Rail union pushes safety measure requiring two-person crews

March 23, 2015 by

UTU_Logo_1A bill that would require two-person crews aboard Amtrak and most freight trains operating in Minnesota passed out of two Senate committees last week. The safety measure is a top legislative priority of the United Transportation Union, which represents about 70,000 workers in North America.

Sen. Ann Rest (DFL-New Hope) introduced the legislation in the Senate, and the measure received bipartisan support in the Judiciary and Transportation committees.

But Republican leaders in the House have refused to take up a companion bill introduced by Rep. Frank Hornstein (DFL-Minneapolis).

UTU Minnesota Legislative Director Phillip Qualy said railroads are lobbying hard against the bill, making false claims that crew-level requirements fall under federal law or under the domain of collective-bargaining agreements – and are outside the Legislature’s jurisdiction.

“Unfortunately, the railroads are misleading the Legislature with inaccurate and erroneous information,” Qualy said.

Carriers are playing a dangerous game. The oil boom in North Dakota’s Bakken region has increased freight-rail traffic in Minnesota, which has the eighth-largest rail network in the U.S.

The timing is right to take a look at the implications that spike in traffic has on public safety, Rest told the Senate Committee on Transportation March 16.

“We know that not only are the derailments becoming an increased concern, but we also know that the number of cars that are used to transport crude oil have exponentially increased in just the last few years,” Rest said.

In testimony before the committee, Qualy characterized requiring the railroads to maintain two-person crews as a matter of “corporate citizenship.”

“The carriers’ practice to remove more and more persons from the right-of-ways of American railroads endangers the general public,” he said.

How? Nick Katich, a trainman for Canadian National Railway in northern Minnesota, offered an example. Increasingly, he said, CN is instructing train operators in Illinois to block public road crossings – a practice he and 200 other members of UTU Local 1067 don’t want to see spread into Minnesota.

“Our standard operation for decades is to get off the locomotive and separate the train at the crossing and leave it open for public and emergency vehicles … until the train is ready to depart,” Katich said. “If there is only one person on a train, there will be no way we can open a crossing.”

Under the proposed legislation, Class I or II carriers would face fines up to $1,000 for operating a one-person crew in Minnesota, unless the carrier is exempted by federal law.

“Our state legislation is not federally preempted and does not contain language that can be construed as a collective-bargaining area,” Qualy said.

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Canadian Pacific’s restructuring sparks safety concerns among workers

February 20, 2014 by
UTU members join informational picketing outside Canadian Pacific's offices downtown Minneapolis.

UTU members join informational picketing outside Canadian Pacific’s offices downtown Minneapolis.

“It’s an accident waiting to happen.”

That’s rail worker Corey Plath’s assessment of Canadian Pacific Railway under the direction of CEO Hunter Harrison, who has made a career of cutting costs and, union members say, cutting corners when it comes to the safety of workers and the public.

Plath and fellow Minnesota-based members of the United Transportation Union have staged informational picketing outside Canadian Pacific’s offices downtown Minneapolis twice this month, raising awareness of “deteriorating” safety standards that have accompanied a massive restructuring initiative at the rail carrier’s parent company.

The UTU represents railroad conductors, engineers, switch operators and yardmasters at Canadian Pacific. The union’s legislative director in Minnesota, Philip Qualy, said union leaders have “attempted to work in partnership with Canadian Pacific to identify safety issues while improving efficiencies” over the past 13 months.

But those efforts have been met with resistance from management, Qualy said, and that starts with Harrison, Canadian Pacific’s CEO.

Harrison came out of retirement to take the reins of Canadian Pacific in June 2012. He was recruited for the job by William Ackman, founder of a hedge fund that had been aggressively buying stock in the railway’s parent company with an eye toward restructuring – and, later, reselling the stock for a tidy profit.

Ackman pegged Harrison for the job because of his record as CEO of Canadian National Railway from 2003 to 2009, when Harrison oversaw an overhaul of Canadian National operations that increased the railway’s efficiencies, but drew sharp criticism from safety regulators.

A 2007 investigation into rail safety by the Canadian government chastised Harrison’s company for creating a culture of fear that stifled employee participation in efforts to identify safety concerns.

Now, workers say Harrison is doing the same thing at Canadian Pacific.

UTU members who work at Canadian Pacific report being refused meal and other breaks during 12-hour shifts in sub-zero weather conditions, and they say managers harass and intimidate workers who speak up about safety concerns.

“People aren’t saying anything or they’re afraid or threatened with discipline or job loss – so they’re not saying what they notice,” Plath said.

Canadian Pacific’s restructuring is expected to result in about 4,500 job losses, including inspectors and other “safety-sensitive positions.” Qualy said the increased workloads could push rail workers “past a point of task overload.”

What’s more, UTU members allege Canadian Pacific has cut costs by removing safety equipment from switching yards, eliminating emergency exit routing and decreasing mechanical inspections for trains carrying hazardous materials.

Already, a string of train derailments has plagued Canadian Pacific’s restructuring effort. In March 2013 a Canadian Pacific train derailed in western Minnesota, spilling more than 20,000 gallons of crude oil onto the frozen ground.

“We roll through pristine prairies and dark alleys. We’re rolling through neighborhoods carrying oil, anhydrous ammonia and other hazardous materials,” Plath said. “This is not about our contract. It’s not about money. This is about guys saying enough is enough.”

“We will continue to attempt to work in partnership for railroad safety with Canadian Pacific management,” Qualy said. “We must stand up for operations that ensure the safety of our members and the public.”

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Workers stand up to union busting at Lakeville rail company

January 15, 2013 by
Corey Plath, president of UTU Local 911, representing workers at Progressive Rail, talks to workers on the informational picket line.

Corey Plath, president of UTU Local 911, representing workers at Progressive Rail, talks to workers on the informational picket line.

Progressive Rail is harassing, intimidating and firing its workers in an attempt to supplant their union, leaders and members of the United Transportation Union said during informational picketing outside the company this morning.

Eight workers at the Lakeville-based railway have been fired or harassed into resignation since February 2012, when a union contract covering 12 employees went into effect at company.

Their replacements, fired workers say, have been hand picked by management to support a company-backed “sham union” over the UTU in an upcoming decertification election.

Phil Qualy, UTU state legislative director, said enough union supporters remain eligible to vote down the decertification drive. The informational picket, which drew more than 40 UTU members from across the state, was designed to show Progressive Rail workers their union is behind them.

“We show up and support our guys,” Qualy said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s 1,000 members or it’s one member, we’re going to stand as the UTU for our brothers and sisters.”

Union supporters targeted

Stewart Howe (left) and Mike Bargmann are appealing Progressive Rail's grounds for firing them last year.

Stewart Howe (left) and Mike Bargmann are appealing Progressive Rail’s grounds for firing them last year.

In addition to challenging the decertification drive, the union has appealed the firings of Progressive Rail workers like Stewart Howe and Mike Bargmann, who say they were targeted by management because of their support for the UTU.

Howe, a locomotive engineer active in efforts to organize a union at Progressive Rail three years ago, was fired for exceeding the maximum speed on a locomotive – even though the conductor with him during the alleged incident received no disciplinary action at all.

Bargmann, a conductor fired for “insubordination that never occurred,” wasn’t with the company when workers voted 11-1 in favor of joining UTU in 2009. Still, he refused to join the decertification drive – and claims he lost his job as a result.

“About a month before (being fired), I was asked by a fellow conductor to sign a sheet of paper saying that I wanted the UTU out of here,” Bargmann said. “I didn’t want to sign it because I know the UTU is a good thing to have in place here.

“Without the UTU, the working conditions and pay would be atrocious.”

Indeed, some UTU members at Progressive Rail gained a $14,000 raise in one year after implementation of the collective bargaining agreement. UTU members also gained access to representation during disputes with the company over safety and working conditions.

Workers’ rights don’t depend on railroad size

Several so-called “short-line” railroads like Progressive Rail have taken over operations from large carriers like Canadian Pacific in recent decades. Unions say the “short-lines” are designed to avoid union contracts and lower wage and benefits for rail workers.

But Phil Craig, a member of the UTU Executive Board who traveled from Mankato to attend the Progressive Rail picket, said workers at railroads big and small deserve the right to form unions freely, without intimidation or harassment from their employers.

“We want these guys to understand everybody’s standing behind them,” Craig said. “They’ve got 190,000 brothers and sisters that are supporting them to maintain the UTU on this property.”

The UTU is a division of SMART (Sheet Metal Air, Rail Transit) union, which has 190,000 members nationwide, including 1,200 in Minnesota.

Progressive Rail’s decertification vote is scheduled to begin by mail Jan. 29, Qualy said.

The union is planning to stage another informational picket, with support from the broader labor community, the same day.

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