Progress Through Unity

Contract Negotiation Update

We are still meeting with New Jersey Transit Rail to try and settle the contract issue. I will let all members know as soon as there are new developments. The only official news to report at this time is that we are still at the table talking.

Thank you and be safe.

Stephen J. Burkert

General Chairman

Mentoring by Members is Suspended

Effective today 5/9/2016 all members who mentor in yards or on the trains will cease this practice. All of the mentoring will be done by the Carrier, they will be solely responsible for this aspect of training. I will keep you informed of any future changes.

Fraternally,

Stephen J. Burkert

General Chairman L-60

Protect Your Fellow Members

I urge all members to please protect our work. If you are on a rest day and are available to work, but not on a supplemental list, call the crew callers and let them know. We have many trains that are running short handed due to staffing issues, this puts the crews who are working these trains at a safety disadvantage. The assaults on train crews have risen dramatically lately and more staff on the train is good for our members and for the passengers. Please make yourself available to work so ALL crews are fully staffed. I ask that all crew members who were issued radios, please follow the rules and carry them at all times. If you were never issued a radio send me an email, I will get one assigned as soon as possible. We need to protect our work and each other, being on the property helps us all.

Fraternally,

Stephen J. Burkert

General Chairman

 

Tentative Agreement

Members, the tentative agreement will be voted on by you in the near future for ratification. I am working on getting all of the figures and variations in one cohesive format. It will be coming out as soon as possible. I hope to have a special meeting set up soon to go through the entire proposal. It will take a few days so please be patient. The proposal is for longer term than the PEB recommendations, with the general wage increases rising accordingly. I want to thank you all for an outstanding job during a very stressful period.

Stephen J. Burkert

General Chairman

Strike Warning

This is in reference to the letter today from Lavell,threatening you, while we are still trying to settle a 5 year old  contract.

IF, we elect to go on strike anyone choosing to report to Ferry street or any other location will be considered a “strike breaker or scab”.

There is a $1000.00 dollar fine per day. Any money the Carrier compensates you will also be fined at triple the rate. If you earn a $100.00 ,the local will then fine you $300.00. You will also be brought up on charges by the local and if found to have worked while we were on strike you will be expelled from the local and lose your employment.

The covers every member from #1 on the roster to the ACTP classes, you are all to report to the locations that you were given, if needed.

Stephen J. Burkert

GC L-60

Social Media Restraint

I urge all Members of Local 60 and their families, to please refrain from discussing and/or debating our current contract negotiations on public forums. I understand these are very stressful times and some things that are reported in the press releases sometimes are not accurate. I further understand that the comments made by the public, who are unaware of all of the training required to do our profession, are sometimes unpleasant. Please do not comment on the articles since most of the derogatory statements are intended to provoke an emotional response. We have handled this unfortunate situation with class every step of the way and I intend on continuing to do so in the future. If you are using Facebook, that is absolutely not the proper forum to be debating the merits of what we are trying to accomplish. I am sure that there is only good intentions when these actions are taking place, but rest assure what you write on these forums is being evaluated by many interested parties, not all of them for a good reason.

Please rest assure they we are doing everything in our power to avert a work stoppage. We are also cognizant of the fact that it is almost 5 years without a contract that you all so rightfully deserve. Please ” Stay Calm and Carry On ” as the slogan goes, and we will continue to negotiate on your behalf.

Fraternally,

Stephen J. Burkert

General Chairman

Time Card Deadline

The pay week of November 11th through the 17th will be processed on Saturday the 21st. All time sheets for this week must be submitted by the morning of the 18th to allow time for them to actually get to the payroll department to be processed. I urge all members to submit the time sheets daily to allow the process to work for all of our members. Holding on to the time sheets until the end of the pay cycle will make it almost impossible for all time cards to be processed in the calendar constraints.

The pay week of November 18th through the 24th is a similar situation, they must be in the box by the morning of the 25th. Please submit the sheets on a daily basis so the process is evenly distributed.

Please note, there will be no “off cycle checks” issued between Wednesday November 25th and Friday the 27th due to the holiday.

Fraternally,

Stephen J. Burkert

General Chairman L-60

Conductor Training Program

I want to extend my sincere thanks to both Ranessa Greene and Pat Belardo for accepting the task of being the new trainers for the conductor program. They have a long and exemplary record working as conductors. Their real life experience will only help explain in greater detail what our job responsibilities are on a daily basis. The current students in these classes are certainly getting top notch teachers of our craft. Ranessa and Pat will begin this assignment on Monday 10/12/15. There will be a new class starting before the end of 2015. The students that had difficulty in either of the first two classes will be given the opportunity to resume their training in this new class.  I have complete faith in Pat and Ranessa’s abilities. I encourage all Members to assist them in the training of the new members of our “Local 60 family”.

Fraternally,

Stephen J. Burkert

General Chairman

 

Working during the Pope’s visit

I encourage all members to work their entire assignment this week during the time that the Pope is visiting our area. This is not the time to schedule any doctor visits or to use extra time for personal business. We at Local 60 are in a crucial time in contract negotiations and we certainly don’t want any negative press. Please do not listen to gossip in the locker rooms, it is absolutely against the law for any unauthorized activities that could be deemed a job action by the Carrier. I would prefer that all members contact the crew callers and make themselves available during their rest days, there will be an abundance of extra work.

Fraternally,

Stephen J, Burkert

General Chairman

KRONOS Trial at MMC

I had previously announced in my June GC report about a trial run of this new payroll system at the MMC. The contractor is almost ready to “go active” in a very small test group of assignments. The crews that will be affected will be instructed on the new system and its capabilities prior to it going into this test operation. This test run is to see what bugs need to be worked out and discussed before the Carrier moves forward in a  large-scale effort. Once the test results are back I will be meeting with the Carrier to go over the results.  I had asked for this operational test in a proactive gesture so we could see in advance any problems that may arrive from using this system. I will keep everyone up to date with information as it becomes available.

Thank You,

Stephen J. Burkert

General Chairman