UTU Daily News Digest

Information of interest to operating railroad and transportation employees

Thursday, February 10, 2000

ILLINOIS: Metra campaigns for $200 million in funds for North Central Line

CHICAGO -- Lake County Board members pledged Tuesday to conduct a letter-writing campaign directed at federal lawmakers in an effort to make sure Metra receives funding to move ahead on its $200 million plan to add a second rail on the North Central Service Line that serves the north and northwest suburbs, the Chicago Tribune reported.

"The whole concept is to alleviate congestion on the roads," said board member David Stolman (R-Buffalo Grove), who helped spearhead last year's drive that helped Metra receive $25 million in funding, $18 million of which went toward the North Central project.

"We need to get the municipal leaders to help us keep this project on track for all of Lake County," said board member Judy Martini (R-Antioch), who chairs the board's Legislative Advisory Committee.

The North Central Line, which opened in August 1996, runs from the Loop west to Franklin Park and north through Lake County to Antioch. Metra wants to add 12 miles of double track, more trains and five new commuter stations along the route, which serves more than 5,000 commuters daily.

The letter-writing campaign was proposed by county officials one day after President Clinton released his fiscal year 2001 budget plan, which contained a total of $105.8 million in transportation funds for Illinois, including $45.8 million for the Chicago area.

Metra would receive $20 million under the president's budget proposal for the new fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1, said Pat Souders, project director for U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who is a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

As envisioned by transportation planners, half of the Metra funds would be dedicated to the extension of the SouthWest Service Line from Orland Park into Will County and half would go toward the North Central Line and the extension of the Union Pacific West Line from Geneva to Elburn in Kane County, Souders said.

"We see this as a big boost for transit in the Chicago area," Souders said. "Last year, the president's budget proposal had zero for transit in Chicago."

Even so, Durbin and other Illinois lawmakers in Washington said Tuesday they were committed to fighting for even more transportation dollars before Congress adopts a budget.

"We're going to work as a delegation to find every dime possible for transit and other projects in Illinois," Souders said.

"The Illinois delegation is committed to finding funds for all the Metra lines," said John McGovern, a spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Yorkville).

Retiring Rep. John Porter (R-Ill.), whose 10th District is served by the North Central Line, said securing the Metra funds was one of his top priorities during his final year in Congress.

"I will do my very best to advocate for and provide additional funding for the double-tracking that is needed," Porter said. "I've been very successful in the past, and I hope to be again."

It was after lobbying by Illinois lawmakers and a letter-writing campaign by Lake and Cook County officials that $25 million was added to last year's budget.

Metra spokesman Frank Malone said the commuter-rail agency was grateful for the support of the elected officials.

"We fully appreciate the support that Lake County has shown for this project in the past and we're counting on it in the future," Malone said.

WASHINGTON STATE: Strike may have wide impact 17,000 engineers are off the job

SEATTLE -- About 17,000 Boeing Co. engineers and technical workers went on strike yesterday, threatening to disrupt a range of work at the aerospace giant, from flight testing operations to airplane services, the Seattle Post Intelligencer.

Employees struck over demands for more money and the protection of their benefits. After filing out at 9 a.m. they rallied at Renton Memorial Stadium, promising to stay on picket lines for weeks or months. There are no plans to resume negotiations.

Boeing executives and analysts were unsure how the strike would affect the company. That's because many Boeing engineers and technicians are involved in research and long-range projects, not the day-to-day construction of the aircraft, according to analysts.

The manufacturer also has never faced a prolonged strike by its technical community.

"It could develop to be a big problem if the issues surrounding this walkout are not resolved in the near future," said Peter Jacobs, an analyst at Ragen MacKenzie Group Inc., a Seattle-based investment firm. "I would be surprised if the engineers had the resolve to stay out of work for a long duration."

The engineering strike also spread beyond Boeing's walls, drawing in the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the United Transportation Union. Those unions promised that their members wouldn't cross the engineers' picket lines. Although that could disrupt the delivery of parts and documents, Boeing is likely to create alternative delivery sites to cope with the problem.

On the first day of the second strike in its history, the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace, however, presented a unified front.

Roughly 8,000 workers packed the Renton Memorial Stadium. They threatened to shut the company down, hoisting signs that read, "No Brains, No Planes" and yelling, "One More Day."

"They want to bust this union and we are going to show them how strong this union is," said Doug Smith, a union negotiator.

It's unclear how long Boeing engineers and technicians can remain unified, however. Only 63 percent of the 22,600 workers covered by the contract actually belong to the union.

The union also can't offer its members a deep strike fund to help with bills and other expenses during the work stoppage.

Boeing's second-largest union called a strike after talks with the company collapsed late Tuesday night. The two sides couldn't resolve the union's demand for higher compensation. The union also wanted Boeing to guarantee a greater portion of future wages increases.

In addition, negotiators disagreed over Boeing's proposed changes to existing health care and life insurance benefits.

The two camps couldn't even agree on how many people walked off the job yesterday. The company said that 15 to 20 percent of its technical work force arrived for work yesterday, while 20 to 25 percent of its engineers reported for duty. That means about 17,000 workers struck.

The engineering union estimated that 95 percent of the 22,600 covered workers struck yesterday.

The strike caps a fruitless yearlong effort to craft a three-year contract for the company's technical community. During that time, union members rejected two contract offers from the company. Last Wednesday, 51 percent of the voting engineers rejected Boeing's final offer, while 62 percent of the technical workers rejected the proposal.

Investors appeared only moderately concerned about Boeing's first strike in four years. Boeing's stock fell 2 points to close at 39. However, the stock fell on a day when the broader Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged 258.44 points to close at 10699.16.

"Boeing will try to act tough. They will cave a little bit," said a financial analyst, who requested anonymity. "We won't know the difference here on Wall Street."

Engineers pledged to change Wall Street's impression. Jeff Medina, who works on the company's weights and balances division, said the company won't be able to deliver any airplanes without engineers on-site to calibrate the weights and perform other tasks.

"Planes aren't going anywhere," Joseph Asaif said as he left Boeing's Flight Test Center and helped set up a 12-man picket team in the rain.

Boeing officials said they were still assessing the damage of the strike.

"It is too soon to tell. We will be assessing it in the days to come," said Peter Conte, a Boeing spokesman.

The labor dispute hasn't spread to the engineers and technicians in Wichita, Kan., according to Conte. That's because those workers are covered by a separate SPEEA contract.

As strike teams set up in front of Boeing plants throughout the Puget Sound region, negotiators said they had no plans to meet.

Federal Mediator Richard Barnes, who tried to settle the fight earlier this week, promised to return, according to Craig Buckham, executive board president of the engineering union. Barnes is head of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

However, Boeing stuck to the hard-line bargaining stance it has adopted in recent days. The company didn't bring any new proposals to the last two bargaining sessions on Monday and Tuesday and declined to take up the union's ideas, according to the union.

"The first couple of days are very emotional. (After) that point, both parties need to come back in and talk," said Ragen MacKenzie's Jacobs.

That emotion was evident at yesterday's union rally.

"They thought they could bully us. They were wrong," Charles Bofferding, the union's executive director, told a cheering crowd.

Roughly 30 minutes later, thousands of engineers piled out of the stadium stands and marched calmly down to the Boeing plant. With signs and buttons they chatted among themselves on the cool morning.

A diverse group of old and young, men and women, aerospace veterans and newcomers, all pledged their lasting support of the union's efforts. Some have second incomes to get by on as long as the strike lasts, others are trying to piece together loans and savings to survive the indefinite period of unemployment.

"I'm concerned that the company won't respond," confided John McTernan, an 18-year veteran in avionics systems. From Boeing's side "there's no give and take."

Police closed down three lanes of traffic and the marchers respectfully stayed within in the traffic cones marking their route. The strikers eventually doubled back and returned to the stadium, where they dispersed to take up posts at the entrances to the sprawling Renton plant.

Union members were particularly upset that Boeing Chairman Phil Condit left the country in the past 24 hours. Last fall, Condit personally intervened in negotiations with the company's largest union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

The union credited Condit with salvaging the talks.

Some engineers hoped Condit, who once worked as a Boeing engineer, would play the same role in their negotiations.

The walkout stands as one of the greatest white-collar strikes in recent U.S. history, rivaled only by massive New York teachers' strikes and nursing walkouts, according to academic experts.

But the union perhaps took the simplest step in its labor action yesterday. In the coming days it will face greater challenges, such maintaining unity among a work force splintered by the fact that some strikers pay union dues and some don't.

Still, union members were upbeat.

"We just turned out the lights in both labs" and walked out, said SPEEA member James Klein.

CANADA: Tellier says shippers will benefit from CN/BNSF combination

WINNIPEG, Manitoba -- Canadian National's strategic combination with Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (BNSF) will strengthen the competitive position of shippers in the new North American economy, says CN President and Chief Executive Officer Paul M. Tellier, a company press release said.

Tellier said today the proposed end-to-end combination of CN and BNSF - the two most efficient, most customer-focused railroads on the continent - will help shippers and receivers seize the "enormous" economic opportunities flowing from fast-rising north-south continental trade and the increasing economic integration of North America.

The combination will also ensure CN is an integral part of a North American rail system with the network reach and scale to compete effectively with large U.S. railroads created by recent industry consolidation, he said.

Tellier, speaking to the Canadian Club of Winnipeg, said the combination aims to improve continental trade flows. Trade is vital to Canada's economy - 42 per cent of the nation's gross domestic product is exported, and 85 per cent of its trade is with the U.S. Significantly, rail moves 40 per cent of Canada's exports.

Tellier said these realities, along with the 10 per cent to 15 per cent annual increases in Canada-United States-Mexico trade, demand CN serve customers with facilities increasingly located throughout North America. Of CN's top 20 customers, 14 have facilities in at least two of the three NAFTA countries. Just six have facilities solely in Canada.

"Without an excellent, low-cost transportation service, these customers either will not be able to compete - or they will not be able to afford to remain in Canada. Our vision is for a railroad that gives efficient, single-line service to customers across the continent."

CN and BNSF announced their proposed combination through a new company, North American Railways, Inc., on Dec. 20, 1999. The combination will create a rail system stretching 50,000 route miles, linking shippers and receivers throughout Canada and 34 U.S. states, and employing 67,000 people.

The combined system will offer North American shippers greatly expanded and efficient single-line service options and gateway choices; a coordinated marketing plan; reduced transit times; enhanced reliability; unified customer service information, including easier tracking, tracing and ordering; simplified billing; greater capacity in areas subject to congestion; and improved asset utilization.

Canadian shippers will benefit from new north-south routes to the U.S., including a "straight-shot" link south of Winnipeg to Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas and Houston and Mexico; a new single-line route south from British Columbia through the Pacific U.S. states; additional gateways to Mexico; and deeper reach for Canadian ports into the U.S. interior.

Agricultural producers and shippers in Manitoba and the Canadian Prairies will enjoy new market reach:

Tellier said CN remains fully committed to its efficient east-west core network in Canada and to Winnipeg as a key hub in its system. In the past two years, east-west traffic on CN's main line grew at an average annual rate of almost five per cent.

Shippers need not worry about service disruptions, Tellier said. CN and BNSF plan an end-to-end combination - one that requires no rationalization of redundant facilities - and the two railroads share a common information technology platform.

"The bottom line: I guarantee you that service will not suffer when this combination takes place. In fact, we will provide better service."

Tellier concluded: "We have crafted a solution that is good for Canada and good for Manitoba and the Canadian Prairies... By combining with BNSF, CN secures for its customers the advantages that make the American rail system such a strong competitor.

"We will have the efficiencies of scale. We will have the financial weight to continually improve our system. We will be able to provide the long hauls that will help our customers succeed in their end markets - whether in Canada or the United States. As a Canadian, I find this worth celebrating."

A copy of this speech is available on CN's website, www.cn.ca/cnwebsite/cnwebsite.nsf/public/en_NewsSpeeches

WASHINGTON: STB issues decision initiating "Conrail merger" general oversight

WASHINGTON -- Surface Transportation Board (Board) Chairman Linda J. Morgan announced Wednesday in a press release that the Board has issued a decision initiating a "Conrail merger" general oversight proceeding and requesting comments from interested persons on the progress of the implementation of the transaction and the workings of the various conditions imposed upon the transaction by the Board.

Background. In a decision issued in July 1998, the Board approved, subject to certain conditions, the acquisition of control of Conrail [FOOTNOTE 1: Conrail Inc. and Consolidated Rail Corporation.] by CSX [FOOTNOTE 2: CSX Corporation and CSX Transportation, Inc.] and NS [FOOTNOTE 3: Norfolk Southern Corporation and Norfolk Southern Railway Company.], and the division of Conrail assets by and between CSX and NS. The Board-imposed conditions included a five-year, general oversight condition imposed to allow the Board to assess the progress of the Conrail transaction's implementation and the workings of other Board-imposed conditions. The Board retained jurisdiction to impose additional conditions and/or take other action if, and to the extent, the Board determined it necessary to address harms caused by the Conrail transaction. In its July 1998 decision, the Board specifically indicated that, under its general oversight condition, the Board would monitor implementation of the transaction and the workings of its conditions to: ensure CSX's and NS's adherence to the various representations they made on the record during the course of the Conrail merger proceeding; [FOOTNOTE 4: CSX Corporation and CSX Transportation, Inc., Norfolk Southern Corporation and Norfolk Southern Railway Company--Control and Operating Leases/Agreements--Conrail Inc. and Consolidated Rail Corporation, STB Finance Docket No. 33388.] examine impacts involving the relationship of shortline railroads to their Class I (larger railroad) connections and to other Class I railroads; assess impacts within the Chicago switching district; review the effect of the acquisition premium on the Board's rate reasonableness jurisdictional threshold and on revenue adequacy determinations; monitor transaction-related impacts on Amtrak passenger operations and regional rail passenger operations; and monitor environmental-mitigating conditions.

Today's Decision. In the decision issued today, the Board announced that it is: initiating a Conrail general oversight proceeding to implement its general oversight condition; requiring CSX and NS to file progress reports on the Conrail transaction, and to make certain data available to interested persons; and requesting comments from interested persons on the progress of Conrail-transaction implementation and the workings of the various conditions imposed. The Board's decision establishes a schedule for initiating the first annual oversight one year after June 1, 1999, the date that CSX and NS effectuated the division of Conrail.

Service List. Any person wanting to be on the service list (list of official participants) for the general oversight proceeding, and to receive copies of CSX's and NS's filings relating to the proceeding, must send written notification to the Board and copies of such notification to CSX's and NS's representatives.

Written notice to the Board should be addressed to:
 Attn: STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 91)
Case Control Unit
Office of the Secretary
Surface Transportation Board
1925 K Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20423-0001

Written notice to CSX's and NS's representatives should be addressed to:
 Dennis G. Lyons, Esq., Arnold & Porter, 
555 12th Street, N.W. 
Washington, DC 20004-1202 (representing CSX); and 

Richard A. Allen, Esq., Zuckert, Scoutt & Rasenberger, LLP, 
888 17th Street, N.W. 
Washington, DC 20006-3939 (representing NS).

Progress Reports. CSX and NS must file progress reports by June 1, 2000 containing in-depth analyses of their implementation of the Conrail transaction and of the workings of the various Board-imposed conditions.

Comments By Interested Persons and Replies. Interested persons may file comments, by July 14, 2000, on the progress of implementation of the Conrail transaction and the workings of the various Board-imposed conditions. Comments may be directed to any relevant matters, except as clarified below regarding operational monitoring matters and Buffalo Rate Study matters. Replies to comments may be submitted by August 3, 2000.

Operational Monitoring. In its July 1998 decision, the Board imposed, in addition to the five-year, general oversight condition, a separate operational monitoring condition. In today's decision, the Board noted that matters concerning operational monitoring will not be addressed in the general oversight proceeding. The Board added that parties should bring any ongoing matters concerning operational monitoring or individual shipper service issues directly to the attention of:

Director, Office of Compliance and Enforcement
Surface Transportation Board
1925 K Street, N.W., Suite 780
Washington, DC 20423-0001

Buffalo Rate Study. By its decision issued on December 15, 1999, [FOOTNOTE 5: Decision No. 1 in STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 90), also published in the Federal Register on December 20, 1999. See also Surface Transportation Board "News" release No. 99-54 issued December 15, 1999.], the Board initiated a three-year Buffalo Rate Study--also separate from general oversight--to examine linehaul and switching rates for rail movements into and out of the Buffalo, New York, area. In today's decision, the Board noted that pleadings concerning the trend in rates for rail movements into and out of the Buffalo area, and the Board-imposed conditions related to switching in the Buffalo area, should be submitted in the Buffalo Rate Study proceeding according to the procedural schedule applicable to that proceeding. [FOOTNOTE 6: See Decision No. 2 issued December 28, 1999 in STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 90), also published in the Federal Register on January 4, 2000, revising the procedural schedule originally issued in Decision No. 1.] Other Buffalo-related matters specifically regarding the progress of implementation of the Conrail transaction and the workings of the various merger conditions should be submitted in the general oversight proceeding according to the procedural schedule indicated in today's decision.

Paper Copies; Electronic Copies. Each person filing documents in the general oversight proceeding should submit an original and 25 copies of each document to:

Attn: STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 91)
Case Control Unit
Office of the Secretary
Surface Transportation Board
1925 K Street, N.W.
Washington, DC 20423-0001

Each person also should submit, in addition to an original and 25 copies of each paper document filed with the Board, an electronic copy of each paper document. The electronic copy should be on a 3.5-inch IBM-compatible floppy diskette or compact disc. Textual materials must be in, or convertible by and into, WordPerfect 7.0. Spreadsheets must be in some version of Lotus, Excel, or Quattro Pro. Parties may individually seek a waiver from the electronic filing requirement.

The Board issued its decision today in CSX Corporation and CSX Transportation, Inc., Norfolk Southern Corporation and Norfolk Southern Railway Company--Control and Operating Leases/Agreements--Conrail Inc. and Consolidated Rail Corporation (General Oversight), STB Finance Docket No. 33388 (Sub-No. 91) (Decision No. 1). It will be published in the Federal Register on February 14, 2000.

A printed copy of today's decision is available for a fee by contacting:
 Da-To-Da Office Solutions, Room 210, 1925 K Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20006, telephone (202) 289-4357. The decision is also available for viewing and downloading via the Board's website at www.stb.dot.gov.

CALIFORNIA: MTA weighs alternatives to subway

LOS ANGELES -- Stymied in further subway construction, consultants to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority outlined a broad list of alternatives last week, including recommendations for light-rail extensions from downtown Los Angeles to the Eastside and Santa Monica and a dedicated busway to Warner Center in the San Fernando Valley, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Among the proposals were several not likely to survive, including one to construct an elevated rail line down Wilshire Boulevard.

Only a few of the 21 scenarios will make it past the first cut, which will come Feb. 24, when the MTA board winnows the list of mass transit projects down to a handful of proposals for more serious financial and environmental impact studies.

Even then, significant questions remain about whether the MTA can secure funding for what would be major capital projects that could tie up some of the area's most congested city streets for months, if not years, during construction.

"We will only move ahead with projects when we know we have enough money to construct and operate them," said MTA chief Julian Burke during an afternoon hearing on the proposed transit projects.

The MTA currently has its hands full finding money to meet the requirements of a 1996 consent decree requiring the agency to add buses to reduce overcrowding on its busiest lines. The agency must also finance a major Blue Line extension from downtown to Pasadena, which has already been approved.

One hope, Burke said, is that Gov. Gray Davis may accelerate state spending on transportation projects.

"While we cannot be absolutely certain today what the financial capacity of the MTA is, we will be working with staff and the consultants over the next several months to determine how much money is available to build the adopted projects," Burke said.

Massive cost overruns and safety problems plagued construction of the Metro Red Line subway, which will stop at North Hollywood. The MTA ruled out extending the subway in January 1998. A broad blueprint approved by the MTA in 1994 had called for additional subway lines to the Eastside and Westside, using existing Red Line and Blue Line trains as links.

With plans for a longer subway scrapped, the MTA put consultants to work nine months ago with orders to come up with bus and light-rail alternatives for the Eastside, Mid-City/Wilshire Corridor and Valley.

What they came up with was a broad list of possible projects, and several recommendations.

Burke cautioned that the proposals are only preliminary and that "a great deal more work needs to be dome to refine the consultants' recommendations so that broadly supported, locally preferred alternatives can be adopted." Burke said he would announce his own set of recommendations at the board's meeting later this month.

Proposals for the Eastside ranged from dedicated busways down city streets to a light-rail extension running down Whittier Boulevard through Boyle Heights and East Los Angeles out to the intersection of Whittier and Norwalk boulevards in Whittier.

Residents on the Eastside, disappointed at coming close to getting a subway, still favor a subway, but some have touted a light-rail line that would run underground through Boyle Heights as an alternative. The Eastside consultants recommended a light-rail extension instead of a busway.

Los Angeles City Councilman Nick Pacheco said he favors that approach because a busway would take up two lanes of street traffic.

Pacheco said residents of the Eastside felt "a strong sense of abandonment" when the MTA scuttled plans for an Eastside subway, but thought a light-rail line that would go below Boyle Heights "would accomplish everything we need to accomplish."

Pacheco said Boyle Heights is too densely populated for a mass transit line running down city streets, saying "pedestrian safety should be uppermost" in the minds of MTA board members.

Of the proposals to serve the Westside, the two most likely appeared to be a busway running down Wilshire Boulevard or a light-rail line on a former railroad right of way running along Exposition Boulevard to Santa Monica.

Both projects would be highly controversial. The dedicated busway would run through Beverly Hills and Santa Monica, the Exposition line through densely populated Los Angeles neighborhoods, past several high schools and into Culver City and Santa Monica.

One city official from Culver City called the proposed Exposition line "a recipe for disaster."

The consultants said an elevated rail line down Wilshire would completely alter the boulevard's historic character and said there was "strong opposition" among local residents and business leaders.

The Valley proposals dealt primarily with choices between light rail and a rapid transit busway from North Hollywood to Warner Center in Woodland Hills. The lines would run down a Southern Pacific right of way beginning at Chandler Boulevard and going west along a route closely paralleling Victory Boulevard. The consultants recommended the busway, saying it is a less expensive alternative and would allow commuters to go from Warner Center to downtown Los Angeles in less than an hour.

NORWAY: Norwegian railways to be made safer

OSLO -- The Norwegian railway network is to be made safer before there will be any additions or faster trains, according to the ministry of transport and communications, wire services reported.

The ministry has decided to redistribute the funds for the railways over the next couple of years The national railroad authority has also asked the ministry to delay any new additions to the railway network until it is judged to be safe.

Safety measures will include safer railway crossings, an enlargement of the radio network and automatic train braking. The decision was taken after the accident in Asta in January this year, when 19 people were killed.

The decision was also reinforced when four out of five youths in a car that collided with a train were killed last weekend (5-6 February). The condition of the survivor, a 17-year-old boy, is serious but stable, according to the police. There have reportedly been several accidents at the crossing and the municipality of Egersund has reportedly tried to get several level crossings removed for some years.

Separately, the Norwegian police want to dig up the power cables at Rudstad station to investigate them after the Asta accident. The police want to find out whether the cables were faulty in any way as such technical problems could mean that the northbound train received a green light instead of a red one. The police would specifically look for breaks and damage to the cables.

The police are studying the entire site, including traffic the centre at Hamar.

ENGLAND: Rail regulator issues guidelines on Competition Act

LONDON -- The U.K. rail regulator, Tom Winsor, Thursday issued draft guidelines which set out how he plans to apply the Competition Act 1998 in the railway industry, Dow Jones reported.

Under the act, action can be taken starting March 1 against companies that abuse a dominant position or enter into anti-competitive agreements.

The act will give the regulator power to impose fines of up to 10% of a company's U.K. sales.

"The Competition Act gives me the power to ensure there is an open and level playing field across the industry, including those parts which are currently unregulated, such as the rolling stock leasing companies," Winsor said.

The final version of the Competition Act guidelines will be published following a consultation period, which ends on March 31.

February Daily News Main Page  |  UTU Home Page  |  UTU Daily News Main Page

Copyright © 1999 United Transportation Union
Last modified: February 17, 2000