Progress Through Unity

Archives for August 2018

General Chairman Burkert’s Weekly “HOT TOPICS” News

August 31, 2018 By

In an effort to better communicate information as quickly as possible to the Local 60 Membership, here is the ” HOT TOPICS” for this week.

A) ASSAULTS on TRAIN CREWS– I spoke with Executive Director Corbett last night about the increase in frequency of the assaults. We will be working with NJTPD to have police officers riding on our trains to assist with unruly passengers. There have been 7 arrests made in connection with the latest UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE REPORTS made by our Members. I have the full cooperation of Executive Director Corbett and Chief of Police Trucillo that all areas will be investigated to protect our train crews. NJ Transit will be prosecuting all of those arrested to the fullest extent of the law.

B) I called for an emergency meeting yesterday to address the Carrier’s change in the 013 policy. I explained in the meeting that the Collective Bargaining Agreement should be adhered to and past practice is upheld was my stance. Therefore the 013 policy will remain in effect as it has been working on our property.

C) I was in Hoboken Terminal on Wednesday to meet Members and explain current events for our Local. I also did a safety inspection of the entire terminal with the NJ Transit Office of System Safety. I was particularly concerned about the amount of construction and its effect on air quality for our Members. All areas where our Members use the facility were inspected and a report will be published with the findings.

D) The weekly assignment bulletins and run-sheets that were distributed have errors and there will be new ones coming out today. The Raritan Valley assignments that were changed are only temporary and will revert back in about 6 weeks when Track 5 work is complete.

E) I want to wish all Members and their families a Happy and Safe Labor Day Holiday.

Please email me feedback or suggestions, I am here for you the Members. sburkert@utulocal60.com

Fraternally,

Stephen J. Burkert

General Chairman

Filed Under: Local 60 News

“013” Update

August 30, 2018 By

GC Burkert had an emergency meeting this morning on the 013 rule. (Thursday August 30,2018)

The carrier and organization agree that there will be no change to the application of the current claim.

Payroll will be notified to make corrections to prior denied claims, if you are still having issues after next week please submit on the “payroll Shortage” tab

Filed Under: Local 60 News

General Chairman Burkert’s Weekly “HOT TOPICS” News

August 24, 2018 By

In an effort to better communicate information as quickly as possible to the Local 60 Membership, here is the ” HOT TOPICS” for this week.

A) On Monday of this week I was in Atlantic City Terminal to speak with our Members affected by the service suspension. I also spoke with Senator Chris Brown and a group of NJ Assembly Members about the rail suspension and the reasons why it must happened. I explained to all who were present that I am pushing for a more robust train schedule when the train service resumes. I facilitated and am a part of a meeting with NJ Transit and the AC Convention Center entity for next week, ahead of the line suspension, to discuss their needs for better schedules for their employees and events. We will also have a group from the AC Casino industry involved to provide their work shift information.

B) On Wednesday of this week I had the pleasure of welcoming a new class of students that are taking our Conductor Training Program. This is the second class of the year, 18-02 and has 25 students. I enjoyed speaking with the new class and answering their questions about our craft and our job responsibilities. I wanted to impress on them that we are a family here at Local 60 and welcome them.

C) Yesterday I was in Bay Head yard speaking with both morning and afternoon crews about ACRL and other current events. I did have a good opportunity to explain legislation coming out in the future on RESIDENCY LAW, CREW ASSAULT BILL and a MINIUMUM CREW SIZE. I have been extremely active along with Ron Sabol NJSLD in improving protections for our Members through communication and education of our politicians.

D) While in Bay Head yard Ron Sabol and I gave an afternoon tour of the facility and yard to NJ Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling from Monmouth County. We explained the importance of the yard, the effects of Superstorm Sandy and the need for improvements for our passengers in reliable equipment. Houghtaling appreciates the importance of the train service and agreed that we should always look to improve the service.

Please email me feedback or suggestions, I am here for you the Members. sburkert@utulocal60.com

Fraternally,

Stephen J. Burkert

General Chairman

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Atlantic City Rail Line Crews

August 23, 2018 By

The Carrier will be suspending service on the ACRL beginning on September 5 and continue the suspension until the emergency repairs are completed. The 18 full-time crew members, Conductor and Rearbrake, who presently own an assignment will continue to report for duty as your assignment is posted. The Carrier will be using the 18 full-time crew members in an emergency situation to assist passengers at rail stations to navigate their travel. Once the emergency situation is resolved on the ACRL the affected crew members will resume their normal duties.  Executive Director Corbett has repeatedly stated he feels the crews will provide much-needed assistance to the passengers in this unusual situation.   I will provide more information as it becomes available.

Fraternally,

Stephen J. Burkert

General Chairman

Filed Under: Local 60 News

Short Payroll Week Upcoming

August 23, 2018 By

Just a reminder due to Labor Day Holiday, Payroll will be closed Monday September 3rd.

All time-cards for the week ending August 28th must be received at verification by 11:00am Thursday August 30th, that means they must be in a time-card box by Wednesday night the 29th for courier pick up.

Filed Under: Local 60 News

2018 Safety Eye-wear Program

August 22, 2018 By

To All,

All NJ TRANSIT Rail employees are eligible for two pairs (one clear pair and one tinted pair, or two clear pairs) of prescription safety eyewear during the calendar year January 1st through December 31st 2018. As you may know, U.S. Safety was bought by Essilor and this company now provides us with prescription safety eyewear. The procedures are the same as in the past. Take your new form (which is attached) with your name, phone number, employee number and work location to one of the 23 approved eye care providers. Your glasses will arrive back to your provider in 2-3 weeks. Essilor will not provide on-site opticians.

I know 2018 has been challenging and frustrating regarding prescription eyewear. I have been assured by Essilor that all issues have been resolved. Please let me know as soon as possible if there are issues that I am not aware of. Please share this information with anyone who does not have e-mail and keep the forms at your location.

Thank you for your patience.

Betsy Stern

Manager of Safety Compliance

Office of System Safety

Rail Division

NJ TRANSIT

One Penn Plaza East

Newark, NJ 07105

973-491-7953

bstern@njtransit.com

Download (PDF, 780KB)

Filed Under: Local 60 News

General Chairman Burkert’s Weekly “HOT TOPICS” News

August 17, 2018 By

In an effort to better communicate information as quickly as possible to the Local 60 Membership, here is the ” HOT TOPICS” for this week.

A) Monday August 13th I attended a meeting with NJTPD and the Carrier. I was assisted in the meeting by 2 Members, one from each division, and we discussed past events that involved NJTPD and Crew-members. The meeting produced a couple of examples of where communication was lacking and further explained what NJTPD can do and what they can not do, when called to assist us. There will also be better communication on what happens after an incident either on investigation, arrest or in the court system. All UNUSUAL OCCURRENCE FORMS that involve an assault or crews alerting to unruly passenger behavior are sent to NJTPD for review the following morning. NJTPD is required to investigate and produce a document detailing what was the resolution to the UOR. All incidents that police are called for generate an “event number”, please ask the responding officer for the number or call the Chief Dispatcher or supervision and request the “event number” this will help all parties track the event. I want to thank Jesse Fitzimmons and Matt Maxwell for their insight and questions during the meeting.

B) The National Mediation Board is in the process of updating their files and cases that have not been heard yet. They asked both myself directly and the Carrier to try and clear up some cases that were older and have not been heard yet. I met with the Carrier on Tuesday and cleared some cases that were outstanding from 2013/2014. The Members whose cases were settled will be getting a letter in the mail shortly and a check to follow.

C) I met with Executive Director Corbett on Wednesday of this week. I let him know that the way our Members, myself included, found out about the possible suspension of the ACRL was unacceptable and unprofessional. He agreed it was handled very poorly and it was not their intention to slight our Local. I did discuss with him the options of our affected Members working the ACRL and the impact of a suspension would have on them. I discussed Sleep Apnea and gave him an update on how our Members should be handled differently. I produced the MISSED TRANSPORTATION FORMS that were submitted by Members for the last 15 months that totaled 250,000+ missed fares. I explained that the fares should be collected but we need to properly staff the trains and safety is the top priority for both our crews and the passengers.

D) Yesterday in Trenton I testified in the Capitol Building at a Joint Legislative Committee on behalf of our Members. I explained in full detail about the horrific assaults on our Members by passengers for no other reason than the passengers were angry at NJ Transit service. I hope to have new legislation in the coming months that will make it a MANDATORY JAIL TERM if you assault anyone in uniform working for NJ Transit. I discussed the NJ First Act which includes the residency law which is ineffective and harmful to our Members. I was assured that my efforts in the last 2 years to get rid of the law will become a reality very shortly. I discussed that NJ Transit is having a hard time filling conductor positions and then keeping those Members because of the low hourly wage compared to other neighboring railroads. I suggested that talks should happen asap to try to bring up the wages to industry standards for our Members. I explained that our roster is even more shorthanded than the engineers but due to under-staffing it is hidden. I explained that to properly staff our trains we should have a minimum of 2 crew members for every 3 coaches open, this would allow proper safety for the passengers and the fares to be collected.

E) I have been approached by the media in television, newspapers and online to try to explain and clarify what has been going on with the service at NJ Transit. I put forth the OPEN LETTER TO THE PASSENGERS to give some detailed information. The letter is posted on our website if any of your passengers are asking about a copy. I will continue to protect our Members safety at all times.

 

Please email me feedback or suggestions, I am here for you the Members. sburkert@utulocal60.com

Fraternally,

Stephen J. Burkert

General Chairman

Filed Under: Local 60 News

Union Leader Talks On What’s Behind All The NJ TRANSIT Woes

August 16, 2018 By

https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2018/08/15/why-nj-transit-njtransit-problems/#.W3SlsMkq8mg.email

 

Filed Under: Local 60 News

Brother Richert’s Family has suffered another blow, please let’s be there for them

August 15, 2018 By

“I am now in the arms of my father”

A celebration of life for “Mikey” Michael Richert Jr. will be held on Thursday, August 16, 2018 from 5:00pm – 9:00pm at Our Lady of Peace Church, North Brunswick, NJ 08902.

We will continue to celebrate Mikey with a celebration of life mass the following day, Friday August 17, 2018 at 11:00am at Our Lady of Peace Church, North Brunswick, NJ 08902.

In lieu of flowers please donate to the Candlelighters NYC ( http://candlelightersnyc.org) or the Frances Foundation ( http://www.francesfoundation.net) in honor of Mikey.

Please share as Mikey would love for all to be there 💛💙💛💙

Filed Under: Local 60 News

OPEN LETTER TO NJ TRANSIT RAIL PASSENGERS

August 10, 2018 By

 

I am Stephen J. Burkert, General Chairman for SMART TD. My union represents the Conductors, Assistant Conductors and Ticket Collectors that work for NJ TRANSIT Rail Division. I have been employed as a NJ Transit conductor for 30 years. I pride myself on being an advocate for my Members as well as our passengers.

The past few weeks have been extremely difficult for anyone who has had to travel or work on our transit system. I write this letter hoping to clarify  truthful statements and to dispel what has been falsely put out to you, the passengers, via radio, newspapers or television.

I do not condone annulled trains for any reason unless there is an emergency situation involving a safety issue. I completely understand the passengers frustration in standing on a platform waiting for a train to arrive and then being told over the Public Address system it is annulled. I understand the financial impact on already strained paychecks for cabs, Ubers and extended daycare, not to mention the time lost with your families at home.

I would like to begin with “crew shortages” and annulled trains. It was recently attributed that trains were annulled due to conductors not being available, this statement is NOT TRUE. The shortage of engineers is why trains were annulled. Without an engineer to operate the train locomotive there cannot be service. Annulments were not caused by a lack of availability of the men and women in uniform on our trains. The engineer shortage is a direct result of NJ Transit being underfunded for the last 8 years.

The Federal Railroad Administration places work rules on both of our crafts that are similar to pilots or truck drivers. In the past we were allowed to work trains in an unlimited string of days without a rest day. The recent rule change dictates that rest days must be taken. NJ Transit lacked the funds to hire conductors and engineers to make up the short fall, thus there is a shortage of employees and more train annulments. The training program for both positions are similar in duration, 2 years, and due to recent increased funding by Governor Murphy and the State Legislature more classes are projected. I work alongside NJ Transit within the training program. We are working together to make improvements for future employees.

The train conductors DO NOT choose which trains will run service and which trains will be annulled. I understand that waiting for the next train is inconvenient as it will be more crowded, but yelling your complaints at the crew when the door opens is misplaced. They are ordered by NJ Transit supervisors to work those trains, they have no power in the decision. The train crew is placed in a position to transport the passengers safely from point A to point B, while picking up double the amount of passengers. The crews are trying to accomplish this with as little added disruption as possible while being courteous to irate passengers. The reason trains are short coaches or annulled completely, due to mechanical issues, has to do with spare parts. The last 8 years of underfunding has left NJ Transit’s spare parts bins empty. If there had been more money allotted for spare parts we would all be in a much better state of affairs today.

The train crews are ordered to collect revenue whether the train in front of them was annulled or late. If your train is delayed for mechanical issues they are still required by NJ Transit to collect revenue. The train crews are NOT empowered to issue refunds. Train crews who have tried to appease passengers and not charge fares for a delayed train are brought up on disciplinary charges. If a passenger refuses to pay a fare, NJ Transit rules dictate the police must be called. Again, I understand the frustration of paying a fare for a service you deem inferior, but you are placing the blame on a train crew member who is only trying to do the job they are required to perform. Crews are required to work overtime, and many of my members do, some in excess of 70 hours a week, many assignments have over-time built into them and most employees do work on their scheduled days off to provide service for our passengers.

It has been published that train crews are responsible for trains that are short coaches, that statement is FALSE. The crews report to work for their shift and are directed to a train set which will be used on that day. The crew does not get to pick which trains have more or less coaches.

The train crew is NOT responsible for mechanical issues or malfunctions. I can assure you we are not responsible for the overflowing toilets and we are just as inconvenienced as you, if not more so. We have had crews stuck with those overflowing toilets for over 6 hours. The train crew has no input when there are zero toilets in a train set. Crews will try their best to fix a minor malfunction if they are able, but we are not trained mechanics.

Passengers have taken to social media when service disruptions have occured looking for solutions. They have received advice from NJ Transit Customer Service that may have been misunderstood or incorrect. The conductors are given direction from their train supervisors who are not customer service representatives. I am working with NJ Transit to insure that the messages or responses that are given to passengers via social media are correct in substance and comply with the rules and regulations that trains crews must abide by while working.

While passengers are justified in expressing their displeasure over NJ Transit in recent weeks, they are never justified when anger is directed toward train crews. Recently crews have been verbally assaulted and passengers have spit on them. Two female crew members have been physically thrown off their trains for no other reason than a male passenger was angry. Conductors are being assaulted and have been transported to hospitals for serious injuries. The train crew is there to insure your safety, it is a top priority while you are on our system, they do not deserve to be a crime victim for showing up to do their assigned jobs.

I look forward to discussing the Atlantic City Rail Line suspension with NJ Transit in the near future. I will certainly offer my assistance and past knowledge to Executive Director Corbett. If the suspension can be avoided completely or reduced in duration it would be extremely beneficial to my members and those passengers who reside and work in South Jersey and the Philadelphia area.

I hope this letter clarifies some recent events. I will continue in my efforts to return NJ Transit back to a top notch transportation system that the passengers deserve.

 

Thank you,

Stephen J. Burkert

General Chairman

SMART TD LOCAL 60

Filed Under: Industry Related, Local 60 News, Uncategorized
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