Among meetings held were hour-long private sessions with Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta and his policy staff, as well as with Federal Railroad Administrator Allan Rutter. 

Boyd and Brunkenhoefer outlined for Mineta and Rutter the economic and safety reasons for preserving a national intercity rail passenger network crewed by experienced railroaders. Their views were invited by Mineta and Rutter, who are being pressured by conservatives to separate Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor into separate operating and infrastructure companies and to privatize other portions of Amtrak.

They also explained to Mineta a problem with recently issued bus-safety regulations and made a plea for urgent action on not subjecting rail operating crews to extensive background checks that could result in arbitrary loss of employment. In a separate meeting with Rutter, Boyd detailed why the FRA should not prohibit remote control operators from riding on the side of rail cars.

 “The fundamental Amtrak problem is a lack of sufficient capital,” Boyd said. “Putting a chain saw to Amtrak and inviting speculators to bid on operating Amtrak routes does nothing to solve Amtrak’s lack of money for new equipment and appropriate maintenance. No passenger rail system in the world is profitable. Expecting Amtrak to turn a profit ignores the public’s overwhelming and vocal support to maintain and expand a national intercity rail passenger network in the face of airline terror threats, intolerable highway delays and an aging population that demands mobility,” Boyd said.

“If you have a fragmented rail passenger system, it no longer is national and you no longer have national support,” Boyd said. “The federal government has supported freight rail mergers precisely because fragmentation is neither cost nor service efficient. Going in the opposite direction with Amtrak flies in the face of existing policy and economic logic. Moreover, demanding that Amtrak turn a profit when most major airlines are flirting with insolvency and begging for federal bailouts is preposterous,” Boyd said. “Inviting speculators to bid on Amtrak routes would result in cherry picking of the desirable routes and a withering and loss of other routes that provide an essential service but are not compatible with the profit motives of the private sector.”

Rutter is on record with Congress that lawmakers should recognize the crucial role that intercity passenger rail service plays in America’s overall transportation system. Administration and congressional leaders have acknowledged how UTU lobbying and grass roots activism have assured continued federal funding for Amtrak over the past couple of years in the face of strong attempts by some in Congress to kill or dramatically scale back Amtrak operations. Boyd consistently has stressed UTU’s willingness to work with Amtrak President David Gunn to improve the carrier’s efficiency. In fact, Gunn and Boyd will share keynote speaker honors in September at a National Mediation Board sponsored seminar on Amtrak issues.

Brunkenhoefer reinforced the conversation with Mineta on bus safety by handing the secretary a letter asking that the Bush Administration support UTU-proposed legislative language to solve a problem identified by California State Legislative Director J.P. Jones. “The proposed legislative language would relieve problems of a 1999 law that eliminates the right of individual states to shield and/or mask certain convictions against commercial drivers. Those convictions could result in license suspension and destruction of a career,” Brunkenhoefer said. “The UTU-proposed legislative language would ensure that states not change current or future suspension or revocation procedures at the state level.”

Boyd and Brunkenhoefer also made a plea for immediate action by the transportation secretary to head off an initiative by the Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department to require extensive background checks of all rail employees involved in the transportation of hazardous materials. Those background checks could result in loss of employment for long-time rail employees who may have committed a youthful prank even though they are no threat to national security.

Brunkenhoefer explained how a long-time operating employee of a railroad -- “a family man with an exemplary employment record and a pillar of his own community” -- could face loss of employment because as a teenager he was involved in a youthful prank involving a stick of dynamite in a remote area. 

Also, Boyd followed through on a request by numerous UTU-members concerned that railroads -- at FRA’s urging -- are considering prohibiting (and in some cases have prohibited) them from riding on the sides of rail cars while engaged in remote-control yard operations. “The risk from slips, trips and falls while walking alongside cars in mud, ice and snow is far greater than a chance of injury while being in a four-point or three-point stance on the side of a rail car,” Boyd said.

Prior to the meeting with Rutter, Boyd and Assistant President Paul Thompson met with RCL operators at several yards who urged that FRA not issue regulations prohibiting the practice. It was pointed out that Union Pacific, for example, is equipping RCL crews with miner-type lanterns built into hard hats and clip-on microphones so that RCL operators have both hands free at most times. Also, with RCL operations, there are far fewer radio communications, the crews told Boyd and Thompson.

UTU National Legislative Director James Brunkenhoefer, left, with Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, center, and FRA Administrator Allan Rutter prior to a working session in Mineta's private conference room at DOT Headquarters in Washington, D.C.