ALL LOCAL UNIONS
SYSTEM COUNCIL NO. 2

Dear Sisters and Brothers:

In January 2009, Local 1682 Local Chair Cheryl Moseley and Local 889 President/Local Chairman Fred Bohnhoff retired from the Union Pacific Railroad. Over the years both Cheryl and Fred served their local unions in several capacities. Throughout their careers, they devoted themselves to serving the membership with the sincere desire to improve the lives of those which they served. Their valuable service and dedication to the IBEW will surely be missed. On behalf of myself and the System Council staff, we wish Cheryl and Fred a long and happy retirement.

On the date of December 19, 2008, council for the various rail Carriers’ requested interpretation of the December 2, 2008 FMLA Award, as was their right under the arbitration agreement. On the date of January 5, 2009, the arbitrators issued their interpretation which unanimously rejected the carriers’ suggestions; (1) that unscheduled leave should be treated differently from scheduled leave for purposes of their ability to force employees to use their paid leave as FMLA leave, and; (2) that the BLET personal leave agreement should be treated differently than the other national personal leave agreements for FMLA substitution purposes. As I previously indicated, the arbitrators will now consider the appropriate remedy for outstanding claims filed on behalf of those employees who were required to substitute paid leave for FMLA leave.

It is my understanding that as the Bush Administration came to a close, the Department of Labor (DOL) issued a final rule on LM-2 reporting requirements. It is effective with fiscal years beginning after 6/30/09. Whether or not the rule legally takes effect or will be rescinded or overruled by the Obama Administration is unknown at this time. Nonetheless, local union information and forms regarding the federal reporting requirements with the DOL as well as the IRS and RRB can be found at the following websites. I urge that all local unions familiarize themselves with the proper reporting requirements.

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

Due to the economic downturn together with decreased car loadings and stored locomotives, there has been a lot of concern and rumors regarding force reductions and/or furloughs. Although, there have been some minor cutbacks with the Carriers’, none have resulted in BEW members going home. As of this writing, the Carriers’ have indicated that there are no current plans for IBEW furloughs. However, we have had on-going discussions with Progress Rail (Caterpillar) concerning their decline in business, cutbacks, and staffing concerns at the Rockland, California traction-motor plant (LU 800). As a result, Asst. General Chairman Don Tortorice is planning a meeting at the Rockland facility in early February to ascertain the current business and staffing needs of the company.

On January 20^th, Asst. General Chairman Shell attended the North Little Rock Local 807 monthly meeting. During the week of January 21^st, Brother Shell toured the UPRR Houston facility and attended the monthly meeting of Local 1814, Houston, TX. In January, I attended the System Council staff meeting together with VGC Perry, AGC Tortorice and AGC Shell, at which time a wide range of issues were discussed concerning the System Council and the various local union issues, concerns, and accomplishments. On January 27^th, I and the System Council staff attended a meeting in Omaha with UPRR Mechanical Department personnel Barry Kanuch and John Estes to address a number of issues within the department. On January, 28^th, the System Council staff met with UPRR Labor Relations and Telecommunications Director Neal Spencer to further discuss concerns and interpretation with the recent Telecom agreement amendments. Following the meeting we met with Labor Relations to conference and resolve some of our on-going claims.

Throughout January, the System Council has been finalizing claims to be listed for final adjudication before Public Law Board 7001 between System Council No. 2 and the Union Pacific Railroad. I anticipate an arbitration date for sometime in April 2009.

In closing, please find attached a recent article provided by the 8^th District IBEW office taken from “The Nation” magazine concerning the Employees Free Choice Act. It is an educational summary to help with understanding the proposed legislation and some of the obstacles the Act intends to correct.

Please find hereto attached the following which can be disseminated and/or posted:

 

1. RRB Labor Member Speakman’s January 2009 letter entitled “RRB Customer Service Plan Update”;
2. RRB Labor Member Speakman’s December 2008 letter entitled “Disability Application Process”;
3. RRB Job Vacancies list for January 2009;
4. Article from the January 2009 edition of “The Nation” regarding the Employees Free Choice Act;
5. Working Families Breaking News article;

    

With best wishes, I am
 

Fraternally yours,

Jim Wisniski

General Chairman, SC#2