UTU Local 426 Archived News.
Subject: So where's my contract?
Date: 02/20/2008
News
So where’s my contract? Why can’t I see it? How can I vote on something I haven’t seen? Good questions. The answer to all those questions is that the UTU constitution provides for a number of specific steps before a tentative national agreement is presented to the membership for a ratification vote. The tentative agreement with BNSF, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific is currently being fleshed out in preparation for distribution to the membership for inspection and a ratification vote. As provided by the UTU constitution, general chairpersons affected by the tentative agreement prepared questions regarding its provisions and submitted those questions to the International. A subcommittee of the UTU negotiating committee has been sifting through the questions, eliminating duplicates and preparing the questions for the UTU negotiating committee to review. The UTU negotiating committee will then transmit the questions to the National Carriers' Conference Committee, and work with that carrier negotiating committee on responses. The full set of questions and answers will then be made a part of the tentative contract. On March 25, general chairpersons involved in national handling will meet in Houston to discuss with the UTU negotiating committee the questions and answers. Those general chairpersons will receive a full briefing on the tentative agreement at that time. Again, under provisions of the UTU constitution, the International president, on behalf of the UTU negotiating committee, will then transmit the entire document -- the tentative agreement along with the questions and answers -- to the membership for inspection and a ratification vote. That package, including voting instructions, should be mailed to the membership in early April. The UTU Web site, at www.utu.org, will advise members when the package is mailed, and also provide additional information. The UTU Web site, www.utu.org, should be considered the official source of information about the contract, and a special link has been created on the home page that provides access to the Section 6 notices originally served by the UTU and carriers, plus commentary on the tentative agreement. Affected members should regularly view the UTU Web site for that information -- and sign-up for e-mail alerts. There is also a link on the UTU Web site home page to sign up for e-mail alerts.
Subject: Northwest Division Employees Dig BNSF out of Snow
Date: 02/15/2008
News
After four days of blizzard conditions last week, Northwest Division crews dug out from a storm that pelted the Cascade Mountains with up to 96 inches of snow and temporarily halted BNSF traffic on both sides of the mountain range. Snow began falling early in the week, but by Thursday, Feb. 7, snow accumulation, coupled with winds gusting up to 100 mph in places, forced the closure of the state’s main highways and stalled rail traffic on BNSF’s Scenic and Stampede Subdivisions. Early Thursday, Doug Jones, general manager of the division, activated the Northwest Division Command Center to coordinate multiple logistics operations. These involved positioning trains and crews, and coordinating other storm recovery efforts with Transportation, Track, Signal, Structures, Electrical and Telecommunications. According to Glen Gaz, manager, budgets, Construction, personnel at the center coordinated operations continuously during the storm, which did not ease until late Sunday. In addition to coping with the sheer amount of snow, crews faced road closures due to slides and avalanches, which restricted access to tracks to begin recovery. Additionally, Gaz said that power outages meant relying on generators, but getting fuel to keep them powered became problematic due to road closures. To ease congestion, numerous trains were re-routed to the south on the Lakeside Subdivision, but warmer temperatures melted snow. This caused floodwaters to rise 2 to 5 inches above the rails for a distance of 400 feet at milepost 107.4 on the subdivision, halting re-routed traffic. After waters receded, crews began assessing the track structure to determine remedial requirements, which included placing rip-rap, dumping ballast and re-surfacing track. By Monday, main track across all subdivisions was clear, and trains were again operating. Afterward, Jones said a tremendous amount of effort was needed to get trains moving again. "I want to thank the men and women who worked injury free during this event. It has been a challenging year, with previous storms affecting us from Sandpoint [Idaho] to Pasco [Wash.], down to Keddie [Calif.]. Once again, the dedication and perseverance of our outstanding employees ensured we safely met our customers’ requirements," said Jones.