Lake Terminal Railroad plans to keep distance from

Lake Terminal Railroad plans to keep distance from
unsafe non-union replacement at USS/Kobe to protect workers
No access granted to its rail yards for IRSS and no longer 24-hour service

LORAIN, Ohio (Dec2) – In a move meant to protect its few remaining union workers doing interchange work at USS/Kobe Steel beginning December 29, the Lake Terminal Railroad will not operate around poorly trained, non-union workers being hired by its successor, IRSS.

The decision by the 104-year-old unionized railroad to require all IRSS employees to be out of the area before it engages in interchange operations was made because of serious safety concerns. IRSS plans to use remote controls operated by poorly trained and lowly paid workers to move old engines with defective brakes inside the steel mill.

"We want to thank Lake Terminal Railroad for putting its workers’ safety first when USS/Kobe begins working with a scab railroad," said Tim Smith, UTU general chairman for the Lake Terminal Railroad. "Everything we are seeing says that it will be chaos in the steel plant for some time because IRSS lacks the experience and equipment to operate successfully."

Beginning December 29, Lake Terminal will only perform interchange work at USS/Kobe Steel. At that time, IRSS will replace Lake Terminal Railroad for all in-plant operations.

In addition to keeping its interchange workforce separate from IRSS, Lake Terminal Railroad, according to sources, will also do the following:

Terminate its computer tracking system with USS/Kobe eliminating any backup the steel company has in keeping tracks of rail cars. At the present time, USS/Kobe is experiencing extreme problems with its new computer system, including an inability to track inventory and rail cars.

Remove all USS/Kobe owned cars, approximately 300, from its property.

No access to Lake Terminal rail will be granted to any IRSS or USS/Kobe equipment.

Lake Terminal will only operate in daylight hours and will no longer offer 24-hour service, 365 days a year as it has done in the past.

No assistance will be provided to any IRSS in-plant rail accidents, including hot metal wrecks, and other problems.

Charges to perform interchange and de-merge services will be increased.

Smith also said that the IRSS is laying railroad ties by hand because it does not have any equipment to build track. "This is how they built a railroad in 1898, not 1998," said Smith. "It’s another example of the problems they are having."

Last week, a used locomotive engine belonging to IRSS derailed on Nov. 24 spilling 200 gallons of diesel fuel and causing lost productivity in the mill’s hot metal operations.

USS/Kobe did not renew its service agreement with the Lake Terminal, which is the only railroad to service the mill for the last 104 years, because it wanted cheap, non-union workers to replace well-trained, justly compensated union railroad workers.

The UTU has been waging a campaign to save the Lake Terminal Railroad and 170 union jobs. The Lake Terminal has won national awards for safety and is the most economically efficient railroad at any USX-owned steel mill. The UTU is the largest rail and transportation union in North America. Its international headquarters is in Cleveland.