — Democratic Senators Kent Conrad (N.D.) and Joseph Lieberman (Conn.) — say they will retire at the end of the 112th Congress in 2012. Conrad is completing his fifth six-year term; Lieberman completing his fourth six-year term.

These announcements follow the retirement announcement of Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, the senior Republican on the Senate Commerce Committee, who said she will retire in 2012 when her third six-year term ends. The Senate Commerce Committee has oversight of many rail, transit, air and bus issues. She is considered a moderate Republican.

When we talk about Class I railroads (the largest of railroads with annual freight revenue of at least $378.8 million), most of us can name the carriers in a matter of seconds.

They are BNSF, Canadian National, Canadian Pacific, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific — seven, in all.

When some of our older heads signed on, back in the 1960s, the list was quite longer — and occasionally we see a couple of those names, barely visible, painted on old boxcars or even an aged yard locomotive.

In fact, for rails beginning their careers in 1970, there was 58 separate Class I railroads — 51 more than today.

Following is a list of those 58, with an explanation of their fate in parenthesis. How many do you recall?

  1. Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe (now part of BNSF)
  2. Atlantic Coast Line (now part of CSX)
  3. Baltimore & Ohio (now part of CSX)
  4. Bangor & Aroostook (downsized and absorbed by a shortline)
  5. Boston & Maine (now part of Pan Am Railways)
  6. Bessemer & Lake Erie (now part of Canadian National)
  7. Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (now part of BNSF)
  8. Clinchfield (now part of CSX)
  9. Central RR of New Jersey (merged into Conrail* and New Jersey Transit)
  10. Chesapeake & Ohio (now part of CSX)
  11. Chicago & Eastern Illinois (now part of CSX and Union Pacific)
  12. Chicago & North Western (now part of Union Pacific)
  13. Chicago Great Western (now part of Union Pacific)
  14. Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific (now part of Canadian Pacific)
  15. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific (now part of Union Pacific and regional Iowa Interstate)
  16. Delaware & Hudson (now part of Canadian Pacific)
  17. Denver & Rio Grande Western (now part of Union Pacific)
  18. Detroit, Toledo & Ironton (now part of Canadian National)
  19. Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range (now part of Canadian National)
  20. Elgin, Joliet & Eastern (now part of Canadian National)
  21. Erie-Lackawanna (merged into Conrail*)
  22. Florida East Coast (no longer a Class I railroad)
  23. Fort Worth & Denver (now part of BNSF)
  24. Georgia Railroad (now part of CSX)
  25. Grand Trunk Western (now part of Canadian National)
  26. Great Northern (now part of BNSF)
  27. Gulf, Mobile & Ohio (now part of Canadian National)
  28. Illinois Central (now part of Canadian National)
  29. Kansas City Southern
  30. Lehigh Valley (merged into Conrail*)
  31. Long Island (now wholly a passenger railroad)
  32. Louisville & Nashville (now part of CSX)
  33. Maine Central (now part of Pan Am Railways)
  34. Missouri-Kansas-Texas (now part of Union Pacific)
  35. Missouri Pacific (now part of Union Pacific)
  36. Monongahela (merged into Conrail*)
  37. Monon (now part of CSX)
  38. New York Central (merged into Penn Central; then Conrail*)
  39. New York, New Haven & Hartford (merged into Penn Central; then Conrail*)
  40. New York, Chicago & St. Louis (Nickel Plate) (now part of Norfolk Southern)
  41. Norfolk & Western (now part of Norfolk Southern)
  42. Northern Pacific (now part of BNSF)
  43. Pennsylvania Railroad (merged into Penn Central; then Conrail*)
  44. Pittsburgh & Lake Erie (now part of CSX)
  45. Reading Railroad (merged into Conrail*)
  46. Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac (now part of CSX)
  47. St. Louis San Francisco (Frisco Lines) (now part of BNSF)
  48. St. Louis Southwestern (Cotton Belt) (now part of Union Pacific)
  49. Seaboard Air Line (now part of CSX)
  50. Soo Line (now part of Canadian Pacific)
  51. Southern Pacific Lines (now part of Union Pacific)
  52. Southern Railway (now part of Norfolk Southern)
  53. Texas & Pacific (now part of Union Pacific)
  54. Toledo, Peoria & Western (now part of BNSF, and also shortline)
  55. Union Pacific
  56. Wabash (now part of Norfolk Southern)
  57. Western Maryland (now part of CSX)
  58. Western Pacific (now part of Union Pacific)

* Conrail was created by Congress to absorb bankrupt Penn Central. Conrail susequently was returned to the private sector and split apart — its separate portions acquired by CSX and Norfolk Southern.