United Transportation Union

UTU Release - Availability Standards Update

UTU General Chairpersons John Lesniewski, John Hancock, Jim Townsend, Johnny Willis and Randy Pullen, along with Vice General Chairperson Yvonne Hayes and UTU Vice President John Previsich, met late Monday, August 16, 2010, with Senior CSXT Officers to air out differences with respect to recent modifications unilaterally made by CSX to the availability standards in their Simplified Availability Policy pursuant to System Notice No. 108 dated July 30, 2010. It was the second meeting of this type for several of the General Chairpersons, but this meeting was arranged by UTU International President Mike Futhey and the outcome this time was much more productive, if not fruitful.

For over an hour the General Chairpersons debated the unreasonable rigidity of the new availability standards with CSXT VP & Chief Transportation Officer C. M. Sanborn, VP Labor Relations S. E. Crable, VP Network Operations M. D. Smith, AVP Crew Management T. J. Flanley, AVP Labor Relations D. W. Ingoldsby and Director Labor Relations M. Becker. Armed in many cases with stories and situations presented by their membership, the General Chairpersons argued that a literal interpretation of the newly published standards penalizes their hard working employees, our members, through its generic and what appears to be inflexible terminology. As such, the General Chairpersons argued, it denies an employee their contractual right to “reasonable layoff privileges” and, on some properties, also their contractual entitlement to hold their displacement for a specified period of time.

For their part CSXT acknowledged that it is, and never was, their intent to penalize the 95% of their employees who protect the service consistently; and they fully intend to abide by our contractual agreements regarding “reasonable layoff privileges” and displacement time (where applicable). At the same time, however, they remain steadfast in their intolerance towards those that characteristically choose to make their employment with CSXT less than full time; and they have a genuine desire that their treatment of such employees will be consistent.

Updated Claim Handling Instructions For Local Chairpersons

Labor Relations has moved to a different office in Jacksonville, and Rick Hiel has been replaced by Salvatore Macedonio Jr. as the Carrier’s Highest Designated Officer. Consequently effective immediately all claims should now be addressed to the following location (instead of the Water Street address) directed to the proper officer depending on the craft and type of claim:

6737 Southpoint Drive South, Building II – J455

Jacksonville, FL 32216

In addition, since Salvatore Macedonio Jr. has replaced Rick Hiel as HDO, Engineer Discipline appeals should now be addressed to:

Salvatore Macedonio Jr. – DISCIPLINE APPEAL

Director, CSXT Labor Relations

6737 Southpoint Drive South, Building II – J455

Jacksonville, FL 32216

Claim appeals may be processed via LCAT or U.S. Mail (preferably certified, with return receipt requested); but cannot be faxed or emailed. An updated “Where do I send my appeals?” short sheet has been added to this website and can be located here.

In summary, claims and discipline appeals should be addressed to the following (within appropriate time limits):

C, T, Y & ET Discipline = C. J. Wexel - DISCIPLINE APPEAL (via US mail or use “LCAT” to file electronically)
C, T, Y & ET Claims = Greg Barney - CLAIM APPEAL (via US mail or use “LCAT” to file electronically)
Engineer Discipline = Salvatore Macedonio Jr. - DISCIPLINE APPEAL (via US mail or use “LCAT” to file electronically)
Engineer Claims = B. D. Lane - CLAIM APPEAL (via US mail or use “LCAT” to file electronically)

It is important to note that, even if you are using LCAT to progress your appeals, the appeal should be addressed to the proper officer as denoted above. The title and address for each of the above officers is on the short sheet.

Availability Standards Protest and Arbitration

In a letter to CSXT AVP David Ingoldsby on August 5, 2010, General Chairperson J. E. Lesniewski issued a formal response to the Carrier’s new availability standards published in System Notice No. 108. Therein he advised AVP Ingoldsby of the General Committee’s position that the newly revised attendance standards violate Rule 100, Section 7, of the B&O Schedule Agreement requiring the Carrier to maintain sufficient employees to allow reasonable layoff privileges; as well as Rule 8 (d) 2 as amended by Article XII (Displacement) of the May 8, 1996 UTU Agreement (Arbitration Award 559) entitling a B&O train service employee up to 48 hours to exercise his displacement rights before he is marked VUA (Voluntary Unexplained Absence). A copy of General Chairperson Lesniewski’s August 5, 2010 letter can be reviewed here.

Northern Mid-Atlantic District Agreement Overwhelmingly Ratified

Ballots were closed on the tentative Northern Mid-Atlantic District Implementing Agreement on July 30, 2010, and the Agreement is no longer “tentative”. The UTU International, who conducted the election, has announced the official results of vote tabulation reporting that 91.3% of eligible votes cast by Local Chairmen inside the notice area voted to approve the agreement, and 100% of those Local Chairmen outside the notice area voted for approval. Consequently the Northern Mid-Atlantic District Implementing Agreement has overwhelmingly passed ratification, and upon implementation of the Agreement CSXT (former Conrail) Northern District conductors, trainmen, switchmen and engineer trainees will be governed by the provisions of the B&O Schedule Agreement. Under the NMA Agreement the Carrier is required to give ten (10) days advance notice of their intention to implement the provisions therein, which is currently anticipated to occur upon completion of the new North Baltimore, OH, intermodal facility in the first quarter of 2011.

General Chairperson Lesniewski extends his personal thanks to all those Local Chairmen participating in the vote, particularly those on the Northern Region who were forced to make a tough decision, for stepping up and acting in the best interests of their membership. He also, once again, extends his appreciation to International President Futhey, Vice President John Previsich, General Chairperson George Casey, General Chairperson Tony Pascarella, former General Chairperson Dick McVeen and Vice General Chairpersons Steve Mavity and Jeremy Ferguson for their assistance and hard work towards reaching a favorable agreement.

The final vote tally was as follows:

INSIDE NOTICE AREA

BALLOTS ISSUED               -              56
APPROVE                            -              42
OPPOSED                            -               4
PERCENT RETURNED                                                                -              82.14%
PERCENT OF ELIGIBLE BALLOTS CAST - IN FAVOR            -              91.3%

OUTSIDE NOTICE AREA

BALLOTS ISSUED               -              37
APPROVE                            -              29
OPPOSED                            -                0
PERCENT RETURNED                                                                 -                 78.37%
PERCENT OF ELIGIBLE BALLOTS CAST – IN FAVOR            -              100.00%

CSXT System Notice 108 - Revised Availability Standards

The General Committee office has been inundated with calls and emails expressing indignation towards the Carrier as a result of the outrageously unreasonable revised availability standards CSXT announced in System Notice No. 108 on July 30, 2010. The pertinent part of this notice is reproduced below:

EMPLOYEES WHO ARE UNAVAILABLE FOR ANY NON-COMPENSATED REASON (OTHER THAN REST DAYS AND TIME OFF MANDATED BY THE HOURS OF SERVICE ACT, AS AMENDED BY THE RAIL SAFETY IMPROVEMENT ACT) ON 2 OR MORE DAYS IN A ROLLING 4-WEEK PERIOD WILL BE SUBJECT TO REVIEW.

NOTE: AVAILABLE TIME INCLUDES ALL COMPENSATED TIME OFF(INCLUDING VACATION, PERSONAL LEAVE, AND PERSONAL BUSINESS), AS WELL AS TIME MARKED-OFF FOR FMLA LEAVE OR FOR ANY OTHER MARK-OFFS PROVIDED BY LAW

EXISTING ATTENDANCE DISCIPLINE PROGRESSION PROCESS WILL NOT CHANGE.

* FIRST 2 ATTENDANCE FAILURES HANDLED WITH WARNING LETTERS.
* FIRST INVESTIGATION - 2 DAYS OVERHEAD FOR 6 MONTHS.
* SECOND INVESTIGATION - 5 DAYS ACTUAL SUSPENSION.
* THIRD INVESTIGATION - DISCIPLINE ASSESSED - UP TO DISMISSAL.

EMPLOYEE'S RECORD WILL CONTINUE TO BE REVIEWED FOR A PERIOD OF THREE YEARS FROM THE CURRENT INCIDENT.

We hear you loud and clear and this office shares your outrage! Every one of the sentiments and arguments expressed in your emails and calls were already articulated (in much the same terms) by this General Committee to CSX senior management when the new availability policy standards were rolled out to us in a meeting late Friday afternoon, July 30^th, either immediately before (or perhaps even after) the system notice was posted. Each of these arguments were rebuked by the Carrier; with management expressing a rebuttal sentiment that unavailability continues to run rampant (particularly on the weekends) and the mandatory rest provisions of the Rail Safety Improvement Act provide our members with more than adequate time off (in their view). It was the Carrier’s (unsubstantiated) contention that following RSIA revisions the average employee works less than 5 days per week. Never mind the fact that RSIA rest is unscheduled time off, and does not permit the employee to schedule appointments to tend to personal affairs. Never mind the fact that, in most cases, the employee doesn’t get six consecutive days with a start and, therefore, he was still subject to call as he enjoyed his “day off”; meaning he wasn’t even unaware he had the day off until it was almost over (because he was waiting for a call the entire time).

The above being said, one must understand the constraints under which we in labor are bound through the Railway Labor Act in responding to this challenge. Bear in mind this is a unilaterally promulgated Carrier policy. Labor (including this General Committee) had nothing to do with its construction; nor were we permitted to add, extract or amend even one word of the notice. It is not a labor agreement. Nevertheless, it is our position that the Carrier’s unilaterally promulgated Availability Policy infringes upon our negotiated agreement benefits. Consequently it is our further position, supported by precedential Public Law Board decisions on this property, that the Carrier cannot create a policy to nullify negotiated contractual agreement provisions.

Buffalo and Pittsburgh Negotiations Continue

Negotiations continued with a target towards a new collective bargaining agreement for UTU members on the Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad. The UTU Negotiating Team met in Jacksonville, Florida, with officers and representatives of the Buffalo and Pittsburgh for another round of negotiations on Tuesday and Wednesday, July 19^th and 20^th. Members of the UTU Negotiating Team are General Chairperson John Lesniewski, Vice General Chairperson Steve Mavity and Local Chairperson (377) Harry Mahaffey. Representing the Buffalo and Pittsburgh are Raymond A. Goss, Senior VP, Jason C. Fuller, Manager, and G. J. Allard of Railway Labor Associates.

New Hire CSX Comprehensive Medical Plan Coverage Enhanced

Recently it was brought to the attention of the General Committee that a newly hired trainman on the south end of CSX, who was covered by the CSX Comprehensive Medical Plan during the first year of his employment, was being denied coverage for occupational injuries or illness. While the triggering event occurred on the southern end of the railroad, it brought to light certain deficiencies in the CSX Comprehensive Medical Plan that could affect our newly hired members as well.

NOTE: - On the B&O property new hires have the option of selecting the CSX Comprehensive Medical Plan or the NRC/UTU National Plan for their first year of employment. On the southern properties, however, enrollment in the CSX Comprehensive Medical Plan for the first year of employment is mandatory.

In order to address these shortcomings in the CSX Comprehensive Medical Plan the General Committee negotiated a June 23, 2010 understanding that provides newly hired B&O trainmen who opted for the CSX Comprehensive Medical Plan during their first year of employment with occupational injury/illness coverage under the National Plan at no cost to the employee. Furthermore, the understanding provides Life AD&D coverage to these employees under the National Plan administered by Met Life at no cost to the employee.

A copy of the June 23, 2010 understanding can be viewed here.

Northwest Ohio Factility at North Baltimore To Be Switched by UTU!

General Chairperson John E. Lesniewski announced today that the B&O General Committee has negotiated a series of four (4) agreements dated June 24, 2010 giving our UTU trainmen the work in the new North Baltimore, Ohio, CSXI facility being constructed (contingent upon passage of the tentative Northern Mid-Atlantic Agreement). This is a HUGE victory for our members and this Committee since most CSXI facilities in recent years have been contracted to a short line carrier (possibly non union) to switch. In fact, in this case also all preliminary data and presentations depicted the Evansville Western Railroad as performing the switching at the Northwest Ohio (NWO) facility.

Hopefully these agreements will set a pattern for the future.

Copies of the Northwest Ohio (NWO) Agreements governing the factility at North Baltimore, Ohio, may be viewed here.

Retirement With Less Than 30 Years of Service

For railroad employees with less than 30 years (360 months) of credited service, full retirement age, the earliest age at which a person can begin receiving railroad retirement or social security benefits without any reduction for early retirement, ranges from age 65 for those born before 1938 to age 67 for those born in 1960 or later, the same as social security. How much will this affect the annuity of employees retiring before full retirement age? If you are interested, I suggest you review the May 2010 publication of Railroad Retirement Board Labor Member V. M. Speakman, Jr. reproduced here.

Tentative NMA Coordination Pact Reached

As reported in a December 3, 2009 article on this website, under date of December 2, 2009, CSXT served notice upon our General Committee (GO-049), as well as the CSXT Northern District (former Conrail) General Committees of G. T. Casey (GO-081), R. C. McVeen (GO-619), W. A. Beebe (GO-663) and W. A. Wadowski III (GO-621), of their intent to “… consolidate and coordinate train operations, employees, and related facilities in the territory covered by the Northern District (former Conrail), and the territory covered by the Eastern District and certain contiguous parts of the Western District (former B&O), to create a larger territory for train operations, to be known as the Northern Mid-Atlantic District” under a single schedule agreement pursuant to Article I, Section 4 of the New York Dock conditions imposed by the Surface Transportation Board in Finance Docket No. 33388 (the acquisition of Conrail by CSX and NS).

Section 4 of the New York Dock protective conditions require that the Carrier negotiate an implementing agreement with the organization representatives involved before they effectuate a transaction which is subject to the conditions that would involve rearrangement of forces. If the parties are unable to reach a consensus on such an implementing agreement, Section 4 provides a timeline specific procedure for final and binding arbitration of the matter before the intended transaction can be placed into effect.

The December 2^nd notice CSXT served was quite concerning in that it expressed their intention to decimate the currently owned seniority rights of the affected members in favor of a “one size fits all” roster covering the entire Northern Mid-Atlantic area. Nevertheless, in that December 3^rd article the General Committee also urged all officers and members to remember the notice we received served as a starting point for our negotiations regarding the coordination, not the end product. We also cautioned members it was far too soon to panic or jump to conclusions in any direction; and pledged we would do everything within our power to protect the wages, working conditions and seniority rights of the members we serve from adverse affect as a result of this transaction.

The General Committee is now proud to announce that we have fulfilled our pledge. After numerous meetings and negotiating sessions with CSXT since the December 2^nd notice, and with the much valued assistance of UTU Vice President John Previsich, a tentative agreement has been reached for the Northern Mid-Atlantic Coordinated District. That document was released on Tuesday, May 25, 2010 to B&O Eastern/Western and former Conrail Northern District Local Chairmen. Informational conference calls with these local representatives followed on Tuesday, May 25, 2010, and Wednesday, May 26, 2010.