Negotiating Committee appointed
UTU President Charles L. Little has appointed the UTU's National Negotiating Committee.

Members of the committee include: Assistant President Byron A. Boyd, Jr., chairperson; Vice Presidents Daniel E. Johnson, Carl M. Vahldick and David L. Hakey; Assistant to the President-Yardmasters Donald R. Carver and Alternate Assistant to the President-Yardmasters Jerry D. Martin, and General Chairpersons A. Martin, J.T. Reed and D.G. Strunk, Jr.

"The date for the initial conference with the National Carriers' Conference Committee to discuss the parties' respective Section 6 Notices is November 30, 1999, and we will continue to keep all concerned advised of developments as they occur," Little said.

Two members killed
Investigators are seeking the causes of two fatal train accidents that killed three people in Nebraska and Iowa.

UTU member Paul Schmidt, a 23-year-old Union Pacific (UP) conductor and member of UTU Local 329 in Boone, Iowa, was killed Nov. 17 when he jumped from a moving freight train before it struck an unoccupied grain train near Alton, Iowa. The engineer, who did not jump, was slightly injured. The collision also took the life of a van driver who was parked nearby waiting to shuttle rail-crew members.

UP brakeman Richard C. Heidvogel, 57, of Plattsmouth, Neb., a member of Local 367 at Omaha, Neb., died Nov. 17 when he was struck by a freight car in a moving train. He had worked for the railroad for 35 years.

The fatalities brought to nine the number of UP employees killed in accidents this year.

The crash near Alton was the second accident involving a UP train in Iowa last month. A train collided with a tractor on Nov. 7 near Buckeye. The train's engineer was killed, and the conductor and the operator of the tractor were injured.

The UTU Transportation Safety Team has been dispatched to the accidents.

Drivers select UTU
Two representation elections held last month will bring about 350 transportation employees into the UTU.

On November 5, ballots from about 100 full- and part-time drivers from Renzenberger, Inc., were tabulated by the NLRB, the majority of which were cast in the UTU's favor.

Five days later, the NLRB counted ballots from approximately 250 drivers employed by Cimarron and the majority favored UTU.

That's about 800 employees from the two companies that have selected the UTU in 1999. The drivers of both companies transport rail crews in and around rail yards and from location to location.

Organizers whose efforts were instrumental in the victory included Brenda Moore, David Lyall, Bill Koehn and Tom Bisignani.

NJ Transit member
wins lawsuit against police
JERSEY CITY, N.J. -- Just ask Local 800 member George Kreitz: You can fight city hall, with the help of UTU designated legal counsel.

Kreitz was operating a New Jersey Transit passenger train last year in Montvale, N.J., when, traveling about 55 mph, he struck an automobile at a grade crossing, killing the woman driver.

Montvale police arrived quickly on the scene and questioned Kreitz. Seeing discarded beer cans in the adjacent passenger car, they decided to take him to the police station for a urine test.

Once there, Kreitz and others showed the officers copies of federal regulations which prohibit such tests being conducted on railroad workers involved in a highway-railroad grade crossing accident unless there is probable cause to suspect the employee is impaired by alcohol or drugs.

After the urine test the police spirited Kreitz out of the back door of the police station, to avoid New Jersey Transit supervisors and transit police who were waiting for him in the front, to take him to a nearby hospital for further testing of his blood for the presence of drugs and/or alcohol. All tests came up negative.

Kreitz cooperated fully during the ordeal. "He was clean as a whistle and he knew it," said New Jersey State Legislative Director Daniel J. O'Connell. "This was an unfortunate accident in which Mr. Kreitz had no culpability."

Designated Legal Counsel Larry Mann was contacted by O'Connell regarding the matter. Mann told O'Connell that the actions of the Montvale police were illegal and that Kreitz was entitled to bring a lawsuit for damages against the police.

With the UTU's assistance, Mann took the case and a settlement was reached recently between the parties.

"This case is particularly egregious," Mann said. "Had the police officer not been shown the regulations, he could have said, 'I didn't know that.' He was also told by the official from the railroad that he shouldn't be doing that."

Local police "simply do not understand the law on this issue, and once we apprise them, they wake up. It's a matter of education," Mann said. "The mere presence of beer cans does not constitute probable cause," Mann said. "There must be clear indications, such as slurred speech, red eyes or other factors."

As a token of his appreciation, Kreitz donated $365 to the union's Transportation Political Education League. "As a UTU engineer he realizes how important it is for our union to be politically active," O'Connell said.

The settlement sends a strong message to the municipalities in New Jersey and elsewhere on the correct manner in which these incidents should be handled, O'Connell noted.

Steel line officers meet
to cooperate on issues
CLEVELAND -- The first meeting of the UTU's Steel Conference General Chairpersons' Association, formed to establish and maintain closer relations between general committees on steel railroads, was held recently in Cleveland, Ohio.

According to Union Railroad General Chairperson J.J. Tierney of Local 1628, Pittsburgh, the association creates a greater opportunity for committees on steel railroads such as Bethlehem, LTV and Transtar to confer and cooperate on matters of mutual interest and concern, such as wages, working conditions and related matters. "We have had enough of divide and conquer," Tierney said. "Now, its progress through unity."

Those attending the first Steel Conference General Chairpersons' Association meeting were:Front row, left to right, D.A. Till (Conemaugh & Blacklick Railroad); A.F. Kocielko (Elgin Joliet & Eastern); J.R. Lauren (Cuyahoga Valley Railroad); R.E. Trimm (South Buffalo Railway); D.W. Powell (South Buffalo Railway); association secretary/treasurer K.A. Larson (Duluth Missabe & Iron Range/Iron Range Div.); association alternate secretary/treasurer C.P. Larson (Duluth Missabe & Iron Range/Missabe Div.). Back row, left to right, are M.W. Bailey (Chicago Short Line); G.K. Harden (Birmingham Southern); association vice chairperson T.J. Smith (Lake Terminal Railroad); J.R. Leasure (Bessemer & Lake Erie); Tierney; R.A. Camp (Bessemer & Lake Erie); R.C. Bryant (River Terminal); N.H. Hare (Cuyahoga Valley Railway); L.T. Moore (Cuyahoga Valley Railway); R.G. Sieber (Patapsco & Back Rivers Railroad); and C.A. Mayberry (Elgin Joliet & Eastern). Missing from the photo was J.W. Zemantauski (Union Railroad).