By virtue of a notice dated December 2, 2009, received December 3, 2009, CSXT has served a notice upon General Chairperson Lesniewski 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” pursuant to Article I, Section 4 of the New York Dock conditions imposed in Finance Docket No. 33388. A copy of the December 2nd notice can be viewed
here.
Quite clearly this notice was served by the Carrier as part of the National Gateway initiative CSX Corporation announced on May 1, 2008 as “… a $700 million public-private infrastructure initiative to create a highly efficient freight transportation link between the Mid-Atlantic ports and the Midwest,” and directed towards better utilizing the CSX Intermodal facility currently being built in North Baltimore, Ohio. The limits of the proposed new “Northern Mid-Atlantic” Seniority District are as follows:
Northern limits: Canadian/New York border.
Southern limits: (from west to east) – Columbus, OH (exclusive), Richmond, VA (exclusive), Huntington VA (exclusive)
Western limits: North Baltimore, OH
Eastern limits: Boston, MA
The General Committee is cognizant this notice raises many more questions than it provides answers for members concerned about how the transaction will affect them, but unfortunately we will not have those answers until we conclude negotiations. Furthermore, despite what CSXT-AVP Ingoldsby’s December 2, 2009 letter states, the first meeting to discuss this notice will not take place until some time in mid – January, 2010.
In the mean time the General Committee urges all officers and members to remember the attached notice serves as a starting point for our negotiations regarding the coordination, not the end product. It is far too soon to panic or jump to any conclusions in any direction. Rest assured this office will 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.
More information regarding CSXT’s “National Gateway” can be found by following the link
here.
