SMART Transportation Division members are invited to gather for a pair of rallies taking place Sept. 10 in Nebraska and Ohio.
Solidarity Saturday is happening at Lincoln County Fairgrounds AG Center in North Platte, Neb. The event starts at 11 a.m. and will run until 5 p.m.
Local 200 (North Platte) Chairperson Amanda Snide will receive a Solidarity Star and be honored for her work representing the membership as well as her unyielding commitment to the labor cause.
All are welcome, Local 200 President Jeff Cooley said.
In Ohio, a labor rally for all crafts is scheduled for Saturday in the parking lot of IBT Local 20, 435 S. Hawley St., in Toledo, beginning at 9 a.m.
Following the rally, a Rail Labor Family Day event is planned at the Toledo Zoo following the rally, for discount tickets to the zoo event, follow the link below.
A workers summit for union members from all over Nebraska is scheduled to take place on Monday, May 6 in North Platte, Nebraska. Jim “Doc” Moore, a retired associate professor of labor history at Cornell University’s School for Industrial and Labor Relations, will moderate the meetings at 1 and 5 p.m. at the Ramada Inn and Suites, 2102 S. Jeffers St., North Platte, NE 69101. Among scheduled presenters at the summit, which is open to all union members and their spouses, are Sue Martin, president of the Nebraska AFL-CIO; John Kretzschmar, director of the William Brennan Institute for Labor Studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha; and SMART TD Nebraska State Legislative Director Bob Borgeson. The summit is again being organized by Terry Sigler, a retired legislative representative of SMART TD Local 286 in North Platte who remains active in union matters, especially when it comes to safety. Among topics discussed at the successful inaugural meeting in April 2018 were the state’s two-person crew bills and OSHA funding. “The purpose of the Workers Summit is to unite all the unions to better inform the membership of the issues that are important for their safety and welfare,” Sigler said.
Union members from all over Nebraska are invited to attend a Workers Summit on Friday, April 6 in North Platte, Neb. Jim “Doc” Moore, a retired associate professor of labor history at Cornell University’s School for Industrial and Labor Relations, will moderate the meetings at 1 and 5 p.m. at the Quality Inn and Suites, 2102 S. Jeffers St., North Platte, NE 69101. “The purpose of the labor summit is to unite all the unions and to better inform our members of the issues that are important for our safety and welfare,” said summit organizer Terry Sigler, a retired legislative representative of SMART Transportation Division Local 286 in North Platte. Topics of discussion will include S. 1451 – the Railroad Advancement of Innovation and Leadership with Safety Act; S. 2360 and HR 233 – the Senate and House versions of the Safe Freight Act and cuts to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s budget. Strategies about how to mobilize to have union workers’ voices heard will be discussed, and questions from attendees are welcome during the discussion. SMART TD Nebraska State Legislative Director Bob Borgeson and Dean Mitchell, SMART TD political consultant of DFM Research in Minnesota, will be among the presenters.
And the result, according to the Federal Railroad Administration, is a significant reduction in rail workplace derailments that too often lead to serious injury and death — plus, as a bonus, better labor/management relationships and improved operational performance.
We’re talking about four pilot projects called Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS), whose core value is that railroaders don’t intentionally make mistakes, and the most effective means of correcting workplace errors that have the potential to cause death, injury and accidents is to investigate the cause in a non-judgmental environment.
In a review of C3RS pilot projects on Amtrak, Canadian Pacific, New Jersey Transit and Union Pacific, the FRA also determined they result in supervisors becoming “more fair and cooperative” and placing a greater value on safety relative to productivity, fewer discipline cases, and workers more willing to raise safety concerns with management.
C3RS is a collaborative effort involving the FRA, carriers, the UTU and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.
The pilot projects encourage engineers, conductors, trainmen and yardmasters to report — without fear of discipline or FRA enforcement action, even if rules violations are involved — close calls that may have resulted in accidents or injuries.
All C3RS reports by employees are collected anonymously and kept confidential. With names and locations masked, a C3RS peer review team recommends corrective action, such as improved training, changes in physical plant, changes in existing federal safety laws or regulations, changes in carrier operating rules, and improved training and/or education.
Examples of close calls include varying levels of risk, such as leaving pieces of equipment unsecured, improper blocking, operating trains beyond track authority, or violating operating rules.
UTU International Vice President John Previsich spearheads the UTU involvement in the four C3RS pilot projects – systemwide on Amtrak and New Jersey Transit, and at CP’s Portage, Wis., yard, and UP’s North Platte, Neb., yard.
At UP, which has the most experience with C3RS, the pilot project has led to reformatting track warrants so they are easier to read, and with a UP officer observing that C3RS “is helping UP move from a blame culture to one that bridges communication gaps between employees and management.”
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. — UTU Alumni Association Chapter 17 will host its second annual UTU/UTUe alumni luncheon Tuesday, Oct. 4, at noon, here at the Depot Restaurant, 520 N. Jeffers. All retirees, and their spouse or friends are welcome to attend. For more information contact Terry Sigler at (308) 532-6041, or email him at terryes@q.com.
It’s confidential and no-fault.