UTU Daily News Digest

Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees

Wednesday, February 9, 2000

NEW YORK: Railroads raising hauling rates as much as 4%

NEW YORK-- Railroads are starting to charge more for the freight they haul.

Some of the country's largest railroad companies are boosting rates as much as 4% this year, more than double the annual rate adjustments the companies have put through in recent years, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Railroads said they need the higher rates, because their fuel and labor costs have spiked upward. And they see an opportunity to raise them now, due to the continuing strong economy and shortages of track and equipment. It also helps that their chief competition, the trucking companies, are attempting to raise rates about 5% this year.

"Temporarily at least, railroads have some pricing power that they haven't had in a decade," said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor's, a unit of McGraw-Hill Cos., New York.

Norfolk Southern Corp., Norfolk, Va., said it recently implemented rate increases of between 2% and 4% to rail customers shipping scrap metal, paper, lumber and "intermodal," which refers to freight in containers or highway trailers hauled on rail cars.

A top official of Union Pacific Corp., Omaha, Neb., said recently the company plans to seek "aggressive price increases" this year.

And CSX Corp., Richmond, Va., noted it plans to capitalize on shortages of freight cars and freight yards to boost rates this year and signaled a shift in pricing strategy to more spot rates from long-term contracts, which helped add freight when the railroad had overcapacity.

"I am convinced there are lots of opportunities to improve the bottom line through intelligent and appropriate pricing action that reflect the new demand-supply situation," John Snow, CSX's chairman, president and chief executive officer, told securities analysts recently.

All this is a departure for railroads, whose rates have failed to keep up with inflation since the industry was partly deregulated in 1980. But railroads were able to cut costs even faster by streamlining their track and labor and switching to more efficient unit trains that carry one product, such as coal or grain.

But now, with the industry running out of excess capacity, railroads are taking a more disciplined approach to pricing. They also are being more cautious about adding new capacity after a record spending spree in the past few years to integrate a recent round of mergers and upgrade their locomotive fleet. And they are facing higher labor costs because their most recent union contract ended with a 5% wage increase effective this year, compared with about 3% a year in its earlier years. Diesel-fuel costs have added to their burdens, with prices doubling to about 90 cents a gallon from 45 cents a year ago.

"It's not the drastic effect on the consumer that they get when they fill up their gas tanks," said Mr. Wyss, the Standard & Poor's economist. "But it is another effect of rising oil prices." Mr. Wyss said the higher rail rates aren't likely to have a big effect on inflation.

"An extra one or two percent on rail rates is hardly noticeable for the whole economy, but it can make a lot of difference to railroad profits," he said.

The rate increases won't happen overnight or across the board. Railroads said they will be selective in terms of customers, commodities and routes. In addition, more than 60% of railroad business is done under contracts, which can include negotiated escalation clauses that govern rate increases during the term of the contract.

Rail customers, of course, aren't happy about rate increases at any time, and even less so now because they complain rail service is too slow and undependable. And they say a round of rail mergers has compounded the service problems and has reduced competition in the rail industry.

"If you're getting consistent, on-time delivery from the railroads, you could live with a certain amount of freight rate increases," said Dave Weisel, distribution manager of Potlatch Corp., a forest-products company in Spokane, Wash. "But with the way it is now, service is too erratic and many times we have to switch to truck."

Some analysts also are skeptical about the railroads' plans, given problems increasing rail rates in the past. "I wish them well," said James Valentine, an analyst at Morgan Stanley Dean Witter. "But until rail service gets better, this smells like another false start."

Railroads insist they won't let this opportunity go by without some meaningful rate gains. Don Seale, a senior vice president of Norfolk Southern, said the company is making steady progress to correct the freight congestion and delays that followed the carve up of Conrail Inc. between Norfolk Southern and CSX in the summer. "The environment for taking and holding price increases is better than it's been in recent years," said Mr. Seale, who says customers will understand the railroads' "higher costs cannot be absorbed indefinitely."

WASHINGTON STATE: Boeing engineers to strike

SEATTLE -- Thousands of Boeing Co. employees will walk off the job at 9 this morning after the aerospace giant and its engineering union failed to resolve their contract dispute last night, the Seattle Post Intelligencer reported.

(For an update on the strike, check the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Web site at www.seattlep-i.com.)

The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace and Boeing spent the past two days in a fruitless effort to settle on a three-year contract.

Those talks collapsed at about 9:15 last night, setting the stage for a strike.

"They spit in the face of every technical employee at The Boeing Co.," Charles Bofferding, the union's executive director, said as he emerged from the last negotiating session.

Boeing now enters uncharted territory. The engineering union has struck only once before, and then only for a day.

Last night, leaders of the union, which has nearly 13,000 Puget Sound members, threatened to shut down the world's largest commercial airplane manufacturer.

Meanwhile, company officials said they plan to keep the company operating, but they were uncertain about the impending strike's impact.

Only 63 percent of the 22,600 engineers and technical workers covered by the contract belong to the union. Also, the union does not have a strike fund that workers could tap to help pay their expenses.

Technical workers earn an average of $45,000 a year; engineers earn about $63,000 a year. The company has 197,000 employees.

Union leaders charged the talks fell apart because Boeing was unwilling to budge, rejecting the union's ideas and refusing to offer their own new proposals.

"We have tried everything," Bofferding said. "I think they have sorely underestimated the power of" the technical community.

Boeing negotiators said they came to listen and present their case to the head of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. The company has already put two fair offers on the table, according to Peter Conte, a spokesman for the company.

Union members rejected the company's second offer last Wednesday.

The two sides were unable to address union demands for more guaranteed wage increases and a lump-sum bonus. The union also wanted to protect health care and life insurance benefits.

After members rejected the company's most recent contract offer, Barnes called the two parties together for a last-minute effort to avoid a white-collar strike at the manufacturer.

Although Barnes praised both sides for their efforts, he said it was a difficult dispute, comparing it to the prolonged 1997 fight between United Parcel Service and the Teamsters.

"It just wasn't enough to get it done," Barnes said as he left the talks. Barnes is leaving the Puget Sound region, and Boeing said there were no immediate plans to reconvene the talks.

The union, the second-largest bargaining unit at the aerospace giant, claimed its strike would affect a wide range of operations.

A walkout would eventually shut down the company's flight testing efforts, said Linda Gilmore, a SPEEA negotiator representing engineers.

Gilmore added union members wouldn't be available for key support services for the airlines that fly Boeing airplanes.

One company official said 75 percent of the work force covered by the contract could initially walk out. But non-union workers may stay on the picket lines for only a few days.

Although the effect of a strike is unclear, it could also slow airplane deliveries and disrupt a range of activities from emergency airplane repairs to the manufacture of airplanes and satellites, the union claims.

Boeing executives counter that they have already put up as much money as they feel the company can afford in today's competitive aerospace market.

Boeing has no plans to hire replacement workers. "Clearly, if several thousand do choose to strike there could be an impact," said Conte.

Members of the union will hold a rally at Renton Memorial Stadium at 10:30 this morning.

While negotiators met yesterday, engineers continued their protests in the workplace.

Union members yesterday marched to the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field in Seattle, chanting slogans and hoisting placards to rally support. Other union members staged informational pickets and marches in Everett, Kent and Renton, where the company has its main manufacturing plants.

Once engineers and technicians strike, they are scheduled to meet at Renton Memorial Stadium, near the Boeing facility that makes its single-aisle commercial airliners.

ILLINOIS: CTA officials promise to fast-track two top projects

CHICAGO -- CTA officials promised to put the transit agency's two high-priority rail projects on a fast-track construction schedule after the release Monday of the Clinton administration's spending blueprint for 2001, the Chicago Tribune reported.

Contracts related to the $450.8 million rehabilitation of the Douglas branch of the Blue Line will be awarded within a year, and the 6.6-mile elevated structure and track work will be completed two or three years later, said Jeff Morales, CTA executive vice president for management and performance.

CTA engineers had previously indicated that the project, which will be done without closing down the 102-year-old line, would take five to six years.

Morales said the federal share is $349 million, with nearly all of the rest coming from Gov. George Ryan's Illinois FIRST program.

CTA officials also said that once the U.S. Department of Transportation announces a full-funding grant agreement for the Brown/Ravenswood Line, the $310 million project to expand 19 rail stations and platforms will move swiftly from the engineering stages to construction.

Currently, only six-car trains fit along the platforms, creating a situation in which demand often outstrips the supply of rolling stock in the popular neighborhoods along the line.

The expanded stations, serving eight-car trains, will include elevators to accommodate senior citizens and disabled passengers.

President Clinton's 2001 budget includes $105.8 million in assistance for public transit projects in Illinois, with $60 million of the total going toward an extension of the St. Louis-area Metrolink into St. Clair County.

For Chicago, the budget would allocate $17 million in 2001 for reconstruction of the CTA's Douglas branch.

Preliminary planning and engineering work on the expanded Brown Line platforms would receive $8.8 million next year.

In the suburbs, the budget includes $10 million in fiscal 2001 funding for the $165.4 million extension of Metra's SouthWest Service to Manhattan in Will County.

Although influential in setting federal spending plans, the president's budget requests still must be approved by Congress.

WASHINGTON: AFL-CIO aids Teamsters in strike against Overnite

WASHINGTON -- The AFL-CIO gave $500,000 to the Teamsters union to help it escalate a months-old strike against Overnite Transportation Co., the unions said in a press release which ran on several news wires.

The Teamsters will use the money to intensify picket activities at Overnite facilities and for a public relations and lobbying push. The AFL-CIO had previously given the Teamsters $100,000 to aid the effort, and other unions had donated another $100,000.

The announcement comes as Overnite and Teamsters negotiators gear up for a bargaining session today in Chicago aimed at reaching a compromise in the dispute.

The strike against Overnite, a subsidiary of Union Pacific Corp., of Omaha, Neb., began in October. The Teamsters accuse the company of violating federal labor regulations by trying to prevent its employees from unionizing. Overnite has denied wrongdoing and sued the union under federal racketeering statutes, charging a pattern of criminal activities designed to close down the company.

Overnite reported a $13 million loss for last quarter, which many analysts attributed to the effect of the strike. The company employs 13,000 workers across the country, 3,700 of whom are represented by the Teamsters, the union says.

CANADA: Toxic chemicals ignite in boxcar fire

SUDBURY, Ontario -- A boxcar loaded with toxic chemicals caught fire Tuesday in downtown Sudbury, Ontario, raising fears the fumes could spread in the town, a news service reported.

A spokesman for the Canadian Pacific railroad said the fire was discovered at about 4.30 p.m. EST during a drive-by inspection. Smoke was seen coming from the boxcar and it was isolated immediately, he said.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the fire.

A section of downtown Sudbury, which is near the railroad freight yard, was cordoned off. Fire crews dumped sand around the boxcar in a bid to stifle the fire. No attempt was made to open the boxcar as fire crews feared clouds of toxic fumes would escape into the atmosphere. There has been no word on the nature of the toxic material in the boxcar.

WASHINGTON: Unable to play, they're trying to stall game

Save me! Save me! begins a commentary by Lawrence Kauffman in the Journal of Commerce.

You can almost hear the cries of "Save me! Save me!" from competing railroads that oppose the proposed business combination of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. and Canadian National Railway Co.

In a world that has become accustomed to corporate-speak that rarely says anything of consequence, it was refreshing to hear CSX Corp. Chairman and Chief Executive John Snow recently acknowledge that he was not opposing the BNSF-CN transaction on its merits.

"It might even be a good merger," he allowed.

His objection is based on timing.

This is a dreadful time for the transportation world to be forced to deal with another major rail merger. That's the litany we hear from Snow and colleagues Dick Davidson, chairman and chief executive of Union Pacific Railroad, and David Goode, chairman, president and chief executive of Norfolk Southern Corp.

Why is the timing so bad? It's bad because the opponents aren't in a position to play in the merger game themselves.

With candor, Snow pointed out that his railroad and the others have terribly weak balance sheets, which is why they don't want to be forced into mergers to compete with the combining BNSF and CN.

The opponents do not, however, explain that their weak balance sheets result from their own actions. If they did, they might have to admit that they are asking to be "saved" from themselves.

As one attendee at the CSX analyst meeting harrumphed: "There's a lot of socialists wearing capitalist suits."

First, going back to Union Pacific's ill-fated 1994 attempt to prevent Burlington Northern Inc. from buying Santa Fe Pacific Corp., each rail merger has been more costly than the last.

The takeover fight for Santa Fe cost BN nearly $1 billion more than it originally offered. Having forced railroad valuations up, UP's 1995 purchase of Southern Pacific Rail Corp. carried a purchase premium of more than $1 billion, and the ensuing bidding war between Norfolk Southern and CSX over Conrail cost the two buyers a purchase premium of more than $2 billion.

The service collapse that followed UP's ill-fated early attempt to integrate SP into its system led to huge operating losses, a cut in the dividend, and issuance of convertible preferred stock that can be changed into UP common stock at $68.90 a share.

Similarly, the problems of integrating Conrail operations into their own has cost Norfolk Southern and CSX untold hundreds of millions of dollars in additional operating expenses and lost revenue opportunities.

Purchase premiums and operating problems led to weak balance sheets.

So they can't play in the merger game. There's more than just ego at stake here. UP, particularly, and CSX and NS face the prospect of having to compete against a combined BNSF-CN that will be solidifying its position and locking up market share while they watch helplessly.

Under current law and public policy, the BNSF-CN transaction appears to meet the public-interest test for approval. So the opponents are doing the only thing they can: They are trying to delay the other guy's deal.

That strategy was clear in the advertising aimed at customers (and government and investors) that ran last month in The Journal of Commerce and other newspapers.

That's not all they're trying.

They also are making an effort to persuade institutional investors, many of which hold several railroad stocks in their portfolios, to vote against the BNSF-CN combination. Both BNSF and CN stock prices have fallen since the merger was announced, and opponents argue a rejection would give their stocks a "bump."

A high BNSF executive says the company is not taking the threat lightly, but adds that those who were unhappy already have voted with their feet by selling the stock. Most of that stock, he says, has moved to investors who saw the lowered price as a buying opportunity.

And opponents continue to seek delay in the regulatory process. Snow suggested to securities analysts that the Surface Transportation Board might even dismiss the application without prejudice, telling the applicants to refile at a later date -- presumably when UP, CSX and NS are better able to play.

The latter scenario is extremely unlikely. First, the STB can't very well dismiss a merger application until it's filed with the agency. Once it's filed, there is a legal and statutory process to be followed in dealing with the application.

About the only times the STB and its predecessor Interstate Commerce Commission have been reversed by the courts have been when the agency was found to have denied due process to the applicants. Linda Morgan, STB chairman, and Henri Rush, current STB general counsel, are both too smart to allow that to happen in this case.

The bottom line? The battle will go on for the next year and a half, at least.

CALIFORNIA: MTA gets $50-million surprise from White House to improve bus service

WASHINGTON--The federal budget President Clinton unveiled Monday included a surprise request of $50 million to help the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority relieve overcrowding on its troubled bus system, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The budget also contains a laundry list of other proposals to benefit California, such as money to start building a federal courthouse in Los Angeles, to buy parkland in the Santa Monica Mountains and to preserve Southern California desert land.

But it was the $50 million request for the MTA to buy buses--one-tenth of the $529 million available nationwide for such purchases--that stunned even the transit agency's supporters on Capitol Hill.

It also surprised Eric Mann, director of the Labor/Community Strategy Center in Los Angeles, plaintiff in a civil rights lawsuit that produced a federal court order in 1996 requiring the MTA to improve its bus system. "You're kidding," Mann said upon learning of the budget request. "That's very encouraging."

The lawsuit accused the MTA of neglecting poor and minority bus riders while building rail lines that primarily serve more affluent riders.

The budget now goes to Congress, which has not always been friendly to Clinton or California in the past. Last year, the MTA received only $3 million to buy buses.

But gas tax revenue, some of which are set aside for mass transit, are projected to be $3 billion higher than expected this year. Additionally, Clinton only singled out the MTA and two other projects for special funding, leaving most of the $529 million for Congress to divvy up.

Still, MTA officials reacted cautiously to the good news, issuing a terse statement saying that "the MTA appreciates the administration's continued support."

The $50 million, which would buy about 140 buses, was requested by the MTA, according to federal officials. Most of the new buses would replace aging and often unreliable vehicles.

The agency operates about 2,000 buses during rush hours.

The MTA's request may have benefited from fortunate political timing. The March 7 California primary looms as a critical contest for Vice President Al Gore in his bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. In the November election, the state will have fully one-fifth of the electoral votes needed to win the White House.

But Nuria Fernandez, acting administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, said her agency supported the MTA funding because it sees a "critical need . . . to have sufficient environmentally friendly buses on the street to provide the services that the riders in Los Angeles demand."

Clinton's budget also provides $242 million for other California transit projects, including:

"For urban areas, it's a positive budget," said Jim Seeley, a lobbyist in Washington for the city of Los Angeles.

The spending blueprint also calls for $15 million to purchase more than 200,000 acres of Southern California desert land, completing one of the largest purchases of its kind in California history. The government wants the land for recreational use and to preserve habitat for the desert tortoise and other species.

Also in the budget: $32 million to begin work on constructing a new federal courthouse in Los Angeles, $4.4 million for Santa Monica Mountains parkland acquisition and $27 million for repairs and alterations to the Santa Ana courthouse.

The Clinton administration also wants to spend $117 million for construction of a prison at Victorville and $130 million for detention of immigration detainees at Lompoc. Another $800,000 would be set aside for immigration facility construction in San Pedro.

The budget would provide $600 million, a $15-million increase, to reimburse state and local governments for the cost of jailing illegal immigrants. California receives a large chunk of this money.

The budget got mixed reviews in California's congressional delegation.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat who is up for reelection this year, expressed disappointment that the budget did not include more money for restoration of Lake Tahoe. She asked for $30 million; the budget includes $3 million. She said she would be seeking additional funding from Congress.

Rep. David Dreier (R-San Dimas) criticized the administration for failing to address other local projects, such as improvements in streets affected by increased freight train traffic in the San Gabriel Valley and cleanup of polluted San Gabriel Basin ground water.

PENNSYLVANIA: SEPTA's hiring plan for El work is blasted for minority hiring goals

PHILADELPHIA -- SEPTA's minority-participation program for part of the planned $370 million rebuilding of the Market-Frankford El was harshly criticized yesterday at a community meeting in West Philadelphia, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

The goals and process used to recruit minority firms and workers for the project were variously described as "a sham," "biased" and "woefully inadequate" by members of the overwhelmingly African American audience who attended the meeting at White Rock Baptist Church.

Agency officials at the meeting, many of them African Americans, defended the minority-participation goals.

"We want to make sure that when this project is happening that you see people like you working on the project," Frances Jones, SEPTA assistant general manager for government affairs, told the crowd of about 200.

SEPTA officials said that for the first part of the project, which involves constructing new equipment buildings at the 52d Street and 63d Street stations, the agency wants 18 percent of the budget to go to "disadvantaged business enterprises" controlled by minorities or women.

The agency has also proposed that 26.4 percent of the hours worked on the project be worked by minority-group members, 6.9 percent be worked by women, and 10 percent be worked by residents of West Philadelphia. Specifically, the West Philadelphia goal would be filled by residents of the following zip codes: 19131, 19139, 19142, 19143, 19151 and 19082.

The overall rebuilding project calls for reconstructing the Market-Frankford El line and stations from 46th Street to Millbourne Station in Delaware County.

One man in the audience said that because the area being reconstructed runs through neighborhoods that are "98 percent" African American, "the amount of minority hiring, the 26.4 percent, seems woefully inadequate."

A second man said that in terms of minority participation, "SEPTA's performance over the years has been deplorable."

"The goals are worthless," the man said, arguing that the construction unions, which SEPTA officials said would control hiring on the project, would manipulate categories so that African Americans would wind up with relatively low-paying laborers' jobs.

SEPTA officials said that although they would not mandate that 26.4 percent of each building trade category be filled by minority workers, steps would be taken to ensure that the 26.4 percent minority goal was not met by simply putting most of the minorities in laborers' jobs.

SEPTA's Jones said that the agency was striving with this project to make sure that minorities could compete with whites and white-owned firms on "a level playing field."

SEPTA officials have scheduled another community meeting for 6:30 p.m. tomorrow to discuss another part of the project, the reconstruction of Church Station. The meeting will be held at Mater Dolorosa School, Paul and Ruan Streets.

ILLINOIS: Amtrak's North Carolina state-supported trains increase ridership

CHICAGO -- Both passenger trains operated by Amtrak in partnership with the State of North Carolina showed passenger growth during the first quarter of fiscal year 2000 (October-December 1999), a press release said.

The Piedmont service, in particular, posted the second highest percentage increase among all Amtrak trains. The Piedmont's ridership grew 22.2 percent when compared to the first quarter of FY 1999. Amtrak services operated in partnership with the North Carolina Department of Transportation include the Raleigh-Charlotte Piedmont and the Charlotte-Raleigh-New York Carolinian.

"We are encouraged by the latest results of our business partnership with the State of North Carolina and their cooperative efforts to promote rail service in the state," said Ed Walker, President of Amtrak Intercity. "We've also moved a field marketing representative into the market to attract more customers to these state- supported rail services."

"North Carolina has made-and will continue to make-significant investments in the state rail system to improve safety and efficiency," said North Carolina Transportation Secretary David McCoy. "We expect the number of rail passengers will continue to increase as service improve and expands."

A total of 15,940 customers took advantage of the convenient intrastate service provided by the Piedmont during the first quarter of FY 2000, an increase of 2,894 customers. In addition, the Carolinian recorded a 5.3 percent increase in ridership for the first quarter of FY 2000, carrying a total of 62,047 customers, an increase of 3,109 over the previous fiscal year.

PENNSYLVANIA: Newspapers once again sue to stop Metro tabloid

PHILADELPHIA -- A group of newspaper publishers again sought an injunction Monday to bar the distribution of a free tabloid at some locations while its relationship with a state transit agency is challenged in court, a wire service reported.

An attorney for the publishers of The Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Daily News, The New York Times and USA Today filed the request for a preliminary injunction with the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court took no immediate action.

Metro, which began publication Jan. 24, is published under contract with the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.

The other newspapers argue that the contract is unconstitutional because it allows a government agency to assert control over a newspaper and allows the paper to be distributed free on buses and transit platforms, where other publications cannot be sold.

U.S. District Judge Robert F. Kelly last month denied the newspapers a temporary restraining order, saying they failed to show that they would suffer "immediate and irreparable harm" if it was not granted. The newspapers are appealing the ruling.

Jack Roberts, managing director of Metro, said he had expected the competitors to request the injunction, and he said it is without merit. SEPTA and Metro have 10 days to respond to the motion.

CANADA: Canadian Railway Atlas now available on CD

MONTREAL -- The first CD-ROM edition of the Canadian Railway Atlas has been produced by The Railway Association of Canada. It is based on information provided by the railways and reflects developments in the industry up to the Fall of 1999, a press release said.

The Main Menu has six sections: station index, railway index, city index, map of Canada, map of North America and legend. There are two search engines: one for railway stations (5,071 listed) and the other, for searching by railway (135).

The station index takes users into the Atlas. The railway index takes them to the map of North America where the railway under search will be highlighted. Related pages are linked by tabs which allow users to move from one page to another when they are tracing the route of a rail line.

The screens are searchable, "clickable" and are linked to the appropriate maps in the Atlas. There is a navigational system at the bottom of the screen, which allows the user to move to different parts of the index or exercise their choice of returning to the main page by clicking on the "home" icon at the bottom right.

The CD-ROM has been configured to operate on either PC or Macintosh computers. Research, cartography and computer graphics for the up-dated product was provided by Marie de Jocas of HATRA Inc. while interface and programming was handled by a team led by Harma Karayan, also of Montreal.

Orders for the CD can be placed with the Railway Association of Canada at rac(at)railcan.ca for $25 Canadian, or $20 U.S., which includes taxes and shipping charges. It complements last year's publication of the RAC's railway atlas and wall map. The association now has 51 member railways, representing virtually all freight and passenger rail operations in Canada.

For further information: Roger Cameron, Railway Association of Canada, (514) 879-5846

ILLINOIS: People with disabilities sue Chicago Transit Authority

CHICAGO – Yesterday suit was filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago and nine individual plaintiffs with disabilities against the Chicago Transit Authority ("CTA"), a press release said.

The legal action seeks injunctive relief, declaratory relief and damages for the system's failure to provide equal access to public buses and trains for people with disabilities as required under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

"We are filing this lawsuit against the CTA to ensure that people with disabilities, including senior citizens, have equal access to public transportation in Chicago as mandated by the ADA," said Zena Naiditch, president and CEO of Equip for Equality. "Without this access, all aspects of a person's life are affected including employment. More than 70 percent of people with disabilities are unemployed. This will not change until the CTA changes." Equip for Equality, 11 E. Adams, is the private, nonprofit statewide legal advocacy organization that operates the federally-mandated protection and advocacy system for people with disabilities in Illinois.

Over the past two years, Equip for Equality and Access Living have received more than 350 complaints from people with disabilities who have been denied equal access to the CTA. A system-wide review of CTA public documents confirmed the violation of federal law. Progress Center for Independent Living in suburban Cook County assisted with the investigation of the accessibility of the CTA for people with disabilities.

"It is inexcusable and reprehensible that the disability community is still fighting to gain access to public transportation despite the fact that the ADA was passed nearly a decade ago," said Karen Tamley, program director for Access Living. "People with disabilities are not able to lead full and productive lives when buses and trains are inaccessible because of equipment and facility neglect or disregard by CTA personnel." Access Living, 310 S. Peoria, is a cross-disability, not-for-profit corporation whose mission is to work toward the full equality, inclusion and empowerment of all people with disabilities. It is governed and staffed by a majority of people with disabilities.

Individual plaintiffs named in the suit are Sheila Akhtar, Larry Biondi, W. Carol Cleigh, Mary Delgado, James A. Ferneborg, Sharon Lamp, Rene David Luna, Fred Stark and Jennifer Hart, all Chicago and suburban residents. Seven of the plaintiffs have mobility impairments, one is deaf and one is blind. "We are tired of handing over our money to CTA only to be abandoned on CTA trains or to be stranded at bus stops because the driver doesn't want to deploy the lift," said plaintiff Sharon Lamp.

"Each of these plaintiffs has encountered significant and recurring problems when attempting to access the CTA's buses and trains," said Aurichio. "Our intention is to obtain an order from the court compelling the CTA to provide equal access for people with disabilities and comply with the non-discrimination requirements of federal law."

Among the specific examples cited in the lawsuit of CTA violations on its fixed route system that hinder passengers with disabilities on its buses are: the frequent malfunctioning or nonfunctioning of the mechanical lifts and doors for boarding and disembarking, inadequate training of CTA bus drivers in the operation of mechanical lifts, the frequent failure of CTA bus drivers to pick up passengers with disabilities at bus stops, and the routine failure of CTA bus drivers to make next-stop announcements.

Examples of the CTA's repeated failure to provide equal access to plaintiffs on its trains are: failure to implement a safe system for mobility-impaired riders to embark and disembark, inadequate training of CTA station agents in the use of the gap-filler that acts as a bridge between the train platform and the train car, elevators that are consistently broken or turned off, thereby stranding disabled riders on the streets or platforms, and the unsanitary condition of CTA elevators.

For further information, contact Barry C. Taylor, Equip for Equality, at 312-341-0022, 800-537-2632 or TTY 800-610-2779.

TEXAS: Drifter indicted for killing girls

DEL RIO -- A drifter suspected in killings in at least three states was indicted by a grand jury on charges of slitting the throats of two girls, killing one, a wire service reported.

Tommy Lynn Sells, 35, was indicted Tuesday on capital murder and attempted murder charges. He is being held without bail.

Sells was arrested Jan. 2, two days after Kaylene Harris, 13, was killed and Krystal Surles, 10, was badly wounded. Both were attacked in their beds at the Harris family's mobile home near Del Rio.

Investigators say Sells has confessed to slitting the girls' throats with a boning knife Dec. 31. Kaylene died almost instantly, while Krystal ran to a neighbor's house to call authorities.

Since his arrest, police say Sells confessed to 10 more killings in six states. So far, he is a suspect in at least three: the one in Del Rio, one in Lexington, Ky., and one in Tucson, Ariz.

Police in Idaho, California, Missouri and Tennessee are working to match Sells to killings they say he admitted committing there, or to unsolved murders authorities believe he committed but may not remember because of heavy alcohol or drug use.

Sells was born in California and later moved to Utah and St. Louis, according to police records. Over the years, he has been a carnival and circus worker, a car salesman, an auto mechanic, a handyman and a drifter, hopping trains for weeks at a time.

CANADA: CN announces executive appointments

MONTREAL -- Canadian National (CN) today announced three executive appointments that will help it take advantage of new market opportunities, a press release said.

Jean-Jacques Ruest is appointed vice-president, chemicals and petroleum. Ruest, most recently CN's assistant vice-president, petroleum and plastics, will be responsible for marketing and national account sales for CN's network, including former Illinois Central Corporation (IC) territory. Ruest, a former executive of ICI (Canada), a major chemical corporation, joined CN in 1996. He has 21 years' experience in chemicals marketing, logistics, sales, business development and operations.

Ruest will be based in Montreal and replaces Edward Kammerer, who is moving to a new position with special marketing design responsibilities related to the proposed combination of CN and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (BNSF). Kammerer, appointed CN vice-president, chemicals and petroleum, in 1999, was vice-president, chemicals and petroleum, for IC. Prior to that Kammerer held senior positions at Southern Pacific and in the chemical industry. Kammerer will be based in Chicago.

Ruest and Kammerer will report to James M. Foote, CN's senior vice-president, sales and marketing.

Sandi Mielitz is appointed vice-president, commercial development, Prairie division. Mielitz, formerly CN's vice-president, grains and fertilizers (Canada), will be responsible for ensuring the

railroad and its customers reap the maximum benefits of the pending reform of Canada's grain handling and transportation system. She will also develop grain and fertilizers strategies related to CN's proposed combination with BNSF. Mielitz joined CN in 1978 and has held positions in public affairs and advertising, treasury, planning and administration and marketing. She will be based in Winnipeg.

Ross Goldsworthy is appointed vice-president, grain and fertilizers (Canada). Goldsworthy, who joined CN in 1981, will lead the marketing teams responsible for CN's Canada-based grain and fertilizers businesses. Goldsworthy, formerly assistant vice-president of the grain business unit at CN, held senior positions in CN's Calgary-based bulk marketing group that served the railroad's coal, fertilizer and sulfur shippers. Goldsworthy will be based in Winnipeg.

Mielitz and Goldsworthy will report to Peter Marshall, vice-president of CN's Prairie division.

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