Progress Through Unity

Archives for June 2015

GC Report June

GC report:
Supplemental list temporary agreement failed we are going to stick with current format, we will try and enforce/tweak
Motion is up for vote at next regularly scheduled local 60 meeting to change allocation of funds from the Local Fund of $1 and LCA of $3 to the GC fund up $4 temporally in order to alleviate deficit in the GCA fund this will not increase dues for members
Art Rayner is no longer our UTUIA representative direct all insurance inquires to the international
Please call payroll numbers established for Deb & Val and leave message for now, our GC is working to get SMART-TD representatives back in with payrollGC R #206282015

GDE Error: Error retrieving file - if necessary turn off error checking (404:Not Found)
GDE Error: Error retrieving file - if necessary turn off error checking (404:Not Found)
GDE Error: Error retrieving file - if necessary turn off error checking (404:Not Found)

Local 60 Meeting Sunday 10:00am

We have our regularly scheduled meeting Sunday morning 10:00am at the

Linden VFW 20 Pennsylvania Railroad Ave.
Linden, N.J. 07036

We will be voting on a TEMPORARY change to the supplemental list procedures members who can not make it email our GC with your concerns sburkert@utulocal60.com

As always we will post our GC’s report and any other important information on this site and social media ASAP

Also we are still putting together our text alert list email your information to emitchell@utulocal60.com

July 4th Payroll Information

To ensure that T&E employees receive their pay fully for check date of July 9th, we are asking membership to get their cards for period ending Tuesday June 30th in the designated drop-off locations no later than the evening of Wednesday July 1st,   Adherence to this timeline will allow the timecards to reach payroll on Thursday and be included in the following weeks’ payroll processing.

Coalition News

Just some information from our GC for members, the IBEW joined the coalition so all crafts on our property are being represented.

This is the first time for us to use this process for negotiations and the first time for coalition leaders to represent 100% of the unions on a property.

We are entering some important phases and it will be important to get members updated information we are asking all members sign up for text messaging.

Below is a timeline so we have an idea of what to expect

  •   Mon., June 15, 2015:  Release by NMB – this begins the 30-day cooling-off period.
  •   Thurs. July 15, 2015:  Anticipated creation of the First PEB – this begins the first 120-day cooling-off period.
  •   Tues., July 21, 2015:  Anticipated deadline for written pre-hearing submissions.
  •   Wed., July 22 – Fri., July 24, 2015:  Anticipated hearing dates for the First PEB.
  •    Fri., Aug. 14, 2015:  Deadline for the First PEB to issue its report.
  •   Wed., Sept. 9, 2015:   NMB’s Public Hearing.
  •   Thur., Nov. 12, 2015:  Initial 120-day cooling off period expires/deadline for creating the Second PEB.
  •    Sat., Dec., 12, 2015:  Deadline for the parties to submit final offers to the Second PEB.
  •   Mon., Jan. 11, 2016:  Deadline for the Second PEB to issue its report/beginning of final 60-day cooling-off period.
  •   Fri., March 11, 2016:  The final cooling-off period expires at the end of the day.

Coalition Press Release

Download (PDF, 60KB)

First NJT/Amtrak-East C3RS PRT Meeting

With the expansion of the C3RS program boundaries to include all Amtrak territory, the NJT PRT expressed a desire to have periodic meetings with the Amtrak-East PRT to discuss how to proceed with close calls reported by NJT members that occur on Amtrak property (all close call reports made by NJT employees are forwarded to the NJT PRT, regardless of location). To that end, NJT and Amtrak-East PRT held their inaugural meeting on Friday, June 12, 2015. More information can be found at our NJT C3rs website.

 

Unauthorized People In Secure Areas

We have been seeing increased incidents of passengers, contractors, and other employees in areas where they should not be. One of the best resources available to us, one that is proven to offer long-term systematic change, is C3RS. Reporting incidents to our C3RS safety program can have results that will also protect yourself and fellow employees from discipline. These include passengers on closed trains, contractors working in yards or aboard trains, trespassers in yards or crew only areas and employees in deadhead cars.

 

As always, Local 60 encourages all members to report the above incidents to C3RS. These reports will be analyzed by your Peer Review Team (PRT). The recommendations they compile and present to the carrier may highlight necessary changes to procedures or and increase in manpower and/or resources to protect ourselves and passengers. Please visit http://njtc3rs.com/

Supplemental List Vote

Download (DOCX, 53KB)

Railroads take to prevent trains from speeding

Railroads take to prevent trains from speeding. The advisory is the latest in a series of steps FRA has taken to keep passenger railroads safe for the traveling public.

WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today issued a safety advisory recommending actions that passenger railroads take to prevent trains from speeding.  The advisory is the latest in a series of steps FRA has taken to keep passenger railroads safe for the traveling public.

“Today the FRA is taking a smart and targeted approach to addressing a major issue involved in recent passenger rail accidents,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.  “Safety is our top priority at the Department, and today’s advisory is but one step we are taking to raise the bar on safety for passenger rail.”

The FRA recommends that passenger railroads immediately take the following actions to control passenger train speeds:

Identify locations where there is a reduction of more than 20 mph from the approach speed to a curve or bridge and the maximum authorized operating speed for passenger trains at that curve or bridge.

Modify Automatic Train Control (ATC) systems (if in use) to ensure compliance with speed limits.

If the railroad does not use ATC, ensure that all passenger train movements through the identified locations be made with a second qualified crew member in the cab of the controlling locomotive, or with constant communication between the locomotive engineer and an additional qualified and designated crewmember in the body of the train.

Install additional wayside signage alerting engineers and conductors of the maximum authorized passenger train speed throughout the passenger railroad’s system, with particular emphasis on additional signage at the identified locations.

“The FRA fully expects passenger railroads to take immediate action and implement these recommendations,” said Acting Federal Railroad Administrator Sarah Feinberg.  “We will continue to take action in the coming weeks to prevent human error from causing accidents and to keep passengers safe on the nation’s railroads.”

To view visit 

http://www.fra.dot.gov

Rail – Moving America Forward

 

The mission of the Federal Railroad Administration is to enable the safe, reliable, and efficient movement of people and goods for a strong America, now and in the future.

 

 

PTC Deadline

http://www.progressiverailroading.com/ptc/news/FRA-will-enforce-Dec-31-PTC-deadline-acting-administrator-says–44652

 

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) officials believe the Dec. 31 deadline for railroads to implement positive train control (PTC) technology is an important federal mandate that the agency intends to enforce, FRA Acting Administrator Sarah Feinberg told a congressional committee on Tuesday.

Feinberg, who was testifying at a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing, said that PTC is the “single most important railroad safety technology development in more than a century,” and that her agency has been working diligently to help railroads with PTC planning and execution. She has established a PTC Implementation Team that is “aggressively managing” the progress toward implementation.

Although she believes Amtrak will meet its goal of completing PTC implementation along the Northeast Corridor by Dec. 31, she acknowledged that most railroads are not far enough along wit their PTC planning to meet the federal deadline.

A lack of public-sector funding for PTC installation may have caused “unwanted delays” in fully implementing the technology, she said in her written testimony. As part of the Obama administration’s proposed “GROW AMERICA” transportation funding proposal, the FRA is seeking $825 million to help commuter railroads meet their PTC costs, as well as additional funding for Amtrak to install PTC on its national network.

“Despite a lack of funding directed to commuter railroads, FRA is using the resources it has available now to assist railroads in implementing PTC,” she said. 

For example, FRA issued a $967.1 million loan through the Railroad Rehabilitation and Improvement Financing (RRIF) program to the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority to help pay for its PTC deployment, she noted.

Recently, Congress members and other stakeholders have asked FRA to address their concerns about their ability to meet the Dec. 31 deadline. The agency has proposed that it be granted authority to review, approve and certify PTC safety plans on an individual basis to ensure that railroads are “raising the bar on safety” as they continue taking steps toward PTC implementation, Feinberg said.

FRA officials are discussing internally about how the agency will enforce the Dec. 31 deadline, and what potential penalties for exceeding the deadline might be, Feinberg testified, in response to a committee member’s question. Penalties could range from little enforcement all the way up to daily civil penalties, she said.

“Some railroads have behaved better than others,” when it comes to making progress toward PTC implementation, Feinberg testified.

The June 2 hearing was called to review the May 12 Amtrak derailment in Philadelphia that killed eight passengers and injured 200. The National Transportation Safety Board’s investigation into the cause is continuing, but speed is considered a factor in the accident.

The train was traveling more than twice the posted speed limit when it derailed. An NTSB member said the day after the incident that he believed PTC would have prevented the accident if the technology had been activated along the track where the derailment occurred.