RWU
News & Information Service
Rail Workers Weekly News Digest
Number 22 - August 20, 2019
Below is a series of articles compiled over the previous week.
They are of interest to railroad workers.
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2019-22  Article 1

States seek to overturn federal directive on freight train crew size



The states of Illinois, Nevada and Washington are among the latest states that have decided to fight a federal order that prevents states from passing laws that would require freight trains to have a train crew size of at least two individuals.

Nevada has filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit asking the court to review a May action by the  Federal Railroad Administration  (FRA) that prevents states from passing laws mandating train crew size. 

The FRA had  said in May  that it was no longer seeking a proposed rulemaking requiring freight trains to have more than one crew member under certain conditions. The agency said its decision to withdraw the proposed rulemaking on train crew sizes also preempts the state laws that mandate otherwise. 

That in turn prompted Nevada, which  passed a law  earlier this year on train crew size, to ask the court’s help in reviewing the FRA’s actions.

“Nevada is aggrieved by the provisions…because they infringe, without lawful authority, upon Nevada’s sovereign interest in enforcing its own health and safety statute on the subject of train crew staffing,” Nevada’s Attorney General Aaron Ford said in a July 29 petition. Defendants listed in the petition were the U.S. Department of Transportation and the FRA.  Read more ...
2019-22 Article 2

Illinois governor signs bill mandating two-person freight-train crews


Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker late last week signed a bill that will require freight trains operating in the state to have at least two crew members. The law will take effect Jan. 1, 2020. The measure was proposed by Illinois State Rep. Jay Hoffman. 

The bill addresses the  Federal Railroad Administration's (FRA) decision in May  to withdraw a 2016 proposed rulemaking that would have required freight trains to be operated with no less than two crew members.

“Currently, there are no laws on the books on the state or federal level to determine or regulate how many crew members are necessary to safely operate a freight train,” said Hoffman, according to  KFVS12.com . “My legislation will address this huge public safety issue by requiring freight trains on our state railroads to have a minimum of two crew members.” Read more ...

2019-22  Article 3

State May Appeal Dismissal Of Charges Against Brandon Bostian


Bostian is the Amtrak engineer who was at the controls when a train derailed and crashed in Port Richmond in 2015, killing eight people and injuring 200.
2019-22  Article 4

NJT Fires Engineer who Says Railroad Cuts Corners on Safety


A former NJ Transit employee is suing the agency and her union claiming she was fired for being a whistleblower.

Jodi Asay, of Ewing, says that NJ Transit engaged in "short turns" with scheduling didn't leave enough time for engineers to do a required inspection of the train before it's next run.

The suit claims that in 2014, "in an effort to reduce time between train trips and therefore increase the number of train trips over the course of each day, week, month and year, New Jersey Transit cuts corners on the safety inspections, abbreviating them or eliminating them altogether on various trips each day," which the suit called "a violation of public policy" that puts riders in danger. Read more ....
2019-22  Article 5

Coal miners still protesting in Kentucky; reject proposed settlement for back pay


CUMBERLAND, Ky. — The protest by a group of coal miners who are blocking a CSX Transportation branch line in eastern Kentucky over unpaid wages is in its third week and, based upon recent developments, the protest looks to continue on.

The protestors who are blocking CSX's Poor Fork Branch near Cumberland say they have rejected an offer from KopperGlo Mining which would end the protest and essentially open the rail line back up. KopperGlo recently purchased the former Blackjewel Mining Cloverfork No. 3 mine. Chris Rowe, an out-of-work and unpaid coal miner who has become the unofficial spokesperson for the protestors, tells Trains News Wire that Tennessee-based KopperGlo offered to put the protesting miners back to work and pay them an average of $800 each toward their unpaid wages left in the wake of Blackjewel Mining's bankruptcy filing in exchange for ending the protest and clearing the CSX tracks.  Read more ...
2019-22 Article 6

Organizing Railroad Track Workers in Yuma last week….



Last week my travels across the continent and among railroad track workers found me between Phoenix and East L.A. This section of Union Pacific’s rail network is the western end of the famed “Sunset Route”, running roughly along the Mexican Border. With a brand new union rep from Sacramento at the wheel, our task was to find as many members of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way (BMWED-IBT) as we could.

As we barreled across the heat stricken desolation, there were glum reminders of dystopian America along the route: remote desert prisons, and forgotten desert towns in various states of abandon despite their glorious names of Aztec, Mohawk, or Ligurta. 

On the eastern approach to Yuma the infamous Border Wall arose in the distance. As we neared it, the footprints all over the barren sand landscape were impossible to ignore.

RV parks arose from the desert sand like another surreal hellish nightmare. After four of these monstrosities in a row, I blurted out, “Who has money these days to pay for RV gas?” We were about to find out.

At the Yuma depot we found a four member “Headquarter Gang.” In the 5am “cool” of 95F, our conversation revolved around the next round of negotiations with the Class 1 Freight Railroads. The members filled out contract surveys, and recounted the successes and challenges they experienced uniting the 13 different craft unions in their area. Read more ...
2019-22 Article 7

CSX trains collide near Carey, derailing cars and spilling fuel


(Editor's note: Initial reports suggest that PTC was in effect on this section of track but was cut-out due to a failure. Apparently the conductor of the moving train was on the ground. PTC is not a panacea and cannot replace the second crew member).

CAREY, Ohio — A collision involving two CSX Transportation trains before dawn Monday sent two crew members to a hospital and derailed a locomotive and 25 freight cars.
CSX said the crash, which occurred at about 5:21 a.m. north of Carey, mainly involved railcars carrying fracking sand, but diesel fuel from the derailed locomotive and refuse headed to a landfill spilled as well.
Two train-crew employees were taken to a hospital for precautionary evaluation, a railroad spokesman said.
The collision occurred at a location, called Springs on the railroad, where two tracks on the rail line converge into a single track. Under normal operations, one of the trains would have waited there for the other to pass. Read more ...

2019-22 Article 8



Trade Unions for Energy Democracy - Bulletin #88

How Are Unions Around the World Responding to the Youth-Led “Climate Strike” Calls?

Railroad Workers United
Solidarity -- Unity -- Democracy