SMART To Seek Two-Person Crew Laws By State

CLEVELAND – As part of an ongoing effort to secure a law mandating a minimum of two crew members in the cab of all locomotives, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART–TD) have provided their state legislative boards with model legislation to secure minimum crew size laws on the state level.
The state-lobbying campaign was developed jointly by the two unions.
“Significant research and work has gone into developing language that both minimizes the potential for a federal pre-emption challenge and maximizes the likelihood that the legislation will survive any such challenge,” wrote BLET National President Dennis R. Pierce and SMART Transportation Division President John Previsich in a cover letter introducing the model legislation to BLET and SMART local officers. “Therefore, when proposing legislation on this subject, it is imperative that you do not deviate from the model.”
Among other items, the legislation stipulates that any person who willfully violates the two-person crew law would be subject to financial penalties.
Crew size has become a hot button issue following the 2013 oil train derailment and explosion in Lac-Megantic, Quebec. While an official cause has not been determined, the train in question was operated by a single employee.
“We urge BLET and SMART Transportation Division officers to work with their counterparts in moving legislation forward on this issue of paramount importance to the members we represent,” President Pierce and President Previsich wrote.
On the national level, the Safe Freight Act (H.R. 3040) is currently making its way through the U.S. House of Representatives. Representatives Michael Michaud (D-Maine) and Chellie Pingree (D-Maine) introduced the legislation on Aug. 2, 2013, in the aftermath of the Lac-Megantic tragedy, and the bill currently has 70 co-sponsors.
H.R. 3040 would require that “no freight train or light engine used in connection with the movement of freight may be operated unless it has a crew consisting of at least 2 individuals, one of whom is certified under regulations promulgated by the Federal Railroad Administration as a locomotive engineer pursuant to section 20135, and the other of whom is certified under regulations promulgated by the Federal Railroad Administration as a conductor pursuant to section 20163.”