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Statistics are facts or data collected to give significant information on a given subject. Statistics may tell the truth, but rarely do they tell the entire story.

A reliable source tells me that system-wide there is a dramatic increase in incidents and accidents, yard and road.

We can't deny our job has changed, we traded a few thousand of years of seniority for a few hundred after the buyouts and our workload has increased with the advent of OCS and reduced crews.

Remember that you are a professional, be aware of the demands of the job, be sure to be well rested, examine your work habits-are you putting yourself or others at risk unnecessarily? Watch those clearances and DOB's like your life--or somebody else's--depended on them.

The railway is gathering statistics on absenteeism. A six week trial of the Employer Attendance Tracking Multiple Employees (EATME) system would have resulted in 122 hearings, meaning the loss of 244 man-days to attend hearings with union representation; looks like a real money saver.

The railway is trying to remove flexibility from a job that is flexible by nature, if this kind of thinking keeps up we will soon be stopping to punch a time clock. If the railway thinks train crews work in a factory, perhaps we should receive factory-like conditions like: coffee breaks, 40 hour weeks, regular days off and overtime.

Don't become a statistic, don't let EATME take a bite out of you!

"Unless the private sector finds a way both to make money and re-establish trust in the workplace, we'll continue to be in trouble. Worried workers do not engage in the kind of creative problem-solving that contemporary business requires."

- LA Times

"Good day, and good news! I've discovered Nightcrawler, down at the beach, happy as clam at high tide. Overproof has loosened his tongue, and only the names have been changed to protect the guilty "

"Hey Junk Yard Dog!, When ye works yer fingers te the bone, what does ye git?"

"Frustrated and pickled?"

"No ye guppy, bony fingers, harr." "An ye knows what else?"

"Ahh... no? what else Nightcrawler?"

"Don't matter if ye just signed on, or ye been around longer than Barnacle Bill, we are all in the same boat"

"Say what?"

"We needs a new contract."

"We gots a darn good one!"

"That's right guppy, one of the best in the business, however, the way that the shipping business is conducted these days has changed drastically, and the contract needs an overhaul te carry us inta the next century. It's time te come forward and chart our own destiny."

"Elections are 'appinen, why don't you come forward an put yer bite where yer bark is?"

"Harr, that's easy fer ye te say guppy, but I only gots a couple a teeth left, on account a scurvy, don't ye knows."

"Ye can still nip at company heels."

"Perhaps, guppy, perhaps, but I would much rather nip at the rum keg, aarr"

"Not before the sun goes over the yardarm ye don't. Arrg, it's cloudy today."

I could go on an on, as Nightcrawler is very long-winded, but to make along story short, in the immortal words of Bobby Zimmerman, "Ye gots te swim er sink like a stone, fer the times they are a changin."

Rumors are flowing out of Floyd's Barbershop like blood out of a broken nose. Apparently Barney has deputized Otis and they're out on a manhunt for dangerous desperadoes.

A few lemonades loosened Floyd's tongue, and he said Opie told him that Goober said that he overheard Barney tell Andy that termination for these men is all that will satisfy his lust for control. You'd think by now that he'd be running out of toes to blast off in his wild attempts to run things his way, and the cost of constantly replacing his bullet riddled cowboy boots must be draining the town's coffers.

The Dynamic Duo are hot on the hunt for "The Three Amigos". Apparently, trying to get the proper sleep in Lillooet so as to work safely and following the rules and regulations are now hanging offenses. Just because some of these rules and regulations might not make things run as quickly and efficiently as he'd like, Barney figures it's time to flex his skinny arms and show everyone who's the boss. It looks like his plan is to keep hauling these guys in on one trumped up charge after another until he can make one stick, and then go find the hanging judge.

If Barney manages to terminate these miscreants--who've done nothing but follow the rules--who is going to be next? And for what reason? Spitting on the sidewalk?

As you can see by the wanted poster above, the three on the left are truly a dangerous looking lot, but who is that on the right? It could be you or it could be me. One thing you can count on is, if they succeed in railroading these guys, they won't be the last. Piss off Barney and your face might be the next one up on the Post Office wall.

I hear that Barney and Otis have been spotted in odd places, bristling with antennas and binoculars, on their day and night vigil to rid the populace of these and other desperadoes. Don't be surprised to find them skulking around in your back yard in the dead of the night in search of heinous criminals.

-- Just My Opinion

Mail to Rod Coleman

- RPC

General Electric will not be bragging about the first orange and green DASH 9-44CWs it built for BNSF (Santa Fe. technically) in July. The problems trace back several months, when Santa Fe crews began reporting that 1994-built DASH 9-44C\V 653 made a "bowling ball noise" when running at speed. Santa Fe and GE had difficulty determining the source of this unsettling sound, despite a lot of detective work and several test runs up and down the Topeka Subdivision.

Eventually, the engineers decided the 653 suffered from a "harmonic resonance problem" that caused intense vibration at certain speeds. The problem was addressed by installing yaw dampers on the 653's trucks at GE's Erie, Pa. plant. Afterwards, Santa Fe took the unit on one more test run across the Topeka Sub on July 9. operating at speeds of up to 70 mph rather than the normal freight limit of 55 mph. Apparently satisfied that the dampers work, Santa Fe then released the 653 for general service.

Not wanting this problem to recur, BNSF told GE to install yaw dampers on all of the 960-class locomotives. However, the first four units, 961-964, were ready to leave Erie, and GE shipped them without adding the dampers. When Conrail delivered the quartet to Cicero Yard in Chicago July 18, BN inspectors confirmed the dampers were missing. and also found the quality of the paint unsatisfactory. Burlington Northern rejected the unit". and they were sent back to Erie via Conrail.

-Rail News, Sept 1996

Ed's Note: BC Rail 4641 through 44 are GE Dash 9 units

Where Do Your Dues Go?

Here is a breakdown of your (100% tax deductible) union dues of $69.36 a month:

General Committee of Adjustment $33.45

International $17.50

Local Dues $ 8.41

Legislative Dept. $ 6.50

Local Committee of Adjustment $ 3.50

Local and Local Committee dues come directly back into our hands, General Committee dues are retained by the international and claimed against by the GC of A.

The present total reflects dues increases as follows:

Meeting Point, the official newsletter of United Transportation Union Local 1778 is published quarterly by volunteers.

The Editors of Meeting Point support the concept of free speech and welcome any submissions of interest to our members. Submissions may be made to any Union Officer or to David Moorhouse at N. Vancouver yard office, Fax # 984-0452, E-mail utu@telus.netor our Web page at http://unix.ultranet.ca/utu/index.html

Submissions become the property of Meeting Point. We reserve the right to edit for brevity and clarity. The opinions contained herein are not necessarily those of the Editors or the United Transportation Union.

One topic that I feel needs to be addressed is the way we work with respect to the many rules we are required to observe.

Management has of late, required employees to attend hearings under Article 107 so that discipline can be assessed for a variety of subjects, regardless of the severity. Some I admit are warranted, but there are some that are not. In these hearings the line of questioning leads to various questions about the rules, how and if they were acted on, regardless if it pertains to the subject matter. This, in my opinion, is harassment.

This action by management forces our craft to work to the letter of the rule, not for job action or a slow wheel, but to protect our ass. It's time to worry more about the rules than getting the train over the road or finish the yard move on time

When trying to get through a Forman's Rule 42 limits, worry more about getting stopped in time. Put the onus on the Foreman to clear you through the remainder of his limits once he's cleared you part way, they know the running times as well as we do.

One thing I can assure you is that if you take a short cut and something goes wrong we will be setting a date with the terminal supervisor in your area.

The time has come to change the way we work TAKE YOUR TIME AND MAKE SURE YOU ARE SAFE AND POSITIVE. Before C.C.O. we had two other members and the engineer to help us over the road, now its just one conductor and the engineer.

Your Local Committee is in the process of creating a form for road crews fill out, the purpose will be to track information on trips i.e.: hours on duty, meals (when and if requested, was request granted and when), layover time, and rest amount and quality. We will be asking all our road conductors to help us by returning the completed form to myself where we will compile the information on a database program to help us in the future

Well, winter conditions will be upon us sooner than we'd like. I hope you all had a great summer.

If you have any questions feel free to call me at 980-4623.

Mail to Steve Edgar

Fraternally Yours,

Steve Edgar, Vice Local Chair

I've been trading e-mail with an Amtrack conductor in Boston, Mass., he came across with an interesting story I thought I'd pass along:

" Just got home from a trick in the yard, and just finished giving a 'golden trophy' to management. We apparently went through an unlined switch in the yard this evening. It was a remote control switch that isn't hooked up with the tower as yet because the yard is undergoing renovations. Well, we went through the switch and just sheared a bolt, that was exactly what it did - it didn't harm the main gears. Well, this incident caused us to give our beloved urine sample and a breathalizer. (If we are over .02, then we are out for a month or two. Of course it was .00) I now get three days off pending the laboratory results (Of course that will be negative). Then, hopefully I will be back at work ( at which time I will receive the back pay for the time I had off). Hopefully it won't escalate to a hearing. I'll let you know the outcome. Now I guess I'm a REAL RAILROADER!
#%*& HAPPENS........"

Turns out he passed his drug test with flying colors but management still decided to bring him up on charges of going through a switch without properly lining it. Now he must spend the next six months with "5 days over his head", a suspension pending if he commits any more rules infractions.

Silly me, I thought the United States was a free country!

In May of 1996 a study of fatigue countermeasures on Canadian railways, commissioned jointly by CN, CP and VIA, was released. This study, known as CanAlert, was encouraged by Transport Canada after the Railways requested and were granted amendments to Transport Canada's Interim Order on the Hours of Service, among these amendments was a request to extend hours of service.

Members of both the UTU and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers were invited to participate, the UTU withdrew their participation after a short period when it became obvious that some of the information required was of an extremely personal nature, and that the issues involved in the study encroached on areas of collective agreements during negotiation. In all, fifty BLE members volunteered their participation in Calgary, Jasper, and Quebec City.

The UTU National Legislative Office feels that the Railways used this study as a method to hold Transport Canada at bay while achieving the means to relax the Mandatory Rest Rule and extracting and easement of collective agreement rest provisions.

Nonetheless, the recommendations of this study echo work done in previous years by NASA, (see Sleep and Fatigue Research by NASA Ames Fatigue Countermeasures Program, Meeting Point Issue # 5) and, although imperfect in places, is a step in the right direction toward improving our safety and health.

In anticipation of the release of this study Local 1778 requested that BC Rail's Joint Safety Advisory Committee review the CanAlert study to determine if any recommendations would improve the safety of our members.

The following are excerpts from the recommendations of the CanAlert study, my comments in italics:

Provide Regular and Predictable Duty Periods

"In light of the findings relating to the operation of the time pools, CTI recommends the adoption of scheduling systems which will provide regular and predictable duty periods for crews. Time pools are one such system, where assignment to specific trains is not required. However, while time pools may be viable options in some locations, they might be difficult to implement in others due to such factors as uneven or erratic traffic flow. Nonetheless, whether it be through assignment of crews to specific scheduled trains, time pools, or a combination of the two, the benefits of providing a more regular lifestyle, which permits planning of rest as well as work, cannot be overstressed."

Volunteers were assigned a specific pool, lark, owl or cat. Larks were early risers subject to call between 0500 and 1500, owls between 1300 and 2300 and cats between 2100 and 0700. Call windows were in effect at home terminal only, first in, first out at away from home terminal. Each person worked one day and was off the next. Two consecutive days off were built into the schedule every 28 days. Eight hours rest was allowed at away from home terminal and no rest allowed at home terminal as " the schedule provided for ample rest before being sent out again".

If an owl was called at 2259 he would become a cat, then what?.

Is one day enough to recover from a long night trip--like the VC out of N. Van.?

Most workers get two days off every five days rather than every 28.

"Require Rest After Outbound Night Runs and Prior to Overnight Return Runs

The study data showed that even when they were reporting themselves as being extremely fatigued certain volunteers did not stop to take a recuperative nap although this was a key fatigue countermeasure available to them. CTI recommends that a significant period of time be available for sleep at the away-from-home terminal under circumstances where train crews have run an outbound train during the latter part of the night (e.g., from 2 a.m. through 6 a.m.). or where their return trip will involve running a train at any time during this same period."

DUH! It took a study to figure that one out?

"Implement Napping StrategiesSystem-wide

The study has shown that napping can be permitted for train crews in sidings without adversely affecting system operation while providing a means for significantly improving the alertness of train crews. CTI recommends that strategies be developed to permit both enroute and terminal napping as an alertness recovery measure. We also recommend that napping train crews be exempted from train inspection responsibilities, and that reclining seats be installed in new locomotive cabs (and as seats are replaced in existing ones) to facilitate on-board napping."

Rooms in terminals were equipped with recliners and couches to be used by a delayed crew to nap. When crews get together they are more inclined toward bullshitting than napping.

In these days of cuts and downsizing, can we afford to risk our safety by not inspecting passing trains?

"Modify Bunkhouse Rooms for Improved Daytime Sleep

In light of the findings of significantly improved sleep in the improved bunkhouse in Blue River, CTI recommends that bunkhouse and/or hotel rooms utilized by locomotive engineers be modified to ensure a quiet, dark environment, to aid in improving daytime sleep."

Interior walls were sound insulated, carpeting and other sound-deadening strategies to reduce ambient sound. Blackout curtains and sound masking generators installed.

Improved bunkhouse conditions have been the subject for discussion at various levels for years, although there has been little action on the railway's part. Nothing less than a lead wall around the Lillooet bunkhouse would eliminate vibration and noise from switching, trains, choppers and trucks.

"Install Locomotive Cab Audio Systems (LCAS)

Cab intercoms have been shown to be effective at enhancing alertness and improving communications. CTI, therefore, recommends that all locomotives be equipped with cab intercoms interconnected to the radio transceiver, and that all train crews be provided with sound-attenuating headsets. The cab intercoms should be equipped with an auxiliary input jack to which privately-owned tape cassette recorders, and/or Compact Disc players can be attached."

Headset installation has been discussed at the Locomotive Cab Conditions Committee since the day of it's inception, CAT units and electric engines will be so equipped. The rest of the fleet has not been budgeted for and will cost $212,000 to do 62 units, plus the cost of headsets for each individual ($300 plus each). Music in the cab sounds like a good idea but it might be hard to listen to an entire song with all that radio chatter!

At the Oct 11^th Cab Conditions meeting the UTU submitted information on obtaining the music-capable headset systems used in the study for the same price or less than normal headset systems.

"Conduct and Extend Lifestyle Training Program

CTI recommends that a 4-hour lifestyle training program be initially conducted for all running trades personnel, and that this program be reinforced at regular intervals through written communication, small-group sessions, audio and video programming, etc. Spouse participation is essential to maximize the effectiveness of this program."

Honey, what are you doing tonight?

"Train RTC's and Crew Callers in Strategies

To ensure that fatigue countermeasures can be implementedsmoothly at railway locations, we recommend that Rail Traffic Controllers and Crew Callers be given instruction in the philosophy, as well as the operation, of any of the various fatigue countermeasure programs which may be implemented."

"But, we gotta run the trains!"

The report goes on to explore territory the unions have been fighting for for many years (except ESB):

"Areas for Further Consideration

The following four items, while not dealt with directly in this study are, in our opinion, worthy of further consideration:

Locomotive Cab Improvements

We suggest that the knowledge of the precise characteristics of alertness, drowsiness and microsleeps in railway engineers gained from the CANALERT '95 project be used to create a realistic simulation of nighttime runs (when the risk of microsleep episodes is highest), and that potential improvements to the locomotive cab, which would enhance alertness and specifically reduce the risk of microsleeps, be evaluated. The CANAC locomotive simulator at Gimli may be a useful resource for conducting these studies.

Alternatives to Mileage-Based Pay System

CTI believes that the present system of mileage-based payment may encourage freight crews to run their trains under conditions when they are less than fully alert, leading to impairment of safety. We, therefore, recommend that the railways and unions investigate the possibility of moving to a method of payment that would remove the incentive for individuals to push themselves beyond their limits.

Provision of Two Qualified Employees to Run Trains

In light of the frequent requirement to run trains through the night and the long tours of duty required of freight engineers, we suggest that having both members of a crew qualified to handle the controls of the locomotive is an idea worthy of investigation. The second employee could relieve the locomotive engineer from time to time, as well as provide an added safety margin for any unplanned events.

Kinda' makes 12 hour days or overtime in place of reliefs hard to justify.

Explore Alternatives to Hours of Duty and Rest Regulations

Given the difficulty of drafting regulations that can address all of the variables that affect alertness in railway operations, we believe it would be worth investigating the feasibility of a performance-based approach to regulating this aspect of safety. Transport Canada would then audit compliance and would utilize performance measures as an aid in determining whether the railways were meeting the desired goals. Thus, the railways would be responsible for demonstrating success through objective measures of safety."

The report concludes:

"The results of the CANALERT '95 study demonstrate that while solutions to the problems of fatigue exist, there is no "magic bullet" which will easily solve all of the problems. Rather, a combination of interventions are required to address the problem. One countermeasure alone isn't enough. One training session alone is not enough. Different terminals have different problems. Passenger operations require different implementation strategies than freight operations. Each special situation must be addressed individually if the desired results are to be achieved."

The opportunity now exists to maintain the momentum that has been created. The challenge remains for management, labour, and the regulatory bodies to sustain and build upon that momentum to establish a new, breakthrough level of safety in the Canadian railway system.

As a direct result of UTU representation at the North Vancouver OH & S Committee and subsequently the Joint Safety Advisory Committee, JASC has proposed that the railway supply High-Vis Orange Coveralls as a High Visiblity safety equipment option for all yard service employees.

Any employee receiving these coveralls would be expected to wear this protection regularly when on duty and take reasonable care of them.

To improve your safety in the workplace please take advantage of this option when it becomes available.

Now, what about those "three fingered" gloves we were supposed to be supplied in place of mitts?

Capitalism's failure so far has been not to recognize that human beings are primarily social animals, who need families, friends and communities for health and happiness. In the name of the market we have allowed the interests of strong economies to prevail over those of strong societies.

- The Independent

Oct. 14, 1996.

Well Brothers, this won't be the column I wanted to write. Because the union consolidation issue is still at the Labour Relations Board, I thought I should wait until a decision is handed down before going into detail about these hearings. I did find it amazing that the Railway believes they have the fight to tell us which trade union should represent us - so much for freedom of association As usual, when a decision is made by management money doesn't seem to be any obstacle. I only hope we see the cost of this little farce in the year end financial report. It was interesting to see the management of B.C. Rail trying to explain (under oath) why they have blocked every attempt by the Council to get adequate funding at every set of negotiations. Enough said, I will have more to say on this subject after we get a decision from the Labour Board.

Here is an update on new collective agreements. I talked to Dave Cox just the other day and he advised me they will be back from the printer by the end of October. We will get them to you as soon as we receive them.

The U.T.U. Region 10 meetings were held in Niagara Falls during the first week of October. We had the Secretary Treasurers of both Local 1778 and Local 1923 attend the workshop held at this meeting. They also met with people from UET.U. head office in Cleveland. Starting January 1, 1997 they will be required to change the way we have been compensating our officers for pay and lost time. I won't go into all the details of that here but you will be hearing about it at your local Union meetings. Also the legislative reps for both locals were there. I will leave it up to them to report their activities. I sat on both the General Chairpersons' and International Officers' panels. Unlike some, I came away without taking too much flack from the questions asked by the members in attendance.

The U.T.U. is in the process of revising the format of the region meetings and will be emphasizing education as the key to a full three-day format. We are in a process to see if we can have the next meeting in Seattle with our American brothers and then host one in Canada the following year and have them attend. if all goes as planned this should be cost effective and provide a great education opportunity as well as being a great social time.

On the issue of education, I met with Canadian Legislative Director Tim Secord; General Chairperson, John Armstrong and General Chairperson, Lou Schillaci regarding the Level I Local Chairpersons' course scheduled for C.L.C. Winter School at Harrison this winter, and it appears everything is set to go. I will be asking both locals, as soon as possible, to get the names into me of the local reps they want to send to this course. I believe it will be a big benefit to have someone in each of our main terminals who know their fights and duties in representing the membership and dealing with management. It is also my understanding that a course for legislative reps and members on O.H. & S. committees is being put together and will be implemented as soon as possible. Brother Brian Gleason, Chairperson for the B.C. Legislative Committee, will be involved in this, and I am sure he will keep us all up to date on this and other issues.

As you may or may not know, the Q.N.S. & L. Railway was looking for the authority to operate one person trains. This was not granted, but has lead to studies being implemented with respect to safety and feasibility, and we all know where that can lead. All I am going to say at this time is that we have job to do out there. It is our work and we had better be the ones doing it. We are all too familiar with what happens when we don't protect our own jobs. All you have to do is look at the history from fireman to conductor only to see what happens when we let other people "HELP" us with our duties.

Just a reminder Brothers the bad weather will soon be here and we know the kind of working conditions this leads to. Remember, "Safety and a willingness to obey the rules is of the first importance in the performance of duty. If in doubt. the safe course must be taken," as stated in the rule book (emphasis added). If we all apply this to our jobs we should have a good chance of going home in as good if not better shape then when we came to work.

Time and weather permitting, I will be trying to get out and have meetings at most terminals when the collective agreements are available. I look forward to seeing you at these meetings.

In solidarity,

R.W. Sharpe.

It becomes more and more obvious each time we deal with the Engineering and Inspection Branch of the Ministry of Municipal Affairs (the Branch), that something must be done to remove us from their jurisdiction. The absurd decisions that they make in favour of the Railway concerning the Occupational Safety and Health regulations, the abdication of their duties to investigate accidents and their apparent objective of allowing the Railway to regulate themselves can no longer be tolerated.

In addition, the Branch rubber stamps changes to the General Operating Instructions, Special Instructions and Operating Rules that are requested by the Railway without the workers who are most affected by these rule changes or their representatives being consulted or given the opportunity to respond prior to these changes being implemented.

I recently had the opportunity to address the Workers Compensation Board public hearings for draft health and safety regulations.Below is the introduction to our submission:

In the case of BC Rail, which is wholly owned by the Province of British Columbia, the employer itself is the most interested party in the exclusion of its workers from the Health and Safety Regulations, and there is a clear question of whether natural justice for workers is served by, in effect, allowing the employer to be responsible for the regulation of Health and Safety Legislation.

The workers of BC Rail, as well as the relatively small number of workers also under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Municipal affairs, should have the same rights as those workers working for private employers, including the right of appeal to an independent third party.

Furthermore, with the trend toward more cost effective government, the Union submits that the duplication of services of those industry's under the jurisdiction of the British Columbia Railway Act is not warranted. Consolidation of the Health and Safety Regulations would be more efficient and would ensure equal treatment for all workers.

The equality of the workplace parties is essential if the regulations are to accomplish the goal of reducing accidents

The regulation must ensure that the Workers and their Representatives are given a voice and their positions are given the same value as that of the employer community. To do otherwise is suggestive of regulations that are one-sided and places more credence on the position of the Employers than it does on the workers and their Representatives.

GET THE NET!

Another computer purchase program has passed and there should be many of you with shiny new computers. Hopefully you included in your purchase a high-speed modem and starter Internet connection package.

If you aren’t connected yet, get out that disk and load it in, if you didn’t get a starter package consider spending the little extra and do it soon.

Why?

So you can connect to the UTU 1778 Homepage!

The page has a new look and many useful features, including an electronic version of our collective agreement. Now you can use your browser or word processor’s find feature for easy reference when you need information about your rights.

Check it out at: http://unix.ultranet.ca/utu/ index.html

Oct 17, 1996