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2009 FOURTH QUARTER REPORT
“Amended”

ALL LOCAL UNIONS
SYSTEM COUNCIL NO. 2

Dear Sisters and Brothers:

Another year has quickly slipped by and this will be the final report for 2009. I hope that everyone had a joyous holiday season together with friends and family. On behalf of myself and the System Council Two staff, we extend best wishes for a healthy and prosperous new year.

On October 13, 2009, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it has withdrawn effective immediately, a rule that would have implemented significant and time consuming changes to LM-2 and LM-3 reporting requirements for labor organizations. As previously noted, this rule was proposed in May 2008, and the Bush DOL promulgated the proposed changes. The Oboma DOL has now withdrawn the changes. It stated that the Department may have underestimated the increased burden that the rule would have placed on reporting labor organizations, and that the revocation standards and procedures were not based on realistic assessments of a union’s ability to file the more complex LM-2 and therefore, were unlikely to achieve the intended goals. The DOL clarified that existing LM-2 and LM-3 reporting obligations remain in effect. The decision to withdraw this rule, published in the Federal Register,can be accessed at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-24571.pdf.

Local union information and forms regarding federal reporting requirements with the DOL as well as the IRS and RRB can be found at the following websites:

CT-1, 990 & 990 EZ-Postcard        -           www.irs.gov
OE1-A                                                -           www.rrb.gov
LM-2,3,4                                             -           www.union-reports.dol.gov
Social Security W-2 & W-3             -           www.ssa.gov

I urge all local unions to familiarize themselves with proper reporting requirements outlined in the foregoing in order to avoid any penalties for late or no filing.

October 2009

On September 30^th, AGC Tortorice and I attended the Union Pacific General Chairman’s Association meeting.
During the week of October 5^th, I attended the IBEW General Chairman’s meeting in Phoenix, Arizona to finalize preparation for upcoming Section Six notices to be served on the various rail Carriers’.

On October 15^th – 16^th, AGC Shell met with Kansas City Southern Railway Labor Relations in Kansas City, Missouri to conference claims and discuss other issues of concern. Brother Shell also met with the Officers and Local Chairman of Local 1832 – Kansas City.
On October 21^st, AGC Tortorice visited the Progress Rail plant in Rockland, California and met with Local 800 President/Local Chairman Johnny McClinton.
On October 21^st, AGC Shell assisted Shreveport, LA Local 1829 with a disciplinary investigation.
During the week of October 26^th, AGC Shell and I met to discuss outstanding claims and preparation of our Section Six notice. We also met with Fort Worth Local 942 President/Local Chairman Rex Davis.

November 2009

On November 2, 2009, the freight rail Carrier’s represented by the National Carriers Conference Committee (NCCC) for the next round of bargaining, served Section Six Notices’ on the various labor organizations, including the IBEW.
On the date of November 10^th, AGC Tortorice and I attended a Non Operating Crafts General Chairman meeting with Union Pacific personnel. The meeting consisted of presentations and discussions by the various departments, including an Operating update by Dennis Duffy; Engineering Department update by Dave Connell; a Mechanical Department update by Barry Kanuch; a Rail Industry update by Lance Fritz, and; a Labor Relations update by Andrea Gansen.

On the date of November 11^th, AGC Tortorice and I visited the Roseville, CA facility and also met with the Officers and Local Chairman of Roseville Local 1682.

On November 11^th, VGC Perry met with Union Pacific in Omaha for a claims conference.
On the date of November 18^th, the IBEW served its Section Six Notice on those Rail Carriers’ represented by the NCCC for the next round of national bargaining. As a result, negotiations with the NCCC are scheduled to begin on January 19, 2010, in Washington DC

The IBEW has entered into a bargaining coalition with Rail Labor
Unions consisting of the American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA), the International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers (IAM), the Carmen (BRC), and the Transportation Workers Union (TWU).

I previously provided each applicable local union a copy of the Carriers’ as well as the IBEW Section Six Notice. They can also be found at the IBEW website at www.ibew.org, or at the System Council website at www.ibewsc2.org. The IBEW Section Six Notice represents many hours of hard work between the various General Chairmen and their staffs and IBEW Railroad Department staff, and address items and issues presented for inclusion by the local unions on behalf of the membership.

On the date of November 30^th, AGC Shell and representatives from the NCFO and IAM attended a Union Pacific Town Hall meeting in San Antonio, Texas.

December 2009

During the week of December 1^st, and pursuant to recent action taken at the 2009 System Council No. 2 Convention, myself and staff attended the first “SC2 Steering Committee” meeting designed to address training needs for new or inexperienced local chairmen. The members of the committee include Brothers Randy Shell – SC2, Darin Nearmyer – LU 1832, Rick Reynoso – LU 889, Dave Hunt – LU 1920, Jay Ochoa – LU 1814, and Chris Stoner – LU 1832. I wish to thank the committee for their time and continued effort with this matter.
During the week of December 7^th, myself and staff attended meetings in Omaha with Union Pacific in order to further discuss the upcoming “Positive Train Control” project. We also met with the Carrier to conference claims and address many of our outstanding issues.
On the dates of December 17^th & 18^th, VGC Perry and AGC Shell attended a two-day intensive course for union officers responsible for union-financial recordkeeping at the University of Iowa Labor Center.
On December 28^th, I finalized an agreement with Union Pacific amending the Electrician-Road Agreement, which clarifies bulletined assignments to such positions (attached).
After several discussions with Union Pacific, I was notified on December 29^th that the GE AH Traction Motor overhaul work will be performed for the entire system at the Carriers’ North Little Rock Jenks facility.

I have been advised that the North Little Rock facility will now be hiring additional electrical workers in 2010 to accommodate the AH Traction Motor and locomotive overhaul work projected for 2010.

As pointed out in my last report, I am currently scheduling arbitration before Public Law Board’s 7001 and 7160 in order to adjudicate our current cases with the Union Pacific and Kansas City Southern Railroads. At this point, a tentative date of February 24, 2010 has been set to arbitrate those cases with Union Pacific before PLB 7001. I am currently trying to finalize a date with the Kansas City Southern for sometime in March, 2010 to arbitrate cases before PLB 7160. I will keep the appropriate local unions and claimants advised as to the details as they are confirmed.

Throughout the quarter, the System Council staff was busy assisting the local union’s with various day to day issues. During the months of November and December, VGC Perry also prepared the W-2, 1096, 1099 and W-3 tax forms for the close of the year.

Please find the following attachments for your review and dissemination:

With best wishes, I am

Fraternally yours,

Jim Wisniski
General Chairman

Enclosures
Cc:      IVP’s System Council 2
            Bill Bohne, Director of Railroads
            Pat Perry, VGC SC2
            Staff