WEBSITE LEGISLATIVE UPDATE – JULY
2009
PAC Fund
At the recent National
Association of State Legislative Board Chairmen’s Meeting in
Vote Withdrawn on S.146, Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act
Last month, BLET members and their families were asked to
contact their Senators to request that they vote no on Senator Reid’s (D-NV)
motion to proceed on the Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act, introduced by
Senator Herb Kohl (D-WI), and to oppose Senator Kohl’s cloture vote which was
scheduled for June 2. On June 1, Senator John J. Rockefeller (D-WV) and Senator Kohl (D-WI) came to an
agreement to withdraw the June 2 vote and vowed to work together to craft
comprehensive reform of the Surface Transportation Board. They hope to
introduce their plan in July. Thanks again to all of you who contacted your
Senators!
High Speed Rail
A
delegation of passenger rail leaders from the BLET and the BMWED attended a
Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)-sponsored Passenger Rail Forum on June 2.
They came away highly encouraged by President
Obama’s vision for high speed rail, which includes the planning of a number
of 100- to 600-mile rail corridors that range from upgrades to existing rail lines, to
entirely new rail lines exclusively devoted to 150 to 250 mph trains. This is
to be accomplished through long-term commitments at both the federal and state
levels. BLET President Rodzwicz cited the meeting as “another example of how
both BLET and BMWED are staying ahead of the curve and helping to fashion a
future where Americans will enjoy reliable, frequent passenger trains operated
by Rail Conference members over Rail Conference maintained rights of way.”
On June 17, the
FRA published Interim Program Guidelines for states and regions to apply for
federal funds for high speed rail projects. Officials from the Department of
Transportation and the FRA met with more than 1,000 people across the country
to receive input in preparation for developing the program’s grant application
guidelines (to see the entire plan, go to http://www.fra.dot.gov/us/content/2243).
The guidelines require extensive
financial and environmental planning to ensure that projects are worthy of
investment and hold the promise of being successful. Grants will be offered for
both planning and construction so that states can apply for funds no matter
what stage of development their project is in. Proposals will be considered on
the merits for their ability to make trips quicker and more convenient; to
reduce congestion on highways and at airports; and to meet other environmental,
energy, and safety goals. These guidelines also authorize the Department of
Transportation to actively promote standard specifications for rail cars and
other equipment. The FRA will award the first round of grants by mid-September.
Since the guidelines were published, many states are coming forward with their
proposed plans for high-speed rail projects and, in some cases, states are
forming alliances to formulate plans that span across several states.
There
has been some controversy about what the top speed of these high-speed trains
will actually be able to safely achieve. FRA Administrator Joe Szabo stated,
"We've got to stop worrying about achieving top-end speeds like they have
in Europe and Asia and focus instead on reducing trip times and increasing
reliability.''
Hours of Service
Law
Because
of significant changes in the Hours of Service Requirements that govern BLET
members following the passage of the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, the
FRA has now published an interim series of interpretations regarding the new
Hours of Service laws that take effect on July 16. Some of the major changes
include:
l Increases
to the amount of off-duty time required between work tours and a
prohibition against a railroad interrupting that time;
l Caps on the number of service hours and limbo time hours; and
l Mandatory days off when someone initiates a tour of duty on six or more
consecutive days.
The FRA’s interpretations explain how the new Hours of Service laws will be
enforced. President Rodzwicz encourages all members to become familiar with the
interpretations during this interim period wherein interested parties will be
allowed to make comments. The BLET National Division, in conjunction with the
BLET National Legislative Office, is reviewing the interpretations and will
file appropriate comments.
With the support of the National Division, BLET General Chairmen whose
properties will be affected by these changes continue their attempts to
negotiate with the carriers in order to create smooth transition when the
changes become effective.
To read the FRA’s Interpretations, please go to: http://www.ble-t.org/pr/pdf/HOSinterpretations
090626.pdf.
Funding for Positive Train Control
Another provision of the Rail Safety
Improvement Act passed last Fall authorizes the establishment of a railroad safety
technology grants program. The legislation states that the program is to be
fully funded in the Fiscal Year 2010 Transportation, Housing, and Urban
Development Appropriations Bill at a minimum of $50 million. This program will
provide for critical funding for the implementation of Positive Train Control
technology, which has
been mandated across most of the U.S. rail network by the year 2015. With more commuters turning to commuter
rail in today’s struggling economy, some Senators, including Barbara Boxer
(D-CA) and John D. Rockefeller IV (D-VA), are asking that this grant be fully
funded, at a minimum, to the authorized amount.
The Surface Transportation Authorization Act of 2009
Transportation and Infrastructure
Committee Chairman Oberstar (D-MN) introduced the Surface Transportation
Authorization Act of 2009 in the House last month. This $450 billion, six-year
highway and transit reauthorization proposal, which was adopted by the Highways
and Transit Committee on June 24, will help create jobs in the design
and construction sectors, provide more public transit options to the citizens
of this country, reduce traffic congestion, lower levels of greenhouse gas
emissions, and fund essential infrastructure safety upgrades. The proposed bill
provides an additional $50 billion investment for high-speed rail and
restructures federal surface transportation by consolidating or terminating
more than 75 transportation programs. It will also streamline the federal loan system for
railroads, making it easier for states and railroads to apply for loans.
The Committee expects to pass the bill by mid-July, with passage by the full
House before the August congressional recess. This plan may be delayed because
of concerns by the Obama administration and the Senate. The administration
wants to postpone the reauthorization for 18 months and pass a stop gap measure
for funding in the meantime. The Senate supports the Administration.
BLET and UTU File Joint Petition to Prohibit One-Person
Crews
On June 12, the BLET and the UTU filed a joint petition
for an emergency order with the FRA seeking prohibition of one-person train
crews, including conventional as well as remote-control yard switching
operations. The petition states that: “The workload associated with [remote control
operations], while performing other safety critical tasks, demands too much of
a single individual, including loss of situational awareness," and cites
the May 10 accident in Selkirk, NY, that took the life of a UTU-represented
conductor who was working alone and using a remote control devide. It also
states that a 2006 FRA report entitled "Safety of Remote Control
Operations" contains major flaws. The FRA report contains erroneous
figures that resulted from the formulas they used to calculate the statistics.
Once this was corrected, the data showed that the RCL injury rate was almost 80
percent higher than the conventional switching injury rate, and the normalized
RCL fatality rate was over 3.5 times the normalized conventional switching
fatality rate. The petition concludes: "It is time for the FRA to take a
proactive safety stance, and not merely a band-aid reactive approach to this
issue.” The BLET and the Auxiliary have
fought for many years for passage of two-man crew legislation.
Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
On June 1, a three-member arbitration
panel ruled that qualified grievants who were forced to use vacation time, or
accrued-but-not-yet scheduled personal leave days instead of FMLA are entitled
to receive a day’s pay at their then-obtaining straight-time rates for each of
those days. The panel stated that the remedy is compensatory, not punitive:
"What grievants lost was a contract right of significant value. Grievants
suffered more than 'mere inconvenience' when they lost their contract right to
choose when to take paid time off. Our purpose is to provide compensation for
those losses, not to punish the carriers for having caused them."
However, the remedy does not apply to
everyone. The report states that, "[g]rievants who asked for and later did
receive unpaid vacation and personal leave for paid leave days that the
carriers who employed them had substituted FMLA leave are not entitled to the
remedy ... only for those lost vacation and personal leave days for which they
elected to and did receive unpaid leave."
In order to receive compensation,
employees must have submitted a claim in a timely manner following the
infraction.
Health Care Reform
Although this is not exclusively a
railroad-related issue, health
care reform this summer is a national priority. It must include a public plan
option that provides affordable health care for all Americans, strengthens
Medicare, overhauls Medicare Part D, and creates affordable long-term services
and supports.
BLET
Vice President/National Legislative Representative John Tolman sent a letter to all U.S.
Senators on behalf of the 59,000 active and retired BLET Members, stating the
BLET’s opposition to any efforts to alter the tax treatment of
employer-provided health care and asking that the promises made by candidates
in the last National Election, including President Obama, to oppose taxing health
care benefits, be honored.
Please tell your members of Congress to:
·
Support
an affordable public health insurance option that is available to everyone,
national in scope with real bargaining clout, ready to go on day one, and
publicly run, i.e., accountable and transparent to
Congress and to voters
·
Oppose
the taxation of health care benefits.
·
Support
inclusion of the CLASS Act (S. 697 and H.R. 1721) for long term care in health
care reform.