UTU News Digest - Tuesday, September 15, 1998

UTU Daily News Digest

Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees
For
Tuesday, September 15, 1998

UTU-UNION PACIFIC HOTLINE: 1-800-964-9464
Call to report workplace problems.

Teamsters election delayed over cost

NEW YORK -- A judge has delayed a scheduled Teamsters election by almost two months after a dispute about how to pay for the election.

Ballots for the presidency election will be mailed out Nov. 2 and returned by Dec. 3 under the schedule ordered Monday by U.S. District Court Judge David Edelstein. Edelstein supervises the International Brotherhood of Teamsters under a 1989 consent decree.

An original plan to mail ballots Monday was scrapped after Congressional Republicans got into a fight with the union over the estimated $8 million election tab.

Neither side wanted to pay for the contest, but by July GOP leaders agreed to let the Justice Department spend about $4 million and the Teamsters have since offered to pay $2 million.

The rerun election was ordered after incumbent Teamsters President Ron Carey's 1996 re-election over James P. Hoffa was overturned and he was barred from running again. The principal candidates for president now are Hoffa, son of labor legend Jimmy Hoffa, and Tom Leedham, who has the backing of the union's reform wing.

The union has 1.4 million members.

Northwest prepares to fly again

MINNEAPOLIS -- Northwest Airlines' first flight in more than two weeks, flight 901, a Boeing 747 freighter, lifted off Monday morning from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, carrying 30,000 pounds of supplies needed to restart the airline after the strike by its pilots.

The freighter wasn't the only thing to take off. Shares in the nation's fourth-largest airline climbed $2.25 Monday to $30.12½, in the wake of approval of a new contract by the pilots union leadership over the weekend. Northwest's stock had reached a three-year low of $25.81¼ Thursday, and has fallen 37 percent this year.

Northwest and the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA), which represents about 6,200 pilots, reached a tentative contract agreement Thursday night after government officials stepped in to mediate. Union officials ratified the contract Saturday. Northwest still must negotiate with its five other unions, including the International Association of Machinists (IAM) and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents flight attendants.

A spokeswoman for Northwest, said passenger flights are scheduled to start resuming on Wednesday, and all flights should be operating by next Monday. The company has contacted all 31,000 employees on temporary no-work status and has begun recalling them.

The first 430 domestic flights, or 25 percent of the airline's capacity, will take off Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, Northwest will operate its first three DC-10 flights from Honolulu to the mainland, and begin flights from Honolulu to Osaka and from the Twin Cities to Osaka.

Another 55 flights will be added Thursday, bringing the airline to 30 percent of capacity, and 469 flights will be added Friday, for 55 percent of capacity, Laughlin said. Northwest intends to get the last 747 and DC-10 flights going by Saturday, and add 456 flights Sunday, bringing the airline to 82 percent of capacity.

The walkout by the pilots was the longest strike against a major U.S. carrier in the 1990s, and disrupted 1,700 daily worldwide Northwest flights. Northwest expects the cost of the strike and its aftermath to result in losses for the third and fourth quarters as well as the full year.

The new four-year pilots' contract will cost Northwest about $720 million, or an average of $180 million a year, Goldman Sachs & Co. analyst Glen Engel estimated. All told, the pilots walkout cost the airline more than $400 million in lost ticket sales and increased costs, according to analysts' estimates.

Air Canada gets planes back into air

TORONTO -- Air Canada planes were back in the air Monday for the first time in 12 days after the pilots of Canada's largest airline voted to end their strike and accept a two-year contract.

Flights began to depart less than an hour after the contract approval was announced, although full resumption of service was not expected until Thursday.

The new deal -- approved by 83 percent of the airline's 2,100 pilots -- has wage increases of 4 percent in the first year and 5 percent in the second. The wage package is the same one the airline offered prior to the strike. The pilots abandoned their demand for a 12 percent raise over two years, but were able to obtain improvements in their schedules and pension plans.

The new contract, retroactive to April, also gives pilots increased job-security provisions. As the airline expands its international service by sharing flights with other airlines around the world, its pilots' jobs will remain secure.

Airline analysts have estimated the strike will cost Air Canada more than $100 million. On a normal day, Air Canada operates about 500 flights and carries roughly 60,000 passengers.

New York Regional Rail announces 1998 six-month income improvement

NEW YORK -- New York Regional Rail President Robert R. Crawford announced this morning that New York Regional Rail Corporation improved its 1998 six-month operating performance by posting a 67% reduction of $342,000, in its overall net loss to $172,000.

Railroad operating revenues increased by 23% over 1997 levels to $700,000 through June 30, 1998. Total NYRR revenues were included in a joint statement issued by Mr. Crawford, along with New York Cross Harbor Railroad's president, W. Robert Bentley. The two emphasized that revenues benefited from a growth in general freight for the first time in 5 years. Much of this growth was attributed to a 300% increase in cocoa shipments over the previous year. The transportation of waste remained level at approximately $350,000.

"We are extremely pleased by this most recent upturn in rail-freight business. We consider it a harbinger of things to come, especially in the context of the recently approved Conrail merger, and the beginning of the Post-Conrail era. We intend to work closely with the Norfolk Southern Railroad, CSX Transportation and the Canadian Pacific Railway to revitalize this Port District's economy by facilitating a marked increase in regional rail-freight and intermodal commerce," said Messrs. Crawford and Bentley in their joint statement."

"We are continuing in our efforts to upgrade and rehabilitate our physical plant. In this context, NYRR has invested over $250,000 to install new track in our New York and New Jersey rail yards. In addition, NYRR has consolidated its equity ownership of the NYCH and its affiliate CH Proprietary, Inc. to 91% and 95%, respectively. We are continuing in our efforts to reach out to all governmental stakeholders in the region for much needed support and appropriate levels of capital investment. We believe these investments and other initiatives will be critically important to our success in increasing our capacities to service the regional rail freight growth anticipated in this deep water port, in the near and sustained future."

The Railroad transports rail-freight cars via tug-propelled barges, known as car-floats, between its Greenville Railroad Yard in Jersey City, NJ and the Brooklyn Waterfront. This unique system takes just 35 to 45 minutes to cross the Harbor, and just 20 minutes of loading/unloading on either side of the operation. Today it is said to represent the shortest, fastest and most direct conduit for freight to reach the New York City and Long Island Marketplaces. In addition, management believes this service is the most cost-effective and efficient railcar shipping system in this region.

Senate panel predicts transport breakdowns in 2000

WASHINGTON -- In the third dismal report in less than a week on the country's ability to deal with year 2000 computer problems, a Senate committee's survey of major transportation agencies and companies released Thursday indicated that only a third have fully assessed how their systems will be affected by any glitches, and only half have begun preparing contingency plans for major disruptions.

Senator Robert Bennett, a Utah Republican who is chairman of the Senate's Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem, said that from the survey's results, he can only conclude "that there may be significant interruptions in the transportation industry" at the turn of the century.

Perhaps the most troubling thing about the survey, Bennett said, was the low rate of response. Of the 32 major airlines, airports, railroads, maritime shippers, trucking companies and city transit agencies queried by the committee, only 16 responded. That was despite "well over 100 telephone calls to offer assistance and encourage results," he said.

Among the transportation survey's other findings:

Only a third of the respondents have completed an assessment of what systems could be affected by the bug.

None have completed contingency plans, and only half have begun to create them.

Half anticipate being involved in litigation over the problem.

Ninety-four percent expect to have their systems fixed in time, an assessment characterized as "overly optimistic" by committee staff, given the low rate of completed assessments.

Railroad and trucking companies had the best response rate, 80 percent, compared to a low of 20 percent for airports -- one out of the five queried.

CSX Intermodal opens Chicago facility

Chicago -- CSX Intermodal opened its new 59th Street terminal in Chicago on Monday. This $39 million, 132-acre facility will have a 10-lane gate, more than 2,000 parking spaces and capacity to handle in excess of 500,000 container and trailer moves annually.

After a two-week phase-in, a total of six daily trains will use this new terminal to provide service from Chicago to Philadelphia; Evansville, Ill.; Memphis and Nashville, Tenn.; Savannah, Ga.; and major markets in Florida. By moving these trains through the 59th Street terminal, CSXI will provide additional capacity and smoother operations during this year's peak season and will be preparing for the operation of Conrail routes in 1999.

"The opening of the 59th Street terminal is a key element in investments by CSX to provide superior service between Chicago and the Northeast," said Les Passa, CSXI president and CEO. "We will now have a total lift capacity of nearly 1.5 million loads in Chicago. Combined with the recently completed $200 million improvements in rail lines between Chicago and Willard, Ohio, CSXI is positioned to provide domestic and international customers with the best intermodal service to and from the East Coast."

"One of the principal advantages of the 59th Street terminal is the ability to steel-wheel interchange freight moving to and from the West Coast," said Mike Peterson, CSXI's senior vice president of operations. "Our expanded capabilities in Chicago will make service faster, more reliable and more convenient for our customers."

CSXI's Bedford Park terminal will continue to provide service on its current network and will focus on service to the local Chicago market once CSX begins operation of Conrail routes.

CSXI also will continue to use its Forest Hill terminal as a dedicated source of empty rail trailers and containers through the end of 1998. This will provide drayage carriers with faster, more efficient access to rail-controlled equipment. A smaller supply of empty equipment will also be available to CSXI customers at Bedford Park and 59th Street.

Joint venture to produce freight cars in Mexico

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. -- The Greenbrier Companies and Bombardier Transportation today announced the completion of a previously disclosed joint venture to build railroad freight cars at

Bombardier's existing Concarril manufacturing facility in Sahagun, Mexico. The new company, named Gunderson-Concarril, S.A. de C.V., is expected to commence production in the fourth calendar quarter of 1998. Greenbrier and Bombardier will each maintain a 50% interest in the joint venture.

Gunderson-Concarril will serve the North American marketplace with a principal focus on new conventional freight cars. Capacity is anticipated to grow to 3,000 new cars annually. Initially, the facility will build mill gondola cars for the scrap metal market. Gunderson-Concarril has orders for 750 rail cars.

Fierce competition in railroad workshop

MEXICO CITY -- The sale of the state run workshop in Aguascalientes, which maintains and repairs running stock for the nation's railroads, is attracting major interest.

So far MPI Noreste, Gatx, Ferroquadrum, Ferromex, Trinity Industries de Mexico and Bombardier Transportation have all applied for the company. One of the favorites in the bidding is Ferromex (Ferrocarril Mexicano, a consortium comprising Grupo Mexico (Industrial), Ingenieros Civiles Asociados (construction) and Union Pacific Railways. This group already runs the Pacific-North railway network. The reason for the interest in the workshop is simple; it is the only one of its kind in Mexico.

Amtrak Reform council to meet

WASHINGTON -- As provided in Section 203 of the Amtrak Reform and Accountability Act of 1997, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) gives notice of a meeting of the Amtrak Reform Council (``ARC''). The purpose of the meeting is to receive a briefing from the Department of Transportation's Inspector General regarding the independent assessment of Amtrak's financial needs and to take up such other matters as the Council or its members deem appropriate.

The ARC meeting is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST on Thursday, September 17, 1998.

The meeting will be held in Rooms 6332-6336 in the NASSIF Building, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC. The meeting is open to the public on a first-come, first-served basis and is accessible to individuals with disabilities. Portions of the meeting may be closed to the public at the discretion of the Council if proprietary information is to be discussed. Persons in need of special arrangements should contact the person whose name is listed below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Alexander Chavrid, Passengers Programs
Division, Office of Railroad Development, FRA, RDV-13, Mail Stop 20, 400
Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590 (mailing address only) or by
telephone at (202) 493-6380.

CSX names MacQueen VP for Corporate PR

RICHMOND -- Craig R. MacQueen has been named vice president of corporate communications for CSX Corporation. MacQueen, 46, joins CSX from Conrail, where he was vice president of corporate communications with 20 years of experience.

MacQueen will oversee the Fortune 500 transportation company's corporate internal and external communications efforts, including employee, media and public relations. He will be based in Richmond, Va., and report to Jesse R. Mohorovic, group vice president-corporate communications and investor relations.

MacQueen joined Conrail as a staff writer in 1977 and progressed through a series of increasingly important positions in communications, culminating in vice president of corporate communications in 1995. He received a bachelor's degree from Ohio Wesleyan University and completed graduate studies in journalism at Penn State University. He is a member of the Public Relations Society of America.