Road crews, except dodgers, are NOT to drive company vehicles.  Do not volunteer!  If you are instructed, do not refuse.  However, there is an expectation that must be followed.

1. Get the name of manager instructing.
2. Rubber tire MUST be entered on FRA tie up screen, even if within the yard. Place managers name in comments next to rubber tire line.
3. Immediately on tieup, file time claim for Road Crews Driving Vehicles 
4. Notify LC or VLC immediately by phone or text
5. Place a copy of the denied claim in my locker. By the east door across from Ullery's offce.

We haven't had any issues locally so far, but we expect it to become a regular issue if we don't stay ahead of it.  I can't stress enough to the importance of following these expectations.
​ 
Call with questions regarding this issue.

One small clarification without stepping on Kevin's toes.

We'd like to see Dodger crews putting in a daily claim as well. Yes, I know it's past practice by the crews, but past practice does not change or modify an agreement.
Now, having said that, Dodger claims obviously won't be the lead claim in arbitration but they would be part of the dispute and when we win, these claims would be paid as well.

Two minutes to put in a claim could add up to thousands of dollars for a regular Dodger crew member.
​
We appreciate your help on this.

Mr. Eisele,

As you're aware, we have an urgent Situation In Kansas City concerning the AFHT lodging for Salina Hub employees. As discussed In a meeting with SMART-TD earlier this month, the current location Is fraught with prostitution, drug sales. drug paraphernalia, recent raids by local law enforcement and theft. It was agreed that the current location was not a safe or suitable environment for employees.

Over the past two months, both Organizations have sent officers to Kansas City so they could Inspect alternate, lodging facilities. After carefully Inspecting each location, one site In Liberty has remained at the top or our member's list. Yet, this location has been off limits to our Local Chairman for a formal Inspection. The only reasoning given by the service unit representative Is that the distance is too far, and crews are not ready for their trains when called from Liberty. After conferring with one another, the Organizations have identified a couple of key factors:

In a meeting in Kansas City last week between the Service Unit and our Local Chairman, the Local Choirman were told not to worry about time to train. It was the Service Unit's responsibility. If this is the case, then why can the Liberty site not be Inspected and discussed? With traffic and distance, the Best Western is a closer drive to18th St. While in Kansas City on the 17th, Sr. VGC Nagy made the drive from 18th St. to the Best Western. With normal midmorning traffic, the drive took 25 minutes.

The issue of crews not being ready while In Liberty has been proven to be false. Both members and officers have given documentation that the service unit has failed to adequately staff van drivers and has caused its own delays. With this, if crews being ready for transportation was an Issue, how would moving sites remedy this concern?

​We've now been told to Inspect a site on Parvin Rd. that Is within a couple or miles from Liberty. This site failed Inspection. our officers were also sent lo a location that was of equal distance to Liberty. Due to heavy traffic at this location the transport time would be even greater than that of the liberty location.

The service unit is well aware that the Carrier has had no issues or safety concerns for the crews while In Liberty. There have been no safety concerns reported to either Organization while crews wore housed in Liberty. In fact, every time crews have been moved from undesirable lodging they have been sent to Liberty.

The Organization would ask that the Carrier give official reasoning for not allowing the Fairfield Inn at Liberty to be formally inspected and discussed. The Organization sees no issue with transport time from Liberty nor is there an issue with crews being ready for pickup. Our members and officers have ranked this location near, or at the top, of their lists from the beginning of this process.

We would also ask for a conference call for all parties to discuss each location and a plan to move our members to the best location available for all parties.

Signed by;

General Chairman SMART-TD
Luke Edington

General Chairman BLET
Chad M. Lambert

"Being on time is an important thing to me, and it was annoying to be sitting there waiting for the train to cross so I could be where I was supposed to be on time,"

​U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan

I am excited to announce we have been selected to participate on Kansas' Long-Range Transportation Advisory Group. This will be the beginnings of our states new T-Works program (essentially the new 10-year transportation plan for Kansas).

For the first time since the early 1960s labor will be on this advisory group. I am very proud of our efforts as we continue to build our presence and influence in Kansas Transportation.

Union Pacific Provides Bush Historic Farewell

Yesterday, Union Pacific’s Heritage Fleet pulled into College Station, Texas, at approximately 3:45 p.m. CT, carrying former President George H.W. Bush and his family. Crowds lined overpasses and streets as the train traveled from Spring, Texas, to Texas A&M University for the former president’s burial at the George Bush Presidential Library and Museum. The UP No. 4141 George Bush Locomotive led the way for the 11-car presidential funeral train. The Council Bluffs car was specifically configured, allowing those along the route to view Bush’s flag-covered casket. UP employees June Nobles and Randy Kuhaneck, U.S. Navy veterans, served as locomotive engineer and conductor, respectively.

Onlookers line the route in Navasota, Texas.

UP No. 4141 pulls the presidential funeral train into College Station with crowd in the background.

For your information
Plb 7847
awards 1&2

The Award addressing yard overtime preserved the employee's right to a regular shift but stipulated that the work had to be assigned after the close of shift in order to incur a penalty. The Award also properly placed the burden of proof squarely upon Carrier to prove an "emergency" situation existed which required the overtime. Additionally, the right of an extra employee to a claim was upheld if more than two hours' overtime are worked by the regular crew.

-R.D. Warth
General Chairman