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UTU SEPTA operators resume talks

PHILADELPHIA -- Contract negotiations resume today between UTU Local 1594 and SEPTA here. Local 1594 represents 300 suburban bus operators who operate over 20 different bus routes in the metro area. The contract expires on April 1.

Robert Gabe, president and local chairman of UTU Local 1594, said, "A strike could be a reality come midnight April 1 by UTU Local 1594."

Gabe also said: "Members are overworked with many working up to 15 hours per day, 6 days a week. The riding public would not be happy to hear that operators driving them to and from work everyday are on duty anywhere up to 15 hours per day. And we make less in wages than the operators working in the city transit district."

SEPTA has been in contract talks with the 5,300-member Transport Workers Union, which has delayed a strike while negotiations continue.

Local 1594 and SEPTA have been talking since late January. In addition to pay, issues such as work rules, pension and workers compensation and part-time workers remain on the table.

Local 1594 members will have a meeting for a strike authorization vote at 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, March 24, at the American Legion Manoa Post 667 at Eagle and Steel Streets. Strike captains will be assigned at the meeting.

NTSB unexpectedly extends UP crash inquiry

SPRINGFIELD, Va. – In an unexpected move, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) extended its investigation into a string of crashes on the Union Pacific railroad for another six months to see whether the programs devised to solve the problems are effective.

NTSB member John Goglia, who chaired the three-day hearings last week into 15 crashes on the UP, warned the railroad, its unions and federal regulators "to consider the effects of not learning from the facts gathered during this hearing." A Federal investigator said UP’s service problems were a major cause of the safety problems that led to the crashes.

CSX reports lowest freight damage rate ever

JACKSONVILLE -- CSX Transportation announced last week that its damaged freight ration for 1997 was the lowest ever recorded by the carrier surpassing all other major U.S. freight railroads.

The company said that the 1997 freight claim by its customers amounted to 19 cents per $100 of freight.