A Joint Letter from SMART & the BLET to CMS Lodging

A joint effort by the General Committees for both the BLET & SMART concerning K.C. AFHT lodging.

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

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