Unions Fighting for Railroad Safety (troubling given Union Pacific’s safety record)

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2007/01/23/unions-fighting-for-railroad-safety/

Unions Fighting for Railroad Safety

by James Parks, Jan 23, 2007

When trains run through your community, you expect government inspectors have made sure the trains are in good working order and that, for example, the brakes work. But if you live in San Antonio, Atlanta, New Orleans, St. Louis and hundreds of other communities in between, that may not be the case much longer.

Currently, employees of U.S. railroads inspect air brakes and other mechanisms in Laredo, Texas, after trains cross the border from Mexico. Federal agents examine their records and conduct spot checks.

But now, the Austin American-Statesman (hat tip to Ed Sills at the Texas AFL-CIO) reports Union Pacific Railroad is asking the Federal Railroad Administration to allow the inspections to be conducted just across the border in Nuevo Laredo, where U.S. standards are not in force. The trains then would cross over into the United States and possibly could travel anywhere in the country. The proposal is especially troubling given Union Pacific’s safety record. Between 1998 and 2003, Federal Railway Administration safety data reveal Union Pacific had the highest number of train accidents among the nation’s major railroads.

United Transportation Union (UTU) President Paul Thompson told the American-Statesman the move would jeopardize safety:

It’s as if 9-11 never occurred and public safety and national security must take a back seat to increased profits and bigger executive bonuses.

If Union Pacific succeeds in avoiding safety inspections on U.S. soil, many of those trains will be interchanged, without appropriate U.S. safety inspections, to other railroads, such as CSX and Norfolk Southern, as part of their 1,500-mile trip through dozens of U.S. cities.

The issue is headed towards a showdown Feb. 7 when the Railway Administration holds a hearing on the proposed changes. The UTU and the unaffiliated Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers are strongly opposing the proposal.

Rep. Charlie Gonzalez (D-Texas), whose district includes Laredo, has joined the workers in fighting this plan. In a letter to federal regulators, he said the proposal

…would represent a backward step contrary to recent representations by the railroads that all possible efforts are being made to ensure rail safety.

These trains would be coming from Mexico to my district in Bexar County, approximately 150 miles away, without proper safety inspections on this side of the border.

Gonzalez reminded regulators of previous accidents in recent years involving Union Pacific trains in Bexar County in which four people were killed and a 17-car derailment destroyed two houses.

The Federal Railroad Administration rejected a similar request from Union Pacific two years ago, saying the railroad had “failed to demonstrate that granting the petition would be consistent with safety at this time.”