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July 2008 MONTHLY REPORT

ALL LOCAL UNIONS SYSTEM COUNCIL NO. 2 Dear Sisters and Brothers: On July 2, 2008, Local 1829 Local Chairman John Jennings retired from the Kansas City Southern Railroad with over thirty years of service as an Electrician. Over the years John served Local 1829, Shreveport, Louisiana, in several office capacities as well as Local Chairman and a member of the System Council No. 2 Executive Board. Brother Jennings valuable service and dedication to the IBEW will surely be missed. I personally wish John and his family a long and happy retirement. Due to Brother Jennings recent retirement and pursuant to the System Council bylaws, I have appointed Brother John Colding - Local Union 1829 to fill the System Council No. 2 Executive Board position vacated by Brother Jennings. This appointment was approved by a referendum of the System Council No. 2 Executive Board. We welcome Brother Colding and look forward to working with him in the future. On the date of July 15, 2008, I finalized an Implementing Agreement between the Union Pacific and System Council No. 2 establishing for IBEW positions at the South Morrill, Nebraska locomotive facility (formally Progress Rail). The Carrier has identified a closing date for the purchase of the facility for August 21, 2008, and the last day of operations for Progress Rail will be August 18, 2008. Plans to begin production with Union Pacific labor is scheduled for August 25, 2008. On June 25, 2008, revisions to 49CFR Part 40 were published in the Federal Register concerning DOT Urine Specimen Collection Guidelines effective August 25, 2008. These guidelines are available and can be found on the web at: www.dot.gov/ost/dapc/udsc.html. In summary, the recent amendments will make it mandatory for labs to test all DOT specimens for validity (i.e., adulterants and urine substitutes). Observed collections will afford less privacy in order to guard against the use of items designed to specifically beat the test. Directly observed collections will continue when there is specific reason to believe an employee is attempting to evade the testing process and items such as prosthetic devices designed to carry clean urine will be checked for by observers. The new direct observation procedures require the observer to check for these devices when an employee is subject to an observed collection. Observed collections will now be required, rather than optional, for all return-to-duty and follow-up drug testing. Also, during an invalid result Medical Review Officer (MRO) review, an employee admission of adulterating or substituting a specimen is now a refusal to test. We have received the decisions from Public Law Board 7001 and 7160 held on the date of April 16, 2008 regarding those cases with Union Pacific and the Kansas City Southern Railroad’s. I have recently notified the respective Claimant’s and Local Unions regarding the decisions and furnished a copy of the Award(s). The System Council is currently scheduling an additional arbitration date anticipated for September, 2008 with the Union Pacific before PLB 7001. It has recently been brought to my attention that at some locations on Union Pacific Railroad, mechanical employees are being required to make blind locomotive moves without the assistance of a ground or point-man. Although, I was not aware of such a provision, it was discovered that Carrier rules (specifically Rule 81.10.3) allow for this under certain circumstances. Nonetheless, I must point out that an IBEW member assigned to an outlying point was disciplined for derailing a locomotive during a required unassisted move. A conference call was recently held with Union Pacific personnel concerning this matter. The Carrier has agreed to investigate this unsafe practice and procedure and follow-up with further discussion. I would like to thank Local 214 President Jack Kramer for providing this information. It is my position that any member required to make an unassisted move is entitled to empower themselves to request assistance in order to perform the move safely. Throughout the month, VGC Perry’s office finalized the System Council audit and the annual LM-2 and 990 report filing. During the dates of July 23 – 25, 2008, Brother Perry attended the Eleventh District IBEW Progress Meeting in Des Moines, Iowa. During the week of July 9, 2008, AGC Don Tortorice together with IBEW Railroad “Code of Excellence” liaison Jim Prizmich  met with the Local Chairman and Officers of Local 650, Salt Lake City, Utah. On the dates of July 17 & 18, 2008, AGC Shell attended a meeting with the Engineering Dept in Kansas City, Missouri and later met with the Officers and Local Committee of Local 1832. During the week of July 28, 2008, AGC Shell and Brother Prizmich toured the North Little Rock and Pine Bluff, Arkansas facilities and met with members of Local Union’s 807 and 1758. Please find hereto attached the following which can be disseminated and/or posted: RRB Labor Member Speakman’s newsletter for July 2008; RRB Job Vacancies list for July 2008; Sen. John McCain’s agenda on Amtrak; AFL-CIO Working Families “Union Veterans 2008”     With best wishes, I remain   Fraternally yours,   Jim Wisniski General Chairman, SC#2 VLJ:se Enclosures   cc:       Bill Bohne, Director of Railroads             All IVP’s, System Council No. 2             Pat Perry, VGC

 

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IBEW System Council #2 North Richland Hills, TX