May 8, 2007

(Washington) — John Tolman, Vice President and National Legislative Representative of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), testified today in support of the Railroad Safety and Improvement Act of 2007 before the U.S. House of Representatives’ Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials.

The Railroad Safety Improvement Act of 2007 (H.R. 2095) was introduced by Reps. James Oberstar (D-MN) and Corrine Brown (D-FL), and would provide much-needed reforms to railroad safety regulations and would greatly improve the quality of life for all railroad workers.

“Our locomotive engineers, trainmen and maintenance of way workers are among the most affected by safety issues, and H.R. 2095 goes a long way toward addressing the unsafe conditions on our nation’s railroads,” Tolman said. “The bill seeks to amend the Hours of Service Act, an act that has been manipulated by the rail industry for years and causes rail workers to experience extreme fatigue.”

Fatigue, caused by lengthy assignments, irregular scheduling and interruptions while off duty, has been a contributing factor of many rail accidents in recent years.

The elimination of camp cars, essentially rail box cars that have been converted to sleeping quarters for maintenance of way workers, is another provision in the Oberstar/Brown bill. The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division (BMWED) has been pressuring legislators for some time to get rid of these below-standard lodgings. Nearly all of the major railroads in North America provide for hotel lodging now for rail crews, except Norfolk Southern. However, a recent victory in the state of Indiana does hold some promise. Soon, communities in Indiana will have the right to inspect Norfolk Southern camp cars for cleanliness and other factors following guidelines being written by the state board of health.

Harassment by employers against rail employees who give information to government agencies about unsafe or unsecured tracks, engines, bridges, etc. has been a well-known fact in rail culture for many years. Fortunately, the bill proposed by Reps. Oberstar and Brown give protections for workers reporting problems.

“The Teamsters Rail Conference strongly supports the inclusion of ‘whistleblower protection’ in the legislation,” Tolman said. “Railroad workers should not and cannot be subjected to dismissal when they provide information regarding unsafe issues to government agencies responsible for promoting safety and enforcing safety laws and regulations.  Strong whistleblower protections, like those in H.R. 2095, are needed to stop employers from harassing and intimidating employees who speak out about safety and security risks.” 

The BLET and BMWED are divisions of the Teamsters Rail Conference, which represents 70,000 engineers, trainmen and maintenance of way employees in the United States.  The International Brotherhood of Teamsters was founded in 1903 and represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.