BLET files opposition to Rocky Mountaineer petition to STB
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen has informed the Surface Transportation Board it is opposing some aspects of the effort by Rocky Mountaineer to launch luxury train service between Denver and Moab, Utah. In a filing, the union said it opposes American Rocky Mountaineer’s request for an exemption “from virtually the entirety of the Interstate Commerce Act as amended by the ICC Termination Act.” While agreeing some exemptions are appropriate, the union argues that sections dealing with safety, efficiency, and fair wages and safe and suitable working conditions remain relevant, and the company should not be exempted from them. “The board has a duty to ensure that ARM’s operations are safe, that ARM does not negatively impact safe and efficient operations of [Union Pacific, which will host the trains], and that ARM’s operations are not detrimental to public health and safety,” the filing states. “… ARM should only be exempted from specific provisions that truly do not apply to its operations, and where ARM is truly different from other carriers.”
Maintenance of way union sues CSX over payroll errors
A union representing maintenance-of-way workers is suing CSX Transportation, saying the railroad has for several months failed to correct payroll errors resulting from a new payment system. The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division Allide Federation is suing in federal court in Kentucky, saying the company’s unilateral implementation of the TimeTrax program violates its requirement to reach agreement with the union before making changes in rates, terms, and working conditions; that payroll errors are widespread; and that some workers have seen their paychecks shorted by thousands of dollars. The union says the suit, filed earlier this year, was placed on hold while the two sides attempted to reach an out-of-court agreement, but settlement discussions have failed. “We have asked that all the problems be resolved,” BMWED Allied Federal General Chairman Dennis Albers said in a press release, “but management still does not appear to recognize that TimeTrax is a serious problem, let alone one that should have been fixed already.”
One of the major goals of PSR has always been to screw union employees so that management and wall street can make more money. Now they are expanding it out of train operations to MOW.
Yes, TRAINS. More details please, helps in your quest to overtake RAILWAY AGE. Short money. Does CSX treat their “customers” the same way? And this CSX is the same outfit taking over my local freights.
Re;CSX pay dispute. Although I’m a long retired Teamster I clearly remember that nothing grew a hostile workforce quicker than short money/
Short employee’s paychecks then refuse to correct it: yet another method of increasing the bottom line for the hedgies that control CSX. Pitiful.
I work for csx. Trust me when I say that the time Trax system is flawed by design. It is set up to make any changes such a pain that you say the he’ll with it. Over the long term it screws us out of significant earnings.
Me again – If you click on “In a filing” there is more detail from the BLET side.
It’s not clear if the union is trying to hold up Rocky Mountaineer, or if the company is planning to hire non-union employees or have different labor agreements than Amtrak, or maybe the union just doesn’t want to set any broad precedents. The idea that Rocky Mountain with the exemption might want to construct its own rail lines somewhere is ludicrous. So nothing much is known.
Re Rocky Mountaineer and BLET – Not enough information provided in this piece for me, at least, to consider the merits of the arguments on both sides.