UTU News Digest - Monday, September 28, 1998

UTU Daily News Digest

Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees
For
Monday, September 28, 1998

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Train-vehicle collisions drop 13% in first half ‘98

WASHINGTON-- Collisions at highway-rail intersections between vehicles and trains dropped by 13% in the U.S. during the first six months of 1998. A total of 1,502 incidents were reported nationwide, according to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).

These crashes resulted in 217 fatalities, down 1.5% from January-June 1997. Highway-Rail Crossing Incidents Drop Sharply in Several Key States

Several states experienced a reduction in fatalities and incidents. Texas, the number one state in the country for highway-rail incidents, cut collisions by 25% for a total of 134. Kansas reduced crashes by 45% to 26. Illinois experienced 85 collisions down from 185 just four years ago. Michigan reported a decline of 32 crashes in the first six months. Oklahoma dropped to 33 collisions for a 32% decline from 1997. New Jersey went from 17 collisions in the first six months of 1997 to 7 in 1998. Illinois has cut its crossing incidents by 53% since 1994, the year before the fatal school bus crash at Fox River Grove.

Injuries took the greatest plunge, declining to 630 from 779 in the first six months of 1997, a 19% drop in one year. These incidents are referred to as trespassing because it is illegal to be on the tracks, in the rail yards or the railroad rights-of-way. Trespassing Incidents Drop in Some States.

For the first six months of 1998, fatalities resulting from trespass incidents dropped to 230, compared to 260 in 1997. This is an 11.5% decrease from 1997. Trespass injuries during the same period dropped 28% from 283 to 204.

California, the number one state for trespassing incidents, experienced a 30% drop according to these figures, with a total tally for the first six months of 14 deaths. Texas, the number 2 state in this category, went from 25 to 12 fatalities-- a 52% drop. Kentucky recorded no trespass fatalities in the first six months, down from six the year before. Massachusetts dropped from 9 to 3 and Michigan from 5 to 1.

Only one summer month is reflected in these statistics. This is the time when trespassing incidents are usually greatest. Later in the year, November and December are typically when the highest number of vehicle-train collisions occur, according to Operation Lifesaver President Gerri Hall.

Operation Lifesaver, a 26-year-old program, is a non-profit, nationwide public education program dedicated to reducing collisions at highway-rail crossings and along railroad rights-of-way. Its safety partners and volunteers work in their communities to carry a safety message via presentations to schools, businesses, civic groups and local gatherings.

(This information is being updated on the OLI Web site: www.oli.org.)

AFL-CIO criticizes Navy contract with anti-union company

WASHINGTON -- The AFL-CIO criticized the Navy last week for awarding contracts to a Louisiana shipyard said by an administrative law judge to have used illegal tactics in a five-year fight against its workers' drive to unionize.

"This is a company that makes its profit feeding at the public trough, but has no respect for the public," AFL-CIO President John Sweeney told a rally of 500 union supporters held at the Navy Memorial.

Avondale Industries has become labor's prime example of a corporation using legal loopholes to frustrate organizing drives. But what sets Avondale apart, in the opinion of labor leaders, is that during the course of the standoff it has received more than $2 billion in Navy contracts to build military cargo vessels, amphibious landing ships and other warships.

"What does the fact that this lawbreaking shipyard continues to benefit from billions of taxpayer dollars flowing through the U.S. Navy say about our public policies and the officials who administer them?" Sweeney asked.

Sweeney singled out Navy Secretary John Dalton for criticism. A Navy spokesman, Lt. Cmdr. Herman Phillips, said the Navy legally was barred from taking sides in the dispute while the case went through federal court.

Avondale said in a statement that its dispute with labor "won't be decided in the streets but rather in the courts." The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is slated to hear arguments in the case later this month. The company also said if the Navy followed up on Sweeney's suggestion to withhold contracts, "Avondale's employees would be among the first to suffer."

Avondale workers voted 1,950 to 1,632 to unionize in 1993, but the company used legal challenges to block the final tally until 1997. After the National Labor Relations Board certified the election, the company appealed in federal court and refused to meet union negotiators at the bargaining table. Meanwhile, workers filed NLRB charges alleging that Avondale engaged in a widespread campaign to intimidate workers through selective firings and other retaliatory acts.

An administrative law judge agreed in February, ruling that Avondale violated labor law 100 times by illegally discharging 28 workers, suspending or reassigning other employees, and using other anti-union tactics.

Corporate PAC’s outspend labor $90 million to $62 million

WASHINGTON -- Political action committees raised more than $359 million in the first 18 months of this election cycle, and the biggest beneficiaries of PAC largesse were incumbent lawmakers, according to a Federal Election Commission (FEC) report issued last week.

Corporate PACs collected $105 million and spent $90 million; labor PACs raised nearly $80 million and spent about $62 million.

PAC receipts were up 10.6 percent and the $293 million the special interest committees doled out represented a 15 percent jump over the 1996 election cycle. Corporate PACs still out-raised and outspent their counterparts in labor.

But when it came to Republicans vs. Democrats, there was little difference. "The split between parties was almost equal," the FEC report found. "Republican candidates received $69.1 million ... while Democrats received $65 million."

Of the $134 million given by PACs directly to candidates, $114 million went to incumbents, $8 million to challengers. Candidates for open seats received about $13 million.

Federal Express pilot leaders seek union OK for slowdown

MEMPHIS -- The leaders of the FedEx pilots' union want authority to launch job actions during the pre-Christmas peak delivery season.

Leaders of the FedEx Pilots Association want the ability to have the Memphis company's 3,500 pilots refuse to work overtime during the busiest weeks of the year when FedEx must transport more than 4 million packages a day.

Union officials sent ballots to members this month seeking the authority to use such a strategy if negotiations aren't progressing quickly enough. FedEx managers have told pilots that several letters of agreement between the company and the union will be void if the pilots proceed with the vote, but union leaders plan to do it anyway.

The Air Line Pilots Association, the FPA's predecessor at FedEx, tried a similar strategy in 1995. But only half the company's pilots were ALPA members, and those who opposed the union gladly filled in when the company doubled normal hourly pay rates for overtime flying.

The FPA replaced the ALPA two years ago. Union leaders this year negotiated a tentative agreement with the company in which pilots would trade higher pay rates for work rule concessions, but rank-and-file members rejected it.

The union recently replaced its more conciliatory leaders with those who promised a hard-line, combative campaign. Negotiations resumed in July and union membership soared above 90% for the first time ever.

Union leaders said they should know by the end of October whether they'll be able to reach another tentative agreement or launch job actions. The pilots are seeking increases in wages, retirement benefits and job security. FedEx pilots earn about $130,000 on average. Pilots are the only collective bargaining group in FedEx's domestic work force. They have been negotiating since 1993, but the pilots have rejected all three tentative agreements between FedEx and union leaders.