UTU News Digest - Friday, August 6, 1999

UTU Daily News Digest

Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees

Friday, August 6, 1999

OHIO: Officials aim to get tough with CSX

NORWALK -- The director of the Huron County Emergency Management Agency says additional charges should be brought against CSX Transportation for blocking two crossings with a parked train.

The incident last Monday forced an ambulance to make a 21-mile detour while carrying a patient to a hospital, according to the Akron Beacon Journal.

"It's foolish to charge them with blocking a railroad crossing,'' which carries just a $65 fine, said county EMS Director Bill Ommert.

"We're lucky this time. What if that had been a heart attack? We'd be having a funeral today,'' Ommert told county commissioners on Thursday.

The train crew parked the train after completing their shift. Two crossings were blocked for three hours.

At the Ohio route 13 crossing about 15 miles south of Norwalk, the railroad only needed to move five cars to clear the crossing, said Anthony Robustellini, the ambulance driver.

Norwalk Law Director James Conway said CSX will be charged with two counts of blocking a railroad crossing.

But Ommert contends there were five violations: Failure to follow a direct order of a law enforcement officer; threatening a law enforcement officer; failure to follow the standard of care; disregard for public safety, and blocking a railroad crossing.

Meanwhile, the railroad will hold a formal hearing on the incident on Monday, with the train crew and union representatives in attendance, according to Gary Wollenhaupt, director of corporate communication for CSX.

The railroad employees involved in the incident could be fired, Wollenhaupt said.

Congested rail traffic and blocked crossings have been a nagging problem since CSX and Norfolk Southern Railway Co. took over Conrail in June.

Huron County officials documented 129 blocked crossings in June alone, according to a letter sent Thursday to the executive director of the County Commissioners Association of Ohio.

Huron commissioners are trying to drum up support for proposed legislation that would increase fines against railroad companies for blocking crossings.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Amtrak boosts marketing efforts

WASHINGTON -- Amtrak has announced a new travel promotion for its leisure trains that will offer travel agents commissions of up to 16%, and is offering an Amtrak credit card (VISA) that will allow people to earn discounts for rail travel.

The rewards travelers get from using the Amtrak VISA card, called Smartrak, include discounts on Amtrak tickets, with a Smartrak point earned for every dollar spent ( up to a limit of $50,000 per year). More can be found online at Amtrak's website( http://www.amtrak.com ) by clicking the "special offers" link.

Meanwhile, Amtrak President George Warrington unveiled a comprehensive program to deliver better, more consistent service to Amtrak's customers. Reflective of this new approach to service, Amtrak will also introduce a new brand strategy that categorizes its products into two marketing sub-brands: the corridor or short-distance services led by the new Acela brand, and a second sub-brand that will feature Amtrak's leisure, long-distance or vacation services.

"We are improving both the quality and consistency of all our services, including a renewed focus on our leisure trains," said Barbara Richardson, Amtrak's executive vice president. "Amtrak is redefining its brand to represent our new service philosophy. This promotion will help us establish our upgraded leisure service in the travel marketplace."

Amtrak's new service strategy includes the unprecedented training of all 24,000 employees, a process occurring now. The corporation's plan also emphasizes incentives to improve job performance, new criteria for hiring and evaluating job performance, and a program to ensure proper staffing and consistent amenities on board all Amtrak trains. Once all these critical components are in place, Amtrak will introduce a service guarantee by the end of the year.

"We congratulate Amtrak on voluntarily embracing a customer service philosophy and, more importantly, putting significant resources behind the program," said Joe Galloway, ASTA president and CEO. "We believe that travel providers have an obligation to travelers to offer the best possible customer service as evidenced by ASTA's active campaign for travelers' rights in the halls of Congress. If a company's management makes customer satisfaction a priority, and provides proper training, the employees will take it to heart. Employee interactions can make all the difference in a traveler's experience."

Service excellence will be the hallmark of both of Amtrak's sub-brands. On March 9, Amtrak began unveiling its new brand strategy with the introduction of Acela service that will be inaugurated later this year. The leisure promotion is another step in establishing Amtrak's new brand and is an example of Amtrak's business philosophy to meet the demands of an ever-changing marketplace in order to generate more revenue and carve out increased leisure travel market share.

Travel agents who sell Amtrak's long-distance leisure trains and selected short-distance trains (see list below) will receive an eight-percent commission effective July 26, 1999 and, between July 26 and October 31, can increase that to 12 percent by selling Amtrak's Explore America Fare. And, between August 1 and October 31, 1999, travel agents may earn another four-percent in commissions retroactively on sales of leisure trains if they have increased their total automated sales by eight-percent over the period from August 1 through October 31, 1998, bringing the total commission up to 16 percent.

VIRGINIA: Norfolk Southern gets OK from Canadian Pacific to use terminal

NORFOLK -- Norfolk Southern Corp. (NS) said it has reached an agreement with Canadian Pacific Railway that allows NS to use a bulk transfer facility located on the Canadian carrier's lines in Albany, N.Y.

NS customers can use the terminal to move bulk products such as plastics, flour, starch, sweeteners and liquid chemicals over long distances by rail in conjunction with prior or subsequent movement by truck.

The paved and lighted facility, which is located near Interstate 90, has 60 car spots. The facility is operated by Bulk Handlers, Inc.

MICHIGAN: Ford faces potential UAW shutdown

DETROIT -- The United Auto Workers have scheduled a strike-authorization vote at Ford Motor Co. plants nationwide in less than two weeks.

The move stems from the potential spinoff of the No. 2 automaker's Visteon Automotive Systems parts unit.

The union has scheduled an Aug. 17 strike-authorization vote. Though such votes are routine every three years before the UAW contracts with Detroit's automakers expire in September, holding one at all of one company's locals on the same day is unusual.

Analysts say the vote is meant to send a strong message to the No. 2 automaker, which has enjoyed relatively smooth relations with the UAW for more than 20 years but is feeling heat this year over Visteon.

The union opposes a spinoff, fearing it could bode poorly for its 28,500 members at Visteon.

The vote is "a very slight wake-up call, just to signal that this is an important issue and that the union is absolutely prepared to strike, if necessary," labor Professor Harley Shaiken at the University of California-Berkeley said Wednesday.

A strike authorization vote does not necessarily mean there would be a strike. Union leaders are required to seek rank-and-file authorization before calling a walkout. Workers usually vote overwhelmingly in favor of a strike, typically as a show of support for their union negotiators.

UAW spokesman Paul Krell played down the vote, saying such balloting is "always done at all locations in a very narrow window anyway." Similar votes are planned at General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler AG plants, though not on a single day.

But he did not dismiss the importance of Visteon to the UAW, given union sentiments that job security for generations of autoworkers current and future "are very much of paramount concern."

Peter Pestillo, the Ford vice chairman who is the chief architect of the company's successful labor relations, declined to comment on whether UAW leaders were trying to send Ford a message.

"You'll have to ask them how they feel about what they're doing there," he said.

The UAW's strike vote comes as the union continues separate negotiations that began in June with DaimlerChrysler, GM and Ford. Their contracts expire Sept. 14, and talks are expected to intensify around Labor Day.

Ford has not yet stated its plans for Visteon, but has said it's considering a spinoff. There also have been reports that Ford is considering merging Visteon with Lear Corp., another large parts maker.

Pressure for a spinoff has increased since GM distributed shares in its Delphi Automotive Systems parts unit to GM shareholders in May after an initial public offering in January. Delphi is the world's largest auto parts manufacturer, followed by Visteon.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: Gingrich Rakes in $1.3M for PAC

WASHINGTON -- Even as a private citizen, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich can raise more money than most of the colleagues he left behind on Capitol Hill.

Through the first six months of the year, Gingrich raised $1.3 million for his new political action committee. Only 40 members of the House were able to raise that much for their last campaigns.

And Gingrich still had $283,830 of the money in the bank as of June 30, his report to the Federal Election Commission showed.

"When he was speaker, Newt was the No. 1 draw of the Republican Party," spokesman Mike Shields said. "Now he has set up a new political action committee to continue to give him an opportunity to speak out on what he believes in."

Others said Gingrich is able to attract the money because he still has friends on Capitol Hill that special interests would like to reach.

"If he picks up the phone to call someone, they're going to take his call," said Bill Hogan, director of investigative projects for the Center for Public Integrity, a Washington watchdog group.

The former speaker is setting up his own consulting firm to offer advice to clients. By law, he can't lobby Congress until next year.

Gingrich was a prolific fund-raiser as House speaker, sharing his largesse with fellow Republicans. But he gave up the post and resigned his seat following the GOP's disappointing showing in last November's elections. He raised $6.8 million for his re-election campaign last year, more than any other House candidate.

His recent fund-raising efforts have been helped by an all-star cast of lobbyists, some of whom served with Gingrich in the House. Co-chairs for an April fund-raiser in Washington included former Reps. Vin Weber and Robert Walker, former Republican National Chairman Haley Barbour, and former White House aides Nicholas Calio and Kenneth Duberstein.

U.S. Tobacco gave $10,000, as did a company vice president, Edward Kratovil. Anheuser-Busch gave $10,000, as did United Parcel Service. BellSouth contributed $8,000 and the National Rifle Association gave $4,000.

The contribution amounts include both money raised under federal laws and so-called soft money, which is used to aid state and local candidates and does not fall under federal contribution limits.

Gingrich plans to use the money to help Republicans in federal, state and local races who agree with the former speaker's desires to cap federal, state and local taxes at 25 percent of a person's income; use some Social Security funds for private investment accounts; and build a national missile defense.