UTU News Digest - Friday, September 11, 1998

UTU Daily News Digest

Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees
For
Friday, September 11, 1998

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UTU, New Jersey Transit okay contract

NEWARK -- NJ Transit on Wednesday approved a five-year, $19.1 million contract with the United Transportation Union, which represents 700 rail conductors and trainmen. The contract, which is retroactive to July 1, 1996, gives wage increases amounting to 16 percent over the course of the agreement.

"I think it was a good deal for the UTU and a good deal for New Jersey Transit," said General Chairman (NJTRO) Dan J. Bogen, Local 60. "Everybody’s needs have been met and we have a good ongoing relationship."

Bogen said that in addition to the pay increase that the contract includes five more sick days, 4 more personal days, and improved hospitalization for current employees and retirees. He said pensions were not an issue because "we have two pretty lucrative programs."

UTU conductors and trainmen help operate up to 600 trains a day covering the state of New Jersey and taking commuters into Manhattan, Trenton, Atlantic City, and into Upstate New York.

Proposed contract for pilots may get Northwest flying again

MINNEAPOLIS -- With a push from President Clinton, Northwest Airlines and its striking pilots' union negotiated a proposed four-year contract Thursday that would return the nation's fourth-largest airline to the skies.

The first official confirmation of the deal was announced by the president on live television, nearly an hour before the two combatants in the 2-year-old contract dispute went before local press to signal that an end to the pilots' 13-day-old strike appeared to be at hand.

For the strike to end, the governing council of the 6,200-member Northwest Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) must approve the proposed settlement. Its provisions, which were not released Thursday, were hammered out during more than 55 hours of bargaining overseen by federal mediators and deputy White House counsel Bruce Lindsey, a close associate of Clinton.

ALPA's Master Executive Council (MEC) will meet Saturday. The council's approval would end the strike immediately, and Northwest's first passenger flights since Aug. 28 would take to the air by mid-week.

Northwest has said it could take up to two weeks for the carrier to return to a full schedule once the strike is over.

A deal would end the longest airline strike since Eastern mechanics struck in 1989.

The Northwest strike has disrupted travel for more than a million passengers, resulted in the layoff of approximately 30,000 non-striking Northwest employees, and cost the airline more than $140 million.

There is a chance, however, that contract approval could be stalled. The MEC could choose to put the contract proposal to a vote of union members. If that happens, ratification could take up to two weeks, depending on the voting format.

Although details of the proposed settlement were not released, two sources familiar with the deal said the compensation package includes 2.5 million shares of Northwest stock to be awarded in a four-year stock option plan, with option-exercise prices to be determined annually. Stock options were not on the bargaining table when pilots struck.

Northwest also would create a profit-sharing plan for the first time and would phase out the pilots' B-scale -- a lower tier of wages for new hires. Elimination of the B-scale was a major goal for the union. Coupled with a proposed 12 percent increase in pay rates over four years -- 3 percent each year -- the profit sharing and stock options are projected to raise pilot pay more than 14 percent over the life of the agreement.

The machinists' union at Northwest has already rejected a four-year contract that included a 14 percent wage increase but had no stock options or profit sharing.

Pilots had sought to limit the number of regional jets Northwest could deploy, but the proposed contract includes no such cap. Instead, the two sides agreed on a plan that ties growth in the small planes to net growth in Northwest's fleet of narrow-body planes. Narrow-body planes are flown by Northwest pilots, while regional jets are flown by lower-paid pilots at Northwest's Airlink commuter affiliates.

Chicago Transit hopes fare cut will increase ridership

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is hoping partial fare reductions might lure more people onto its buses and trains.

The CTA is considering a plan to reduce the cost of the monthly pass from the current 88 dollars to 75 dollars. A new weekly pass would cost 20 dollars. Tokens would be phased out under the proposed plan.

Teamster election ballots to be counted in December

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Ballots in the much-delayed Teamsters election would be counted in the first week of December under a revised plan offered this week by a court-appointed overseer.

The plan filed with U.S. District Judge David Edelstein in New York by election monitor Michael Cherkasky came after the union's executive board reversed itself last month and offered to contribute $2 million toward the cost of the vote.

Haggling between congressional Republicans and the union over the estimated $8 million tab had forced Cherkasky to abandon plans to mail ballots to the union's 1.4 million members on Sept. 14. Currently, there is just over $6 million pledged toward supervision of the contest.

The proposal is subject to Edelstein's approval. The rerun election was ordered after incumbent Teamsters President Ron Carey's 1996 re-election over James P. Hoffa was overturned. Three of Carey's campaign aides pleaded guilty in federal court to an illegal fund-raising scheme and the union's former political director was indicted. Carey was barred from the rerun and expelled from the union.

Cherkasky said that if Edelstein acted quickly to approve his proposal, ballots would be mailed on Nov. 2 and the vote count could begin Dec. 3. Five slates and six independent candidates are vying for various Teamsters offices, from trustee to general president. The principal candidates for the union's top post are Hoffa, son of labor legend Jimmy Hoffa, and Tom Leedham, who has the backing of the union's reform wing.

2 rail groups reach accord

WASHINGTON -- The Association of American Railroads and the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association have reached a wide-ranging agreement for handling rate, service and equipment disputes that arise between large and small carriers.

The long-expected deal marks the second agreement that the AAR has finalized in recent weeks. Last month, the National Grain and Feed Association, representing major agricultural shippers, signed an agreement that provides formalized dispute resolution methods for companies that market and process agricultural products.

Both agreements resulted from discussions that were directed by the Surface Transportation Board as part of that agency's ongoing review of recent rail service difficulties.

Key features of the five-year intra-industry agreement are:

Binding arbitration for rate, switching, revenue allocation and network-access disputes that are known among railroads as "paper barriers." Those "paper barrier" clauses limit the number of major railroad connections for smaller carriers. Dozens of those situations were created by the terms of line sales by larger carriers to smaller railroads.

A joint committee to resolve disputes over major railroads' supply of freight cars to smaller carriers.

An industry-wide service agreement covering procedures for freight that is interchanged between large and small railroads.

An effective cap on switching fees charged to smaller railroads. The agreement mandates that small railroads be charged no more than the amount the larger railroads charge each other for switching cars in a particular area.

Rate comparability between shipments moving over similar routings so that joint freight shipments traveling on larger and smaller railroads can be competitive with single-line traffic that moves only on AAR members' tracks.

Both deals promise to be useful in a political as well as commercial setting. The AAR can point to both pacts as signs of the industry's flexibility and willingness to work with customers during the anticipated future debates about a legislative overhaul of current rail competition and rate policies.

While the AAR reached two agreements, discussions during the spring and early summer with other shipper groups did not produce agreements on how to handle rate and regulatory issues. The STB currently is weighing whether to change those rules. Rate provisions of the intra-industry agreement are being submitted to the STB for review. Other portions are effective immediately, the associations said.

Hoboken terminal makeover a real gem

HOBOKEN, NJ -- The restoration of the nearly century-old Hoboken Railroad Terminal -- through which have passed countless immigrants, travelers heading west to Chicago, and sleepy commuters bound for jobs in Manhattan --continues with a $9 million makeover of the waiting room.

The NJ Transit board of directors this week approved an $8.8 million contract to restore the main waiting room, a huge turn-of-the-century grotto used daily by about 37,000 people seeking ticket windows, the lost-and-found, bathrooms, and newsstands. It is to be finished by December 1999.

The Hoboken Terminal is not just another station. Built in 1907 to replace a station that burned, it is one of the great remaining examples of beaux arts architecture in the East. It is a dark green, contemplative building that has become a New Jersey landmark.

It is a transit hub -- a stop in the morning commute for New York-bound passengers arriving on trains of the Main, Bergen, Pascack Valley, Boonton, and Morris & Essex Lines. It also is a stop on the PATH system, several ferry lines, and, in the adjacent terminal, the last stop on a number of bus lines. In the future, it will be a stop on the Hudson-Bergen light rail line, which will connect Bayonne and Ridgefield.

Earlier restoration work on the terminal included repairs to the storefronts on the main platform where passengers run for trains, and to the rooftop. Future aspects of the project, which will take 10 years to complete, include construction of an office building on the site of the bus terminal and refurbishing of the original ferry slips.

In other matters Wednesday:

NJ Transit voted to spend $1.8 million on design and engineering services for upgrades of the Pascack Valley and Main railroad lines. Chief among the improvements is the building of six sidings along the single-track Pascack line, which runs from Hoboken to Spring Valley, N.Y. The sidings will allow trains to run in both directions without having to restore double tracks. The sidings are expected to be completed in late 2001, in time for the opening in 2002 of the Secaucus Transfer, which NJ Transit expects will create more demand for timely train service.

US Airways workers vote to strike

NEW YORK -- About 6,100 fleet service workers at US Airways Group Inc. rejected a tentative labor contract and have voted to authorize a strike, a spokesman for the International Association of Machinists said Wednesday.

Further negotiations may be sought by the National Mediation Board, which has been supervising the talks, but an IAM spokesman said the union will ask to be released from talks so that a deadline for a strike can be set.

"We will go back and we will request that an impasse be declared so that we can start the 30-day cooling off period," said Bill Upton, a spokesman in the IAM national office.

By law, the board must release the parties from negotiations and allow a 30-day cooling-off period to elapse before a strike can proceed.

CAW ratifies CN contract

MONTREAL -- Canadian National Railway Co. said members of the Canadian Auto Workers union have ratified four new collective agreements with the company that run through the end of 2000.

In a news release, the company said the three-year agreements, ratified by the more than 6,000 CAW members at Canadian National, include wage increases, better benefits and pension plan improvements in line with agreements Canadian National has signed with five other unions.

Canadian National said all of its major Canadian unions have ratified new collectives agreements with the company, which has 17,460 unionized employees in Canada. It said the 300-member Rail Canada Traffic Controllers union hasn't yet concluded a new agreement with the railway, although discussions will resume shortly.

It said the agreements, retroactive to Jan. 1, provide for wage increases of 2% a year and improvements to benefit, dental and extended health care plans.

Man struck, killed by passenger train

GARFIELD, NJ -- A 54-year-old man was struck and killed by a passenger train Wednesday morning at almost the same spot on Monroe Street where a 12-year-old boy was killed nearly two years ago.

About 11 a.m., Alex Thompson walked around the closed crossing gates and stepped into the path of a commuter train heading from Hoboken to Suffern, NJ Transit officials said.

The train, with four cars and a locomotive, had just left the Garfield station when it hit Thompson, who was dragged about 50 feet. Thompson was pronounced dead at the scene about 14 minutes later. The12 passengers on the train were taken by bus to their destinations.

The tracks cut across one of Garfield's busier thoroughfares. In October 1996, 12-year-old Christian Maldonado was killed at the same spot after he and another youngster apparently tried to slip across the tracks ahead of an oncoming train.

Last year there were 20 fatalities for NJ Transit. There were 17 fatalities in 1996. NJT said that some 75 percent of the deaths are suicides.

Diesel fuel leaks from train into river

HAWTHORNE, NJ -- Almost 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel leaked into the Passaic River when a freight train crashed into a boulder on the tracks Tuesday, rupturing the locomotives' fuel tanks.

Fire Chief Victor Tamburro said Wednesday that the accident was the result of vandalism, and that several youths have been charged with criminal mischief for allegedly rolling the huge rock onto the tracks along Wagaraw Road.

But Tamburro was equally angry with Conrail and NJ Transit officials, who, he says, didn't notify local authorities about the accident until two hours after it happened. He said that quicker action on their part might have prevented so much fuel oil from spilling into the river.

The freight train -- two locomotives and 12 freight cars -- was operated by Conrail but was using tracks on NJ Transit's Bergen Line. The boulder ripped 3- to 4-inch gashes in the engine's belly tanks, allowing the fuel oil to escape.