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2010 THIRD QUARTER REPORT
ALL LOCAL UNIONS
SYSTEM COUNCIL NO. 2
Dear Sisters and Brothers:
A recent interpretation was issued by the U.S. Department of
Labor Wage and Hour Division clarifying the
definition of a “son or daughter” with
regard to the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). FMLA
entitles eligible employees to take up to twelve weeks of
leave each
year for specified family and medical reasons. This includes
the birth or placement of a son or daughter for adoption or
foster care, and/or the care of a son or daughter with a
serious health condition. The Act defines “son or
daughter” as a biological, adopted, or foster child, a
stepchild, a legal ward, or a child of a person standing in
loco parentis, who is under 18 years of age; or 18
years of age or older and incap-
able of self-care because of a mental or physical
disability. The recent Interpretation has now made it clear
that the meaning of “a person standing in loco parentis” is
to be interpreted broadly and may encompass, among others,
grandparents who are responsible for providing care to a
grandchild. The Administrators interpretation emphasizes
that the Act was intended to apply not just to biological
parents but also those who “are not the biological parents
of the chil-
dren they care for, but their adoptive, step or foster
parents, their guardians, or sometimes simply their
grandparents or other relatives or adults.”
(See attached -
Administrator’s Interpretation No. 2010-3) click
here
Effective July 1, 2010, the National Mediation Board’s
(NMB) voting procedures for securing representation under
the Rail-
way Labor Act were changed to include a “No” option and to
provide
that a majority of valid votes cast would determine the
outcome of
an election, rather than a majority of votes from the entire
craft or
class. The new procedures only apply to applications filed
on or after
July 1, 2010.
In July, a second notice was issued by Railroad Enroll-
ment Services to any railroad employee under the National
Health
and Welfare Plan who had not responded to requests to
furnish
Social Security numbers for dependent(s) whose number was
missing. Federal Law now requires the reporting of Social
Security Numbers
for covered dependents to the Centers for Medicare & Medi-
caid Services. This includes participants of all medical
plans,
including the Railroad Employees National Health & Welfare
Plan.
Thus, for any dependent that was newly added to the Plan
between January 1, 2009 and May 31, 2010, the dependent
social security number should have been provided to Rail-
road Enrollment Services by July 31, 2010, to avoid
disenrollment
from the Plan effective July 31, 2010. For dependents that
were added
to the Plan before January 1, 2009, the dependent social
security number must be provided to Railroad Enrollment
Services
by January 31, 2011, to avoid disenrollment from the Plan
effective January 31, 2011. Therefore, I encourage any
member who
has not complied with the foregoing to do so in order to
avoid any loss
in dependent coverage. Railroad Enrollment Services may be
reached at 800-753-2692.
During the July negotiating session, the National Bargain-
ing Coalition consisting of the IBEW, IAM, TCU, TWU and ATDA
met with the National Carriers Conference Committee (NCCC)
in
an ongoing effort to resolve the wage, rules, and benefits
dispute.
Prior to this session, the Rail Labor Organization’s decided
that since
no progress was being made, the coalition would advise the
Rail-
roads that we were at an impasse and further negotiating
conferences would be futile. On the date of July 15, 2010,
IBEW International President Edwin D. Hill notified the
parties of
an impasse and requested that the National Mediation Board
(NMB) invoke their services and move the parties’ into
mediation.
A Mediator was thereafter assigned and on the dates of
September
15th & 16th, mediation discussions
commenced between the parties’. The bargaining coalition is
scheduled to continue discussions on
the date of October 19, 2010, and have secured further dates
through-out the remainder of the year. I will continue to
keep you advised with
any updates. (See attached – IBEW Rail Department
“National
Freight Railroads Bargaining Update”)
The Department of Transportation (DOT) “Office of Drug
and Alcohol Policy and Compliance” recently issued a final
rule concerning procedures with DOT Drug Testing effective
October
1, 2010. (See Attachment)
July 2010
**During
the month of July, I finalized two third party submissions
scheduled for arbitration before the Third Division of the
National Railroad Adjustment Board.
**During
the week of July 5th, I attended the National
Freight Railroad Bargaining session between the Bargaining
Coalition and the NCCC.
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