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Anthony Simon

Following years of failed negotiations with the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Long Island Rail Road, the official proceedings of Presidential Emergency Board 244 (PEB 244) began Dec. 2, 2013, at the New York Hilton in New York City.

MTA had been seeking three years of “net zero” wage increases and major concessions from labor on pension contributions, health and welfare contributions and work rule changes.

The past week’s hearings, including testimony from various industry and financial experts, legal counsel and union leadership, were a clear indication of the commitment of the SMART Transportation Division’s leadership to its membership of General Committee of Adjustment 505 on the Long Island Rail Road.

GO 505 General Chairperson Anthony Simon was joined by Transportation Division President John Previsich, Transportation Division Vice President John Lesniewski and members of GO 505 throughout the hearings as a coalition of unions worked tirelessly throughout the week to prepare and deliver labor’s case and arguments before the board.

Simon has maintained a commitment to utilize the process of the Railway Labor Act in obtaining a fair agreement for the 2,500 SMART members employed on the LIRR.

“After an intensive and relentless week of deliberations, I can say that our organization left no stones unturned during these proceedings. We presented an excellent case before the board and we are determined to fight for our members in order to obtain a fair and well-deserved agreement for all,” he said.

SMART International Representative Charles Fraley and SMART General Chairman John McCloskey were also in attendance and participated in the process, showing solidarity among the transportation and sheet metal divisions of SMART. SMART General President Joe Nigro has been kept informed of all matters in this ongoing dispute and has been supportive throughout the process, Simon said.

The board was provided an extensive history relative to other agreements in the industry, along with detailed financial information relative to the MTA’s ability to meet labor’s demands. The MTA has a robust financial plan that includes service restorations and extensive capital improvements, while standing firm on its unwillingness to provide wage increases to its represented workforce.

ABC News has posted on its website a series of photographs taken by the NYC Metropolitan Transportation Authority showing the construction of the new concourse for the Long Island Rail Road under Grand Central Terminal.

To view the photos, click here.

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Simon

The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers Oct. 21 rejected a proffer of arbitration from the National Mediation Board to SMART Transportation Division’s General Committee of Adjustment GO 505, which represents a variety of crafts on the Long Island Rail Road in New York.

“After three years of difficult negotiations, the two sides are far apart on the major issues of wages, health and welfare and pension contributions,” said GO 505 General Chairperson Anthony Simon. “This release is a major step in getting us on the right path to obtaining a fair deal.”

Simon thanked Transportation Division President John Previsich for his continued assistance throughout the negotiations and SMART General President Joe Nigro for his ongoing support.

“Our organization has been working closely with SMART Sheet Metal Division General Chairperson John McCloskey and the leadership of the Transportation Communications Union and the National Conference of Firemen & Oilers in obtaining a positive outcome for LIRR workers,” Simon said. “Together in solidarity, our organization will continue to work at obtaining a fair contract for our members. I ask for the continued support of our membership as we go through these very challenging times.”

GO 505 represents conductors, car inspectors, car repairmen, car appearance maintainers, track workers, track supervisors and special service attendants employed by LIRR.

mta_long-island-railroad-logo[1]About 600 Long Island Rail Road retirees will lose their disability benefits after a federal agency voted last week to halt the payments, amid a sweeping investigation into what prosecutors have called a major disability fraud scheme, according to agency documents and officials.

The agency, the United States Railroad Retirement Board, which over more than a decade granted disability benefits to hundreds of railroad retirees based on fraudulent medical evidence with little scrutiny, took the action on Thursday during a five-minute meeting at its headquarters in Chicago. The vote approved procedures under which the board will cut off the benefits, which, officials said, are costing the agency $2 million a month.

Read the complete article at The New York Times.

A former president of a UTU local, a former Railroad Retirement Board employee, two physicians and six workers retired from Long Island Rail Road have been charged by the federal government with criminal fraud involving allegedly false Long Island Rail Road employee occupational disability claims filed with and paid by the Railroad Retirement Board.

Among those charged is Joseph Rutigliano, a former president of UTU Local 645, who retired in 1999. Rutigliano’s attorney told Long Island Newsday, “I consider the complaint a masterpiece of creative writing.”

The U.S. attorney in charge of the case said his office would pursue civil cases to recover occupational disability payments from hundreds of Long Island Rail Road retirees who claimed an occupational disability based on allegedly false claims, and that additional criminal charges are likely.

According to the criminal complaint, hundreds of Long Island Rail Road retirees falsely filed occupational disability claims that were approved by the Railroad Retirement Board.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said, “Employees, in many cases, after claiming to be too disabled to stand, sit, walk or climb stairs, retired to lives of regular golf, tennis, biking and aerobics.”

The physicians charged in the criminal complaint – and a third physician who is now deceased – are alleged to have prepared false medical assessments and illness narratives. The criminal complaint alleges that during a 12-year period ending in 2008, the physicians recommended almost 1,100 Long Island Railroad employees for occupational disability, and were paid as much as $1,200 for each assessment and narrative they prepared, plus they collected fees for what was termed “unnecessary medical treatments.”

The charges are the result of a federal probe following a series of investigative articles published in 2008 by The New York Times.

Long Island Rail Road car inspector Russell DeCeck, 48, a member of Local 722, Babylon, N.Y., was killed Sunday, Aug. 14, when he reportedly came in contact with the third rail while working at the carrier’s Babylon yard in West Islip, N.Y.
DeCeck, of Coram, N.Y., had 28 years of service. He joined the UTU in 1989.
“On behalf of our entire membership in the UTU family our thoughts and prayers are with Russell’s family and close friends,” LIRR General Chairperson Anthony Simon said. “We are all heartbroken over this tragic loss. This accident is a reminder of just how dangerous railroading can be, and shows the importance of continuing the fight in keeping our members safe.”
DeCeck is the sixth UTU member killed in an on-duty accident in 2011, and the third in a yard accident.