Illinois State Legislative Board News Flashes
WASHINGTON -- The Senate late Wednesday, April 29, confirmed UTU Illinois State Legislative Director Joe Szabo to be the 13th administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration. An informal oath-of-office ceremony is contemplated for Tuesday, May 5, allowing Szabo to take office immediately afterward. A more formal swearing-in ceremony will be held at a date to be announced. 4/30/2009
Transportation Security Association Final Rule 49 CFR Part 1580.107 takes effect on April 1, 2009.
A copy of this has been added to the Document section of this web site. <Click Here to view document> 3/13/2009
FRA to publish revised "Final Rule" for human factor accident prevention FRA-CFR Part 218 Subpart F BLET comments along with the final rule have been added to the documents page of this web site. 6/13/2008
Is the new FRA Operating Procedures Rule in effect or not???? <Click Here to see what is going on> 4/16/2008
Report released on Amtrak on-time performance problems - <Click here to link to the report> 4/16/2008
Two new links have been added under the sleep tab to CBS Videos concerning The Science of Sleep. 4/4/2008
<Click here to go directly to the Sleep page>
FRA issues final rule on Human Factor Caused Accidents - Click here for overview of the final rule. 2/16/2008
This document is also available in the documents section of this web site
DM&I gets approval for Federal loan. 3/28/2007
Supreme Court upholds Rail Labor’s position on FELA......Click here for link to news article. 3/8/2007
Senate Kills Bid to Drop TSA Collective Bargaining.....Click here for link to news article 3/8/2007
TSA set to improve tracking of hazardous materials. 1/23/2007
Locomotive theft ignites rail security push in Ohio 1/22/2007
The December 14, 2006 death of a CSX carman by a Remote Control Locomotive in DeWitt Yard outside of Syracuse, N.Y has prompted the FRA to issue the first Safety Advisory for 2007. < Click for a link to Safety Advisory 2007-01.> 1/19/2007
Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Trent Lott (R-Miss.) have introduced the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2007 (S. 294) on Tuesday, 1/16/2007. This bill would provide $19.2 billion for Amtrak over a 6 year period. 1/17/2007
H.R. 5483 - Railroad Retirement Disability Earnings Act has been signed by President G. W. Bush and is now law 1/12/2007
Illinois joins Midwest Interstate Rail Compact - Click here for details
HR 5483 Cleared the Senate by voice vote on December 9th. This bill passed the house in September. When it is signed by President Bush and becomes law it will increase the out-side earning limitation from the present $400/month to $700/month and this amount will automatically increase to match any increases in the out-side earning limitations for Social Security.
ABC airs report on Terror Trains - Click here to see report and video.
Railroad Retirement Board Announces Increase:
U.S. Railroad Retirement Board
Public Affairs 312-751-4777
844 North Rush Street 312-751-7154 (fax)
Chicago, Illinois 60611-2092 rrb.gov
No. 06-4
For Immediate Release
October 2006
Railroad Retirement Benefit Increases
Most railroad retirement annuities, like social security benefits, are scheduled to increase in January 2007 on the basis of the rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) during the 12 months preceding October 2006.
Cost-of-living increases are calculated in both the tier I and tier II benefits included in a railroad retirement annuity. Tier I benefits, like social security benefits, will increase by 3.3 percent, which is the percentage of the CPI rise. Tier II benefits will increase by 1.1 percent, which is 32.5 percent of the CPI rise. The vested dual benefit payments and supplemental annuities also paid by the Railroad Retirement Board are not adjusted for the CPI rise.
In January 2007, the average regular railroad retirement employee annuity will increase $48 a month to $1,876 and the average of combined benefits for an employee and spouse will increase $65 a month to $2,622. For those aged widow(er)s eligible for an increase, the average annuity will increase $29 a month to $994. However, widow(er)s whose annuities are being paid under the Railroad Retirement and Survivors’ Improvement Act of 2001 will not receive annual cost-of-living adjustments until their annuity amount is exceeded by the amount that would have been paid under prior law, counting all interim cost-of-living increases otherwise payable. Almost 31 percent of the widow(er)s on the Board’s rolls are being paid under the 2001 law.
If a railroad retirement or survivor annuitant also receives a social security or other government benefit, such as a public service pension or another railroad retirement annuity, the increased tier I benefit is reduced by the increased government benefit. However, tier II cost-of-living increases are not reduced by increases in other government benefits. If a widow(er) whose annuity is being paid under the 2001 law is also entitled to an increased government benefit, her or his railroad retirement survivor annuity may decrease.
However, the total amount of the combined railroad retirement widow(er)’s annuity and other government benefits will not be less than the total payable before the cost-of-living increase and before increased Medicare premium deductions.
For most beneficiaries covered by Medicare, the standard Part B premium generally deducted from monthly benefits increases from $88.50 to $93.50 in 2007.
In late December the Railroad Retirement Board will mail notices to all annuitants providing a breakdown of the annuity rates payable to them in January 2007.
###
(The Federal Railroad Administration issued the following news release on
October 27.)
WASHINGTON -- Train crews will be less likely to suffer problems with
hearing loss as the result of revised federal standards aimed to enhance the
safety and well being of railroad employees by limiting locomotive cab
noise, announced Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph H. Boardman.
“Locomotive engineers, conductors, and other rail employees shouldn’t have
to run the risk of hearing loss just for doing their jobs,” said Boardman,
noting that the final rule on Occupational Noise Exposure for Railroad
Operating Employees is published in today’s Federal Register. “Reducing
noise will safeguard train crews and can help improve overall rail safety,”
he added.
Boardman explained that the final rule will directly affect approximately
80,000 rail employees and amends existing federal noise standards to require
that railroads perform routine noise monitoring and provide training to
employees in hearing loss prevention. In addition, train crews are required
to use hearing protection.
The final rule also requires the integration of noise reduction features
into the design, manufacturing and maintenance of locomotives, Boardman
said. This includes standards for better insulation, relocation of air brake
exhaust piping, and a reduction in vibration from cab equipment. Some of
these features are already being incorporated into newer locomotives.
Also, FRA strongly believes these changes will reduce the incidence of
noise-induced hearing loss, which may improve train crew communication as
well as reduce the risk of accidents caused by occupational stress and
fatigue, said Boardman.
FRA’s Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC), a consensus oriented
rulemaking body comprising representatives of the railroad industry, rail
labor, manufacturers, suppliers and others, examined the issue of
occupational noise exposure and recommended the new standards. In developing
the final rule, FRA incorporated comments from many interested parties,
including locomotive engineers, audiologists, and rail labor organizations.
Monday, October 30, 2006
(The Associated Press circulated the following article by Christopher
Wills on October 28.)
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Amtrak and Canadian National Railway Co. have reached
an agreement that will allow expanded passenger service across Illinois to
begin next week as scheduled.
CN will let Amtrak use its tracks as required under a deal reached in July,
officials said Friday. But Amtrak has agreed to a one-year study of whether
its passenger trains interfere with CN's freight service. If they do, the
Amtrak schedule could be adjusted.
"Canadian National had to live up to their agreement, and Amtrak and the
state of Illinois had to be a little sensitive to their business concerns,"
Sen. Dick Durbin said during a news conference at the Springfield train
station.
Amtrak President Alexander Kummant said in a statement, "We're pleased that
CN's leadership has made it possible to move forward."
CN said its concerns "have been addressed, to the mutual benefit of both
Amtrak's passengers and CN's customers."
None of the parties would provide further details.
Starting Monday, Amtrak will offer more passenger service on routes between
Chicago and St. Louis, Carbondale and Quincy. The additional service is
subsidized by $24 million from the state of Illinois.
Because Amtrak does not own railroad tracks, it must negotiate deals with
railroad companies to use their tracks.
But CN, after reaching the original deal with Amtrak, began to balk and
threatened to withhold access to the Carbondale and St. Louis routes.
Service to Quincy would not have been affected, an Amtrak spokesman said.
Most of Illinois' congressional delegation signed a letter urging CN to work
with Amtrak. Gov. Rod Blagojevich also wrote CN to say that disrupting
Amtrak service would hurt the state.
Durbin -- the Senate's second-highest ranking Democrat -- said CN and Amtrak
reached the compromise Thursday.
"If we had not reached this agreement, I'm afraid we would have been headed
to court today," Durbin said, adding that he is confident Amtrak would have
prevailed.
Nearly 1 million passengers used Amtrak lines subsidized by the state last
year, a 12.5 percent increase that reached a new record for total
passengers.
Monday, October 30, 2006
To see a video of Secretary of Homeland Security; Michael Chertoff's interview on CBS's Face the Nation, concerning terrorism and his comments on Railroad Security, click here: http://www.cbsnews.com/sections/i_video/main500251.shtml?id=1890361n
Senator Rick Santorum introduced Senate Bill S-3726 on July 26, 2006. Below are the remarks that Senator Santorum made when he introduced this bill:
[Page: S8410]
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Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I am pleased to have introduced the Railroad Retirement Technical Improvement Act that would ensure that the Department of the Treasury continues to distribute retirement benefits rather than a nongovernmental disbursing agent. This legislation is similar to a bill that was introduced in the House of Representatives by Transportation and Infrastructure Committee chairman DON YOUNG of Alaska. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation, which will continue to allow our Nation's retired railroad employees to securely receive the benefits for which they have worked so hard.
The Railroad Retirement and Survivors' Improvement Act of 2001 calls for a nongovernmental financial institution to replace the Treasury Department as the disbursing agent of retirement benefits. While I have consistently supported greater efficiency in government by allowing the private sector a greater role in providing some services, I believe that further analysis of this issue has shown that the Treasury Department is the most efficient and secure conduit to distribute these important benefits.
While the Treasury Department has a long track record of disbursing checks on a massive scale, very few private disbursing agents would have the ability to handle this load at the same costs incurred by the Treasury. It has been estimated that the average cost of using a nongovernmental benefit disbursing agent would total $2.9 million each year. In contrast, having the Treasury maintain its role as disbursing agent would only cost $800,000 annually, a $2.1 million annual savings.
In addition to the fiscal concerns that have arisen regarding transferring disbursing responsibilities for benefits, identity theft is a looming threat because of the need to transfer personal information of private individuals from the Treasury Department to the private sector. The specter of this threat is growing, and I do not believe our Nation's retirees should be concerned with who may have access to their personal information.
A benefit in addition to cost savings and security is that unlike a private vendor, the Treasury Department has the ability to use debt collection tools such as withholding tax refunds that are not available to the private sector. The Treasury Department's ability to make collections on overpaid benefits is easier, cheaper, and more efficient than having a private sector agent make the same collections.
The advantages of securing benefits for our retired railroad workers and saving taxpayer dollars are obvious. The maintenance of these benefits under the realm of the Treasury Department is a cost-efficient and secure means of distributing benefits, and I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
END
A link to this legislation can be found by clicking the Active Legislation tab on this web site. Please contact your Senator's and ask them to support this bill.
An Amendment that was offered by Rep. LaTourette, R-OH and Rep. Oberstar, D-MN to HR 5576 was adopted by a vote of 266-158. This bill increases funding for Amtrak from the Administration's proposal of $900 million to $1.114 billion. 6/13/2006
I have added two new documents to the web site. They can be accessed thru the Documents tab or by clicking the hyperlinks in this news flash. The documents are The BLET Response to the Safety of Remote Control Operations - March 2006 which was presented to Congress and another document called What Every Railroad Worker Should Know About The Federal Safety Laws and Regulations.PDF which was sent to us by National Legislative Representative Raymond Holmes office. Please note that these are large documents and if you do not have a high speed internet connection it is going to take some time to download them.
-A. J. Belscamper - Webmaster
The FRA has presented it's final report to Congress concerning Remote Control Locomotive Operations. A copy of the final report is available in our Documents section as well as in the Remote Control Section of this web site or by clicking here: Safety of Remote Control Operations - March 2006 - Final Report.PDF Check out Probabilistic Risk Assessment on Page 79 of the report. The data in this report pretty well supports the BLET's assertion that Remote Control Locomotives are not safe!!!! Starting on Pg. 61 of this report are charts comparing Conventional Switching Operations against Remote Control Switching Operations. Even with the covering up of incidents on the part of the Railroad Companies by under reporting the true cost of RCO accidents to keep them below the FRA reportable limits it is still evident that there is a safety issue with Remote Control Locomotives.
WASHINGTON - Thomas P. Schmidt of Jacksonville, Fla. has been appointed to head the Transportation Department of Amtrak, it
was announced last week. Schmidt, a 35-year railroad industry veteran, held a variety of positions at CSX from 1985 to 2003, and had also served as president of the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac Railroad.
Schmidt began his railroad career in 1969 with Penn Central as an assistant trainmaster and industrial engineer. He retired from CSX in 2003 and most recently has been associated with the Jacksonville-based transportation infrastructure planning firm Transystems Corporation.
As Amtrak's Assistant Vice President of Transportation, Schmidt will be responsible for the safe operation of service, compliance with federal operating rules and the efficient allocation of trains and crews throughout the system. He will report to Customer Service Vice President Emmett Fremaux.
Schmidt graduated cum laude with a B.S. degree in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University and received a J.D. degree from St. Louis University.
NTSB releases safety recomendations on sleep - Click here to view document.pdf 4/20/2006
Plenty of Amtrak Plans; No Money - Link to Bloomington Pantagraph article 4/4/2006
DURBIN ASKS AMTRAK PRESIDENT TO JOIN STATE OF ILLINOIS IN EXPANDING AMTRAK ROUTES 3/29/2006
Copy of letter from National Carriers Conference to Unions negotiating for national contract.pdf 4/6/2006
Link to RailLaborFacts.org - National Railway Labor Conference Propaganda site 4/6/2006
Senator Durbin's Statement on dismissal of Amtrak President by Board.
Menendez asks Amtrak Board to explain secret vote.
Amtrak Chief Executive Officer and President David Gunn presented with the unanimous approval of the Amtrak Board of Directors a plan to the Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation of the full Senate Commerce Committee called "Strategic Reform Initiative" which calls for an appropriation of $1.8 billion with the provision that several reforms are put in place. Some of these reforms include:
Changes to the Railway Labor Act for Amtrak only that would let Amtrak terminate agreements at the end of a term allowing management to impose new terms and unions to exercise self-help (Strike).
Place all new employees in Social Security.
Have the Federal Government assume $3.8 billion in debt thereby removing the need for nearly $300 million in annual funding to railroad retirement.
This is a link to the Amtrak Strategic Reform Initiative. PDF
You can do a search of the above document using the key words "railway labor" and "retirement" to bring up the above referenced items.
Amtrak's board of directors consists of the following 5 members:
Mr. David L. Gunn
President & CEO
Mr. Floyd Hall
Mr. David M. Laney, Esq.
Chairman of the Board
The Honorable Norman Mineta
Secretary of Transportation
Mr. Enrique Sosa
All five members of Amtrak's Board were appointed by President Bush. The board is chaired by Mr. David M. Laney who was formerly the Commissioner of the Texas Department of Transportation under then Governor George W. Bush.
Remote control claims another victim - April 13, 2005
Use of Locomotive horns at highway - rail grade crossing rule effective date has been delayed until June 24, 2005 Click here to link to copy of new regulations.....49 CFR 222
AFL-CIO opinion poll on Social Security - Power Point presentation.