In an effort to better communicate information as quickly as possible to the Membership here is the ” HOT TOPICS” for this week.
A) I had an emergency meeting on Monday morning 10/30 to discuss the huge backlog of GAS MILEAGE that is owed to the Members. The issue is a new computer program that was recently purchased and put into use. The issue is NOT the clerks, but the new program being used at this time. The new program will take an entire sheet of entries but only give a grand total without an explanation. They are working on a solution to this issue but as of this report nothing in a positive light.
B) I have also been working on 3 separate cases that are going through Special Board of Adjustment next week. I need to have the written submissions done before meeting the arbitrator from the National Mediation Board.
C) I have gone through all of the FAIL TO MEET SLIPS, from January through September 2017. The total number of tickets that were missed or not collected due to no Ticket Collectors, overcrowding or other issues was tallied as 146,625(approximate). The number is definitely “on the low side” for several reasons. The beginning of this year there was a shortage of forms for employees to submit. I also have forms filled out with date , train and why the tickets were not collected but, no passenger counts on the form. Lastly, I only get the last copy of the form and some numbers are not clear enough to post a number on how many tickets were missed or some forms were not sent to the Union office. The majority of forms list the reason as ” Ticket Collector was blanked” for why the tickets were not collected. If I use $16.25 as an average ticket price, the 146,625 tickets not collected equal $2,382,656.20 in lost revenue in the last 9 months. This averages out to $264,739.57 per month or $3,176,874.80 per year. Again these numbers are, averages on the low side, but it is clear that blanking TICKET COLLECTORS is not the way operate.
D) I met with the Carrier again and discussed WORK RULES that need to be clarified, updated or abolished. Many of the items that are being discussed are things in our Green Book that has changed due to how we work, where we work, changes in service, changes in equipment or crew caller related issues.I will continue to meet with the Carrier in these discussions until such point as I can put out something for the membership to vote on.
E) Election Day is next Tuesday, November 7, please vote. I have several meetings set up in the next few days with elected officials to discuss issues that affect our members. I will continue to speak on your behalf to the officials who need further information about difficulties encountered while we perform our daily assignments.
Please email me feedback or suggestions, I am here for you the Members. sburkert@utulocal60.com
Fraternally,
Stephen J. Burkert
General Chairman
