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BLET WEEKLY NEWS RECAP 09-22
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| RAIL SAFETY: BLET, TCU call for safety examination of remote control operations after death of CSX carman |
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| The BLET has long questioned the safety of remote control operations, in which workers, who are not licensed engineers and not inside the cab, control train movements using joysticks. |
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The death of a CSX carman, Fred Anderson, 56, who was struck and killed by a remote controlled train on September 17 in Wallbridge Yard, near Toledo, has renewed calls for stricter rules on the use of remote operations.
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the Transportation Communications Union & Brotherhood of Railway Carmen (TCU/BRC) are calling for federal regulators to step in. Anderson was a TCU/BRC member.
“Enough is enough,” said Artie Maratea TCU’s national president. “A full-scale review of the use and practices around remote-control locomotives is long overdue. CSX — and every railroad — must evaluate their use of these supposed technological advancements to ensure they are actually making our members safer, and not merely replacing people to continue lining the pockets of Wall Street.” The BLET has long questioned the safety of remote control operations, in which workers, who are not licensed engineers and not inside the cab, control train movements using joysticks. In particular, the BLET has voiced concern since early 2023 when rail carriers began to push for use of remote control operations on main line tracks outside of yard limits.
Earlier this year, in a guest column published by the Houston Chronicle, BLET National President Eddie Hall wrote: “(Railroads) initially agreed that they would only operate trains remotely within the safe confines of a switching yard. They now roll through our neighborhoods operated remotely by a worker who lacks access to all of the train’s controls and safety features.”
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is investigating the September 17 remote control fatality at Wallbridge Yard.
According to Trains.com, this is the third fatal incident in a CSX yard since June.
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| NEBRASKA: Investigators question UP’s actions after toxic explosion and fire at North Platte’s Bailey Yard |
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Upon arrival at the scene, firefighters could not access the burning container (nor fire hydrants) because another train was blocking the crossing.
Photo: Lincoln County Emergency Management |
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A chemical explosion caused a massive fire and prompted evacuations near Union Pacific’s Bailey Yard in North Platte, Neb., on September 14. The fire and explosion came less than a week after the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced the results of inspections at Baily Yard in July and August, which found that defects on UP freight cars were at twice the national average. Also, a follow-up investigation by the North Platte Fire Department and Lincoln County Emergency Management is prompting concerns about the way Union Pacific officials handled the dangerous situation.
First responders encountered many significant challenges in responding to the fire and explosion:
• Upon arrival at the scene, firefighters could not access the burning container (nor fire hydrants) because another train was blocking the crossing. A UP employee used a remote control locomotive to clear the crossing.
• The fire burned for 90 minutes before the railroad could provide detailed information about what product was in the container. It was later learned that the shipping container contained 50 barrels of perchloric acid, used to make explosives and pesticides. Each barrel held 55 gallons.
• Sirens are supposed to go off at Bailey Yard when there’s a toxic burn, but that didn’t happen.
• UP management pushed to have mainline traffic restored when there was an active situation with fire and toxic smoke.
• The container containing the perchloric acid was one of two that were stacked on a flatbed car. The acid was held in the bottom container. The fire, which burned for five hours, was so hot that it consumed the entire bottom container and the top container dropped into what was left. First responders couldn’t identify what was in the top car. A UP special agent at the scene and a UP office in Cheyenne offered little help. When first responders reached the office in Cheyenne, they were told that the container had a mix of products that were not listed.
• Prior to the incident, a no-humping restriction that guards against jarring the contents was ignored. The car was humped around 5:30 a.m. that morning. Perchloric acid becomes flammable if it comes in contact with organic matter. First responders suspect that one of the barrels leaked during the hump movement, acid dripped on a shipping pallet, the fire started, and the container exploded. |
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| PEOPLE OVER PROFITS: BLET backs new rail safety bill introduced in Congress |
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| BLET VP & NLR Vince Verna: "Our members deserve a vote. The American people deserve a vote for safety. We have to stop putting precision scheduled profiteering ahead of public safety and ahead of safety for railroad workers." |
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Rail labor turned out in full force on September 19 for the introduction of a new railroad safety bill in the U.S. House of Representatives. Introduced by U.S. Reps. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) and Jamaal Bowman, Ed.D. (D-N.Y.), the Rail Worker and Community Safety Act would make much needed improvements to federal rail safety regulations, including mandates for a two-person crew, changes to ways hazardous materials can be transported, increases funding for rail safety inspectors, and codifies mandatory sick leave for all rail workers.
Vince Verna, BLET Vice President & National Legislative Representative, thanked Reps. Stansbury and Bowman for bringing forth this much-needed piece of legislation. Speaking at a press conference in front of Capitol Hill as the bill was introduced, Brother Verna was critical of the politicians who have put partisan politics over people and the rail carriers that have put profits over people. He said: “There are plenty of people in the building behind us who refuse to do their job and vote. Our members deserve a vote. The American people deserve a vote for safety. We have to stop putting precision scheduled profiteering ahead of public safety and ahead of safety for railroad workers.”
The proposed legislation:
• Mandates a two-person crew on all Class I railroads;
• Mandates the creation of a reporting structure for close call incidents, similar to how airlines report close call incidents, so problems are resolved before derailments happen;
• Mandates regulations regarding the use of wayside detection technologies, which are currently not regulated by the federal government; and
• Codifies paid sick leave for rail workers, requiring rail carriers to allow their workers to earn up to 7 days (56 hours) of paid sick leave each year and prohibiting rail carriers from discriminating or retaliating against employees for using their accrued paid sick leave.
During the press conference, Brother Verna explained that rail labor has been able to negotiate paid sick leave agreements with a few railroads, but not all.
“There’s still quite a few Class I railroads where railroad workers can’t get time off when they’re sick,” Verna said. “Can you imagine being told to go to work taking these trains, some of them are four and five miles long, with all kinds of hazardous materials when you’re sick, and being told if you don’t go to work you can be fired for being sick. We want to see that end.”
Verna concluded: “We want to see standards for detectors on the side of the rails to prevent derailments. We want to see a certified locomotive engineer and a certified conductor on every freight train here in America. Let’s get this done in Congress, please. Do your job.”
Members of Congress in support of the legislation who spoke at the September 19 press conference include: Rep. Melanie Stansbury (D-NM); Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY); Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT); Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA); Rep. Donald Norcross (D-NJ); Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI); and Rep. Sylvia Garcia (D-TX).
In addition to BLET, the bill is supported by AFL-CIO, IBEW, AFGE, American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA), Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS), Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division (BMWED), International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers (IBB), National Conference of Firemen & Oilers, SEIU (NCFO), International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Mechanical Division (SMART-MD), International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers–Transportation Division (SMART-TD), Transportation Communications Union (TCU/IAM), and Transport Workers Union of America (TWU).
See a video of VP & NLR Verna's comments at the press conference. |
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| NORFOLK SOUTHERN: Outside consultant tells NS to work with unions, restore worker trust |
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NS should continue hiring to resolve critical staffing shortages and should streamline and enhance aspects of the hiring process and worker support to address current issues surrounding work schedules.
Photo: Cory Rusch, Division 659 |
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In May 2023, Norfolk Southern announced the hiring of a nuclear power safety expert, Atkins Nuclear Secured (ANS), to advise the railroad on ways to improve its safety culture. BLET at the time expressed concern with safety “experts” that knew little about railroading. National President Eddie Hall told the Associated Press: “Hiring outside consultants may sound good to investors, but the experts are working every day in the cab of the engine.”
ANS last week published its first report for NS. The consulting firm made 11 recommendations that the railroad should follow to improve its safety culture.
Three of particular interest to BLET are:
• Resolve staffing shortages, hiring issues, worker support, and worker quality of life issues. NS should continue hiring to resolve critical staffing shortages and should streamline and enhance aspects of the hiring process and worker support to address current issues surrounding work schedules.
• Shift/balance accountability focus from primarily punishment/discipline to include more teaching/coaching. ANS recommends that NS develop and implement a revised approach for how supervisors/managers oversee work, to ensure that supervisors/managers provide both positive and negative feedback to workers, start with coaching/teaching rather than punishment for minor deficiencies, and include appropriate accountability for serious and repeat deficiencies.
• Rebuild relationships to restore worker trust, respect, and pride. ANS proposes that NS management and union leadership work together to restore workforce trust, respect, and pride. It is critically important to the future of NS that employees be supported and nurtured through learning and development, culture improvements, and workplace safety initiatives with the goal of improving experience and retention.
An Executive Summary of the September 14 report from ANS can be found here (PDF). |
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| PENNSYLVANIA: SEPTA contract talks show Philadelphia may not be “the city of brotherly love” |
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| In May, BLET members at SEPTA held a rally to protest the railroad's use of managers to operate trains due to an acute shortage of locomotive engineers. SEPTA has roughly 150 engineers on its roster when it should have 230. BLET General Chairman Don Hill says higher pay in a new contract would help employee retention and prevent chronic understaffing. |
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A front page story in last Sunday’s Philadelphia Inquirer, “SEPTA must negotiate contracts with nearly all of its labor unions amid looming financial crisis,” highlighted four of the transit agency’s 14 unions that are in or soon will be in contract talks.
 The article (behind a paywall) pointed out that conditions are especially tense for BLET’s members who are in a de facto “impasse.” Don Hill General Chairman of BLET’s SEPTA General Committee of Adjustment, was quoted by the paper as saying that SEPTA’s offers “have not been anywhere close to what we believe would be a fair deal.” It’s not great for passengers either. SEPTA should have 230 locomotive engineers to keep regional rail moving, it’s down to roughly 150 and the transit agency regularly cancels trains. |
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Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen · 7061 East Pleasant Valley Road · Independence, OH 44131 · USA
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