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Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees

Friday, October 15, 1999

WASHINGTON: UTU presents compelling case at crucial hearing on BNSF onerous "availability policy"

WASHINGTON -- The United Transportation Union (UTU) presented a strong case against implementation of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad’s (BNSF) onerous "availability policy" at a Public Law Board hearing held at National Mediation Board (NMB) Thursday.

A decision is expected by November 1. BNSF has delayed implementing the controversial policy until then. If the ruling goes against BNSF, the policy will not be implemented.

"We hope that common sense and fairness prevails and the Board decides in favor of union workers," said UTU International President Charles L. Little. "We presented a very strong and compelling case against the policy, but even if BNSF wins it will end up losing more than it gains."

UTU’s principal witness was International President Charles L. Little. Other UTU attendees included BNSF General Chairmen John Fitzgerald, Robert Kerle, Paul Tibbit, C.D. "Bud" Davis, Local Chairman Frank Hickman, and Nebraska State Legislative Director Ray Lineweber.

As UTU’s principal witness, Little made it clear that the intent of the work/rest principles under the negotiation process was to obtain a commitment from the NCCC carriers, including BNSF, that they would negotiate to conclusion with UTU on all fatigue-related problems. Little said that availability obviously is at the core of any problem related to fatigue.

The BNSF Availability Policy could force some employees to work up to 360 hours per month, or 30 twelve-hour days. The policy allows these employees only one day off per month, which may be denied by BNSF for any reason. If the employee then takes time off due to fatigue, the employee is subject to discipline.

The UTU contends that the BNSF’s new "availability policy" is a "breach of faith with the breakthrough work/rest principles" agreed to last spring at the National Wage & Rules Panel.

Little has said that the carrier "has picked the worst possible time to break its word to railroad workers" because national contract talks will be beginning soon. He has said that BNSF’s "unilateral action jeopardizes rail labor relations everywhere" and could affect the entire industry.

CALIFORNIA: UTU only rail union working with AFL-CIO on Gore’s campaign

LOS ANGELES – The United Transportation Union (UTU) is the only major rail-transportation union that has heeded the AFL-CIO’s call to support the presidential candidacy of Vice President Al Gore.

While the UTU spoke publicly in favor of Gore along with other major unions at the federation convention here, other rail unions remained silent and on the sidelines. The UTU endorsed Gore in August at its quadrennial convention in Miami Beach.

"Our cooperation with the AFL-CIO on the Gore endorsement shows that we are still working hand-in-hand with it on major issues of importance to union members everywhere," said James Brunkenhoefer, UTU national legislative director and a delegate to the federation’s convention.

"We have answered the Federation’s call to support Al Gore for the benefit of our members and all rail-transportation workers," Brunkenhoefer continued, "and are concerned that the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) may be leaning toward an endorsement of George W. Bush. There is only one candidate for labor to support, Al Gore."

After receiving the ALF-CIO endorsement, Gore said, "I'm not about to let the Republicans roll back labor rights. If they send any anti-union bills, I'll ink up that veto pen and hit 'em right between the eyes."

Gore also touched upon the dispute between Union Pacific Corp.'s Overnite unit and the Teamsters union, which has waged a five-year campaign to organize the trucking-company's workforce.

He said the company is engaged in "one of the most wide-ranging and relentless anti-organizing efforts" in the U.S.

"We want to shine a spotlight on the unfairness of employers" such as Overnite. "We're going to stay with you and fight."

Brunkenhoefer said, "Will George W. Bush stand up to anti-labor Republicans? We all know the answer. All of rail and transportation labor needs to get behind Al Gore now and work relentlessly until he is elected next November."

WASHINGTON: House votes to better truck safety

WASHINGTON -- The House voted Thursday to create a separate agency within the Transportation Department dedicated to reducing truck accidents that now kill more than 5,000 on the nation's highways every year, the Associated Press reported.

The new National Motor Carrier Administration also would get increased funding to target truckers violating safety rules and to monitor trucks crossing U.S. borders from Mexico and Canada.

"We owe it to the driving public to ensure that the trucks with which they share the road are safe,'' said Rep. Bud Shuster, R-Pa., chairman of the House Transportation Committee.

The bill, H.R. 2679, passed 415-5, goes to the Senate.

The new agency would replace the Office of Motor Carriers, which operated under the Federal Highway Administration. Supporters of the new agency argued that the FHA's close relations with the trucking industry and its focus on construction impeded the OMC's safety work.

The new agency would give safety demands "the priority that they deserve within the department's pecking order,'' said Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., ranking Democrat on the Transportation subcommittee on ground transportation.

The administration, which in the past had expressed doubts about the need to create a new safety office, endorsed the House plan.

Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater, in a letter to Shuster, said the bill and administration efforts "create the potential for significant safety improvements'' and reaching a goal of cutting truck-related fatalities by 50 percent.

Slater recommended the final bill require new commercial driver's license applicants to have alcohol and drug-free driving records for the past three years. He also wants in-vehicle training for new drivers and on-board recorders where appropriate.

The legislation would:

More than 5,300 people were killed and some 130,000 were injured in truck-related accidents last year.

Slater last week announced he was moving most of the safety operations of the Office of Motor Carriers into his own office.

He acted after Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., a leading truck safety, inserted language in the department's fiscal 2000 spending bill that barred further funding of the OMC as long as it remained under the FHA.

The House on Tuesday approved legislation that amended that ban to ensure that the department can continue levying fines against safety violators.

FLORIDA: RailAmerica to buy RailTex for $208 million

BOCA RATON -- RailAmerica Inc. said Thursday that it agreed to acquire RailTex Inc. for about $208 million in cash and stock, creating one of the largest short line/regional freight railroad operators, Reuters reported.

Shareholders of San Antonio-based RailTex will receive $13.50 per share in cash and two-thirds of a share of RailAmerica stock, according to the company. The deal also calls for the assumption of $117 million in RailTex debt.

The new railroad company is expected to have revenues of about $450 million in its first year. RailAmerica will own or have equity interests in 51 railroads operating over 12,500 total track miles in key regions of the United States, Canada, Chile, Mexico and Australia.

Following the transaction, RailTex shareholders will own about 35 percent of the combined company.

"We will have a stronger balance sheet, a significantly larger market capitalization, enhanced shareholder liquidity and a more diversified, balanced portfolio of North American and international railroads,'' said Gary Marino, RailAmerica's chairman, president and chief executive officer, who will continue in those same roles.

Ronald Rittenmeyer, chairman, president and chief executive officer of RailTex, will remain as an advisor and consultant to RailAmerica after completion of the transaction.

RailAmerica said that the transaction, which will be accounted for using the purchase method of accounting, is expected to be accretive to its cash flow and earnings per share and result in cost savings of at least $10 million.

RailTex, operating 26 railroads over about 4,100 route miles, is currently North America's largest short line railroad company, with operations concentrated in the southeastern, Midwestern and New England regions of the United States, as well as Eastern Canada and Mexico.

RailAmerica owns or has equity interests in 25 short line and regional railroads operating more than 8,400 route miles in the United States, Australia, Canada and the Republic of Chile.

The deal, which is expected to close in early 2000, is subject to shareholder approval by both companies, and regulatory approvals. Following completion of the transaction, RailAmerica will generate about 75percent of its earnings from its North American operations, and will employ about 2,600 people worldwide.

Ahead of the news, RailTex shares ended the day up 1/8 to 15-5/8 while RailAmerica shares closed up 1/16 to 9-3/4.

ENGLAND: Union tells operators to double-man trains

LONDON -- The British train drivers' union, Aslef, has told its drivers to double-man a train if its safety system is switched off or faulty, in the wake of the Paddington rail crash.

If two drivers were not allowed in the cab in such circumstances the train should be taken out of service, said the union.

The practice of having two drivers in cabs ended about four years ago.

The union will not ballot its members on industrial action but plans to hold a meeting with the train companies to discuss safety.

It is also telling its members to slow down to 10 mph on passenger trains and 5 mph when driving freight trains at the 22 signals identified as being passed most often at red.

The union said the action should continue until the signals are improved.

"We are making these instructions because today the railway is still operating in the same manner as on the day of the tragic Ladbroke Grove crash," General Secretary Mick Rix told a news conference at Aslef's London head office.

Aslef's members are angry at Railtrack and the rail operators who, they say, should have introduced Automatic Train Protection (ATP) after the 1988 Clapham rail disaster.

The biggest rail union, the RMT, also said the entire culture of the industry should be examined in the wake of the Paddington crash because workers were "fed up" with being blamed for safety lapses.

The union is expected to announce on Thursday that guards at 23 train companies have voted to take industrial action in protest at plans to "water down" their role.

The death toll in the Paddington crash more than a week ago, when a Thames commuter service collided with a Great Western express train, is likely to be nearer to 30 than 40, police have said.

Police are investigating the possibility of criminal proceedings, including a charge of corporate manslaughter if there is enough evidence to support it.

The last carriage has now been removed and crash investigators are spending the rest of the day combing the site at Ladbroke Grove.

Search teams are planning to conduct a final sweep of the entire area tomorrow, with the help of a human remains sniffer dog, before handing the site over to Railtrack and the Health and Safety Executive.

Paddington Station is not expected to re-open until Tuesday 19 October at the earliest, and when services in and out of the station resume they will still face disruption.

Railtrack has said the line controlled by signal 109, which the Thames train passed at red, will not be in use.

The damaged carriages have been removed and taken by road for examination at a laboratory in Crewe, Cheshire.

Some of the carriages involved in the Paddington rail disaster had been damaged in the Southall crash two years ago.

Lawyers acting for victims of the two crashes have demanded none of the carriages are used again until all official inquiries are complete.

The public inquiry into the Southall crash is to resume on October 25, but will not examine the Paddington crash at first.

Just how it can deal with events common to Southall and Paddington will be announced later, said inquiry chairman Professor John Uff.

The Westminster coroner, Dr Paul Knapman, says DNA testing is being used to identify five of the Paddington victims.

Blood samples have been taken from five families who fear they lost relatives in the disaster. The samples will be checked against remains removed from the site but may not be known until next week.

ENGLAND: London bus plunges off bridge, all escape

LONDON -- Passengers on a red London double-decker had a lucky escape on Thursday after the bus smashed into a car, fell 40 feet off a road bridge and landed in a children's play area.

The rush-hour number 3 bus crashed through the bridge parapet in Upper Norwood, South London, before hitting the ground, landing on its side.

"I heard a yell at the front of the bus, followed by an impact. Then there was more motion, there was slewing and there was rotation,'' said one of the injured passengers.

Ten people, including five schoolchildren, were injured but no one was in the play area at the time of the accident.

"To have only minor injuries after something like this is remarkable,'' said a spokesman for the London Fire Brigade.

WASHINGTON: A railroad experience of a different kind

WASHINGTON -- What a sanitized rail-riding experience one gets shuttling back and forth between Washington and New York on the Amtrak Metroliner, a commentary by Peter Tirschwell in the Journal of Commerce begins.

Everything on the Metroliner is just the way it should be. Smoking is prohibited at all times. Need to be productive? Outlets to plug in your laptop are provided next to your seat. You can set your watch by the departures and arrivals. The clientele is such that if you're stuck with someone sitting next to you, chances are you'll strike up an interesting conversation and perhaps learn a thing or two.

No doubt the high-speed Acela, scheduled to replace the Metroliner next spring, will offer much the same experience, in 20 minutes less time.

But there is another, very different, side to riding the rails with Amtrak, as I learned last weekend -- not better or worse necessarily -- just train travel of a very different sort.

My situation was that I needed to get to Pittsburgh on short notice to pick up a car and drive it back to New York. The price of a one-way airline ticket on a day's notice was outrageous, as expected, and Priceline.com was no help. The thought of the bus was unbearable, and I gave up hitchhiking years ago. That left the train.

From the beginning things weren't what I was used to. When the Metroliner's track number is called at Penn Station, a mass of humanity migrates to the escalator. When the "Three Rivers" train to Chicago came up (the only one departing that day) the masses stood still. This wasn't the train they were waiting for.

A trickle of folks made their way down to the track. One group made the mistake of boarding this train when they meant to get on one bound for Washington. A few minutes after the conductor delivered the bad news, somewhere south of Newark, their Washington train sped by.

The scheduled time from New York to Pittsburgh was 10 hours -- from 12:45 p.m. to 10:45 p.m. In Philadelphia, we were told to feel free to wander around the station for half an hour while equipment was changed.

When we finally got going, an earnest conductor offered a short safety briefing, reminding us to always keep one hand free when walking down the isles. He informed us there was a downed tree up the track a way, which might delay us.

The "Three Rivers" train of the Amtrak Intercity service slid along the Philadelphia Main Line and then onto working Norfolk Southern track for the westward passage through Pennsylvania.

Metroliner passengers, whizzing along on Amtrak-owned track at 125 miles per hour, don't get the experience of sharing railroad tracks with freight trains.

You're a guest on these tracks, and you wonder how welcome you are. Amtrak does its best to stay out of trouble and keep its trains moving on schedule through a jam-packed corridor that it doesn't control.

Long freights came up fast in the opposite direction. Suddenly you'd see their headlight, hear their whistle, and feel your train shake and the air pressure momentarily change as they sped by.

Compared to the ride on the serene Metroliner, this was like being out at sea, exposed to elements beyond your control.

You felt as if this Amtrak train -- coach cars, a bar car, a sleeper and several freight cars pulled by a double locomotive -- didn't belong here. Outside one station we idled helplessly for 15 minutes waiting for a freight train to get out of the way.

Most of the passengers aboard were oblivious to all this. They seemed resigned to the routine. As nightfall came, they settled in, most fighting a losing battle to make themselves comfortable on double seats with foldout leg rests. One gave up and rented an available sleeper cabin.

I always knew a station was coming up because the conductors -- a rotund bunch -- roused themselves from the seats they had monopolized in the bar car and ambled through my car to oversee boarding.

One of them wasn't aware Amtrak had started a freight service, arguing that would be illegal. Another warned there would soon be only eight empty seats on the train, though the expected rush of passengers never materialized.

Smoking in the bar car was permitted for a half-hour in the evening, and it seemed like half the train took advantage. At dinnertime, I dared to eat a microwaved meatloaf sandwich. Not bad! I went back for seconds.

As the train made its way westward, it slipped behind schedule. A Mennonite family boarded in Johnstown, Pa., as did a 95-year-old nun.

The conductors said I was lucky to be on a train running only an hour late; since Norfolk Southern took over the line from Conrail four months ago, delays have become routine, they said. Amtrak spokesmen verified this. One train pulled into Chicago nearly 24 hours late, one conductor said.

After what seemed like a truly endless journey, we arrived in Pittsburgh, intact. It was 11:45 p.m. I was a lucky man.

WASHINGTON: Tarnished Gold; U.S. report says G.I.'s liberated, then looted Nazi train carrying assets of Hungarian Jews

WASHINGTON -- In the dying days of World War II, as the Red Army swept into Hungary from the east, the country's Fascist leaders escaped to the West with a trainload of loot, headed toward neutral Switzerland. They got as far as the Austrian village of Werfen, where they were forced to surrender their booty to the U.S. Fifth Army, the Washington Post reported.

The Americans who captured the train on May 16, 1945--eight days after V-E day--discovered wagon after wagon crammed with the property of the Hungarian Jewish bourgeoisie, from furs and stamp collections to artwork and oriental rugs to at least one crate of wedding rings confiscated from Holocaust victims.

Over the past half-century, the fate of the Hungarian "Gold Train" has become the stuff of legend, books, moral hand wringing and a protracted legal dispute between the United States and Hungary.

Yesterday, a U.S. presidential commission on Holocaust-era assets attempted to write the end of the story. It said that part of the loot seized from the Hungarian Gold Train was auctioned off by Jewish charitable organizations, part was requisitioned by senior U.S. officers in Austria for their personal use and part was frittered away through neglect and petty theft.

In addition, the U.S. government transferred 1,181 paintings to Austria in 1949 in violation of international treaties stipulating that "cultural property" looted during World War II should be returned to "the country of origin," in this case Hungary.

Among the documents cited by the commission is a requisition order from the commander of U.S. troops in western Austria, Maj. Gen. Harry J. Collins, for large amounts of Gold Train property, including a complete dinner service for 45 people, 30 sets of table linens, 12 silver candlesticks, 60 bath towels and 13 rugs, for both his villa and personal railroad car. Despite repeated pleas from the Hungarian Jewish community, the commission added, very few of the valuables were returned to their original owners.

Publication of the presidential commission's report marks a new twist in the long-running saga of Nazi gold. Until now, the United States has largely escaped the spate of finger pointing against countries such as Switzerland, Austria and France for failing to make proper retribution to Holocaust victims and their heirs.

In what was billed as a "progress report" on the Gold Train's fate, the presidential commission on Holocaust-era assets described the U.S. handling of the matter as a "mysterious" and "egregious" exception to a generally creditable record on restituting looted Jewish property. Congress established the commission last year to track the assets of World War II victims that may have passed through the hands of U.S. government institutions.

Commission chairman Edgar M. Bronfman said the report was part of an effort by the United States to admit to past "mistakes" rather than simply harangue the rest of the world. "The important thing is that we as Americans are looking at our own past, saying what we did right, what we did wrong," he said.

The commission's findings could reopen a long-standing dispute with Hungary over the disposition of the Gold Train assets. According to declassified U.S. government documents in the National Archives, successive U.S. administrations rejected claims by Hungary's Communist government to the treasure trove on the grounds that the original owners could not be identified. In 1966, the State Department argued that part of the property could be considered American "war booty" and that Hungarian government claims that the property was worth $206 million at the war's end--or around $2 billion today--were "grossly exaggerated."

But the commission's conclusions are controversial, and have already come under attack by a leading Holocaust researcher. Ron Zweig, a lecturer at Tel Aviv University who is writing his own book about the fate of the Gold Train, said the report showed "a very basic misunderstanding of the immediate post-war period." He said the U.S. authorities had reason to mistrust Communist promises to return valuable items to a much-diminished Hungarian Jewish community after World War II.

"Individual restitution was impossible for the vast bulk of the looted goods," said Zweig, who accused the presidential commission of "rushing to print" in an attempt to "grab headlines" and justify its $6 million budget. The author of the Gold Train report, Jonathan Petropoulos, rejected the charge. He said the commission intended to conduct further research, by interviewing retired U.S. officials and searching for claims by Hungarian Jews.

Documents cited by the presidential commission show that the loot was transferred to a U.S. military warehouse in Salzburg, 60 miles north of Werfen, where it soon attracted the attention of senior U.S. officers, who needed to furnish the empty castles and villas they had confiscated from Austrian aristocrats. In his requisition request, Collins demanded items "of the very best quality and workmanship." Other generals followed his lead.

Officers in charge of the warehouse had some misgivings about fulfilling these orders, but complied nonetheless, according to research by Kenneth D. Alford, who wrote about the Gold Train in a 1994 book, "The Spoils of World War II." One former property officer, Capt. Howard A. MacKenzie, told Alford that "the only difference between the Germans and the Americans in looting was [that] the Germans keep very accurate records, and with the Americans it was free enterprise unchecked."

A much larger portion of the Gold Train loot was given to Jewish organizations for public auction to raise funds for the hundreds of thousands of penniless Jewish refugees freed from Auschwitz and other Nazi concentration camps. According to the presidential commission, U.S. officials ignored calls by Hungarian Jewish organizations to be allowed to inspect the property before it was handed over.

Rather than return the looted artworks to Hungary, the U.S. government transferred them to Austria for safekeeping, a move that reflected the official perception then of Austria as a victim of Nazism rather than a willing accomplice of Adolf Hitler. Precisely what happened to the artwork after 1952 is still a mystery. Austrian officials told the commission that "a portion of the property" was "restituted," but have yet to provide details.

Just how much of the loot on the Gold Train could be traced to original owners is a matter of continuing debate. Shortly after the war, the Hungarian government backed up its demand for the property with a list of 900 individual claims totaling $47 million. In 1952, the State Department official in charge of restitution matters, Ardelia Hall, proposed that "the detailed list" of paintings "should be broadcast to Hungary with the statement that the property is held under trusteeship for eventual return to the owners," a recommendation that never was followed.

Alford, the author of the 1994 book, cites U.S. military documents reporting the discovery of "lists of names of people from whom some of the items on the train were taken."

Zweig, on the other hand, argues that the vast majority of the loot was untraceable by the time it fell into American hands. He notes that the train took 3 1/2 months to get out of Hungary, during which time the Fascist leaders opened up many of the original envelopes and boxes. "By the time they had finished, there were just crates of wedding rings, gold jewelry, and uncut diamonds. The records became meaningless," he said.

U.S. government records show that the Truman administration decided in 1948 to change its policy on returning looted artwork to the country of origin, in order to prevent such treasures from falling into the hands of Communist regimes in Eastern Europe.

CANADA: Laidlaw posts 4th quarter loss

TORONTO -- Laidlaw Inc., North America's largest school bus company, posted a fourth quarter loss Thursday after taking a charge in one of its divisions, Reuters reported.

Laidlaw recorded a loss of $994.7 million, or $3.01 a share for the quarter ended August 31, compared with a profit of $26.9 million, or 8 cents a share, for the same period last year. Consolidated revenues climbed to $572.4 million from $265.9 million.

Last month, Laidlaw said it would sell off its U.S. money-losing health-care operations and its 44 percent stake in Safety-Kleen Corp. to focus on its more successful bus passenger operations. The company said Thursday it had allocated a provision for the anticipated loss on the sale of the discontinued operations of $1.004 billion, or $3.04 per share.

Laidlaw also took a $5.4 million special tax charge on Safety-Kleen.

By division, Laidlaw said its school bus division saw a seasonal loss of $21 million due to school vacations while revenue increased to $167.4 million. The transit and tours unit saw revenue climb to $405.0 million as the company incorporated results from Greyhound Lines for the first time.

Laidlaw stock closed off 20 Canadian cents at C$9.85 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. ($1-$1.48 Canadian)

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