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I/we would like your help
to mandate 2 person crews for freight trains.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/mandate-all-freight-trains-have-two-person-crews/s0jJ9Rmj
Mandate all freight trains have two-person crews.
Tell President Obama and Congress to support H.R. 3040 - The Safe Freight Act.
H.R. 3040 mandates that freight trains operate with a certified locomotive engineer and a certified conductor.
One man crews are unsafe!
On July 6, 2013 an accident involving an oil train occurred in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec in which 47 people lost their lives. Had there been two-crew members working on the train the accident could have been avoided. A two-person crew is the norm and is imperative for safe train operation!
Join with me in telling President Obama and Congress to keep our communities safe by mandating two-person crews on all freight trains. Help prevent tragic accidents from happening again! Support H.R. 3040
Tell President Obama and Congress to support H.R. 3040 - The Safe Freight Act.
H.R. 3040 mandates that freight trains operate with a certified locomotive engineer and a certified conductor.
One man crews are unsafe!
On July 6, 2013 an accident involving an oil train occurred in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec in which 47 people lost their lives. Had there been two-crew members working on the train the accident could have been avoided. A two-person crew is the norm and is imperative for safe train operation!
Join with me in telling President Obama and Congress to keep our communities safe by mandating two-person crews on all freight trains. Help prevent tragic accidents from happening again! Support H.R. 3040
Tell Congress to support HR 3040
Some Background:
My union's leadership, the UTU, sold out its members with a new contract that mandates one person (engineer only) crews. This is an extremely unsafe proposal. The engineer can be on duty for up to 12 hours by themselves in a locomotive with no one there to keep them awake. This would be like having only 1 pilot in the cockpit of an airplane. Would you feel safe getting on board an aircraft with 1 pilot? What if that person has a heart attack or some other medical emergency? Who is going to fly the airplane? The same thing can be said about the engineer on a train. The conductor is there to make sure the train is operated safely, signals are complied with, handle radio calls and walk the train if there should be a problem.
The conductor on the train would be replaced with a so-called "master conductor" or MC. The MC would be in a vehicle and cover a territory to help the engineer on many trains should any problem arise with a train. However, that doesn't help the engineer should they be sleepy or not responding to radio calls. With the oil trains and other trains that transport dangerous cargo, there needs to be at least 2 people in the cab of a locomotive to make sure that train is operated safely.
The railroad wants to cut costs because technology is making the conductor's job obsolete. That may be true to a certain extent but it's the safety of the communities and those operating the trains that needs to be taken into account. We don't want another Lac-Mégantic oil train derailment because of human error.
End of the line for conductors?
GALESBURG — A BNSF Railway union met Wednesday to discuss a new contract that would remove the conductor from the cab of a freight train in an effort to cut costs.
The Galesburg committee of Adjustment GO-001 and other SMART-Transportation Division union members gathered to discuss and debate the union-drafted contract that would affect that largest skill group at BNSF. Conductors and ground service workers make up 60 percent of the work force.
General Chairman Randall Knutson introduced the proposal to a hostile crowd, which was amped to verbally bash the plan several times during the discussion.
Knutson responded to the opposition by explaining that engineers already can run a train by themselves, and soon BNSF will remove conductors from trains anyway. He said this way the union can at least protect the workers if they agree to a contract now.
The Galesburg committee of Adjustment GO-001 and other SMART-Transportation Division union members gathered to discuss and debate the union-drafted contract that would affect that largest skill group at BNSF. Conductors and ground service workers make up 60 percent of the work force.
General Chairman Randall Knutson introduced the proposal to a hostile crowd, which was amped to verbally bash the plan several times during the discussion.
Knutson responded to the opposition by explaining that engineers already can run a train by themselves, and soon BNSF will remove conductors from trains anyway. He said this way the union can at least protect the workers if they agree to a contract now.
Please help me keep this kicked but most importantly, sign the petition and contact your Representatives and Senators!
21 replies
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That money belongs in the pockets of the company leadership and any stockholders...
