FACTS ABOUT NEW PASSENGER HOURS OF SERVICE
By: Mike Reilly
General Chairman

I have taken the liberty of taking key components of the new Passenger Hours of Service Regulation and reviewing these important sections.  I wish to extend our thanks to the BLE&T’s General Chairman Dave Decker  and member Robert Davia who assisted in providing information for this document.  This final rule is authorized by the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, which for the first time in history, gives FRA the authority to replace the existing statutory limitations (first enacted in 1907) with a new set of hours of service regulations governing train employees providing passenger rail transportation.  Freight and Passenger service has always been under the same hours of service requirements.  With the passage of this new law, Congress gave the passenger railroads the opportunity work out a new passenger hours of service requirement.  This required that the Government (DOT / FRA), Railroad Management and Railroad Labor meet to come to a consensus on the language of new passenger hours of service requirement by October of 2011, otherwise the passengers employees would be subject to the same provisions as the freight railroads.  Knowing that the provisions of the freight hours of service requirements would severely hamper our members earning ability, UTU was forceful in molding these new regulations.  [Read more…]

By UTU News | Wed, 26 Dec 2012
One of the strongest studies validating the need for two-person crews and intensive training for conductors has come from the Federal Railroad Administration.

The conclusion is that the conductor and engineer function as a team, with managing multiple priorities essential to safe train operation – especially with regard to use of positive train control technology that will be installed on some 40 percent of mainline track.

The FRA observes that such mixed territory operation will require a higher level of vigilance by the train crew, including detailed knowledge of territory that can come only from intensive conductor training. [Read more…]

Attention All Members

At the next regularly scheduled monthly meeting of Local #60 on Sunday, April 28, 2013, there will be nominations for the office of Vice-President of Local #60

The election for the office of Vice-President will be held at the May 19, 2013 regularly scheduled meeting.

This vacancy is account the Vice-President assumed the office of president. This vacancy will fill out the remainder of the term, which will end on December 31, 2014.

The meeting will start at 10:00 A.M., and will be held at the Somerset Holiday Inn, which is located at 195 Davidson Avenue, Somerset, NJ, 08873. The telephone # at the hotel is (732)356-1700.

Marc Sussman
Secretary, Local 60

Here are the dates for our regularly scheduled meetings in 2013:

• January 27
• February 24
• March 24 – Moved account Easter Holiday
• April 28
• May 19 – Moved account Memorial Day
• June 23 – Moved account International Meeting
• July 28
• August 25
• September 29
• October 27
• November 24
• December 29

All meetings will be held on Sunday’s unless noted at 10:00 A.M. at:
Holiday Inn-Somerset-Bridgewater
195 Davidson Ave.
Somerset, N.J. 08873
(732)356-1700

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NJ TRANSIT MEDICAL DEPARTMENT has announced that HOBOKEN MEDICAL SERVICES will be reopening on Tuesday, February 5, 2013.

They will be open on Tuesdays and Thursdays 7 am – 2:30 pm.

Call for an appointment: 973-378-6072 (Maplewood Medical) or 201-714-2884 once Hoboken re-opens.