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2011
SECOND QUARTER REPORT
ALL
LOCAL UNIONS
SYSTEM COUNCIL NO. 2
Dear
Brothers and Sisters:
In June 2011, Local 214 President Jack Kramer retired from
the Union Pacific Railroad with thirty-seven years as
a member of the IBEW. Jack served his local in
several capacities as well as the System Council as an
Executive Board member for many of those years.
Throughout his career, he devoted himself to leading the
membership with the sincere desire to improve the lives of
those he served. I can personally attest to his
tireless effort and dedication. Jack will be
greatly missed and we thank him for his valuable service,
time and support.
In June, the United States Supreme
Court ruled on the question of what standard of
causation is applicable in cases arising under the
Federal Employees’ Liability Act (FELA). FELA imposes the
liability on railroads for employee injuries resulting
in whole or in part from the railroad negligence. In
its opinion, the Court held that it was proper to
instruct the jury that causation is established if the
carrier’s negligence played a part, no matter how
small, in bringing about the injury. This case
involves a railroad employee who won a jury verdict against
CSX over a n on-duty hand injury. During the trial,
the judge instructed the jury that under FELA,
causation is established if it found that the Carrier’s
negligence played a part, “no matter how small”, in the
employees injury. The judge rejected the
carrier’s request to instruct the jury that negligence
must be the “proximate cause” of the injury. After the jury
found in favor of the employee, CSX appealed the case, of
which the majority held that the judge provided the
proper instruction to the jury. Moreover, the court
found that the instruction given merely tracked the
statutory language as interpreted by the Supreme Court in
past cases. As noted, this decision is beneficial for
all railroad employees. The complete opinion can be
reviewed at:
www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/10pdf/10-235.pdf.
In May 2011, the United Transportation Union (UTU) reached a
tentative agreement with the nation’s freight railroads on
wages and benefits, which include 17% wage increases
over 6 years and various concessions and cost shifting
with health and welfare. The IBEW, along with the
other Rail Labor Organizations representing the remaining
75% of the unionized workforce are of the opinion that
such an agreement would not be fair to our members in
light of the record profits the railroads have been
making. Needless to say, the railroads are now
claiming that that the UTU agreement set a “pattern”
and that all of the other unions should follow this
pattern. The IBEW along with the other coalition labor
organizations have requested that the National Mediation
Board (NMB) release us from mediation in order to move our
impasse along. As of this writing, the NMB has not yet
responded to our request for release. This
delay appears to be caused by the UTU and the
railroads reaching an agreement over the past couple of
months. Now that the UTU agreement has
been reached, the NMB has called us back into
mediation. Nonetheless, our bargaining coalition consisting
of the IBEW, IAM, TCU, TWU and
ATDA has continued to maintain its
position that we will not agree to any
concessions and will continue to insist on
wage increases that reflect the unprecedented profits of the
railroads. Moreover, the RLBC coalition, consisting of the
remaining Rail unions recently
agreed to join with our coalition and also seek
release from mediation. I will continue to keep you advised
with any updates. (See attached –
“National Freight Railroads Bargaining Update
- June 16, 2011”)
April
2011
* On the dates of April 5th & 6th,
I attended the National Freight Railroad Mediation session
at the National Mediation Board, Washington DC.
* On April 4th, VGC Randy Shell
sustained an unfortunate accident when he unexpectedly
slipped tearing a tendon in his knee. The injury ultimately
required emergency surgery and approximately six weeks in a
cast. He has recently been released by his physician and is
doing well.
* On the dates of April 7th & 8th,
I met in Fort Worth with the System Council training
steering committee in order to review the committees
proposed curriculum which will ultimately be used for
training new or inexperienced local chairmen and
committeemen.
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On
the date of April 11th, I attended the
monthly meeting of Fort worth Local 942. On April 12th,
I met with San Antonio Local 1911 Financial Secretary
Alex Avila.
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During the week of April 25th, VGC Shell and
I, together with representatives of the IAM and NCFO,
attended a meeting with Union Pacific Labor Relations to
discuss the Carrier’s implementation of the one-day
vacation agreement. We later met with General Director
Mechanical John Estes to discuss various issues and
concerns.
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Throughout the month of April, AGC Tortorice, VGC Shell
and I, finalized our case presentations and submissions
for arbitration scheduled for May 12, 2011.
May 2011
·
On May
12th, the System Council staff and I attended
arbitration before Public Law Board 7001 with the Union
Pacific Railroad.
·
On May
11th – 13th, AGC Dave Starkjohann
attended the IBEW 11th District Progress meeting
in St. Charles, Missouri.
·
During
the week of May 17th, AGC’s Tortorice and
Starkjohann met with the officers and members of El Paso
Local 726 and attended the scheduled meeting.
·
On the
date May 17th, I attended the monthly meeting of
Kansas City Local 1832. On May 18th, VGC Shell
and I toured the Kansas City locomotive facility and later
met with Carrier Director Steve Slattery.
June
2011
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During the week of June 1st, the System
Council staff and I attended the annual IBEW Rail
Department meeting in Washington DC.
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On
the date of June 14the, AGC Tortorice assisted Roseville
Local 1682 with a disciplinary investigation.
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During the week of June 14th, I attended the
quadrennial convention of IBEW System Council No. 16.
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During the week of June 27th, AGC Tortorice,
VGC Shell and I met with the officers and members of
Chicago Local 214, and toured the Proviso, California
Avenue, and Dalton facilities.
During the second quarter, the Council staff and I spent a
lot of time progressing time claims
and disciplinary cases as well as research with
several subcontracting disputes. The Positive Train control
project is currently underway on the Union
Pacific Railroad. As this project moves forward, we will
continue to address any concerns and obstacles as they
arise. The Kansas City Southern has recently served notice
to subcontract installation of the PTC work, of which we
have strenuously objected and requested a meeting to discuss
this matter further. Furthermore, we are currently in the
process of securing the next arbitration date for early
September, 2011. I will keep the respective local unions and
claimants advised as these dates are confirmed.
Please
find the following attachments for your review and
dissemination:
1.
RRB Labor Member Speakman’s letter
– April 2011 publication;
2.
2.
RRB Labor Member Speakman’s letter
– June 2011 publication;
RR
3.
Scheduled Informational Conferences – May 2011;
4.
4.
RRB Job Vacancy list – June 2011;
5.
“National Freight Railroads Bargaining
Update” June 16, 2011
With best wishes, I remain
Fraternally yours,
Jim Wisniski
General Chairman
Enclosures
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