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In accordance with Article II, Section 3, of the Pacific Federation Bylaws, elections for the positions of General Chairman, Assistant Chairman/Secretary-Treasurer and the Pacific Federation Executive Board (3 positions consisting of Executive Board Chairman, Secretary and Member) will be held in the month of September 2010.
To read all about it, just Click Here.
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TEAMSTERS PRAISE NEW FUNDING FOR HIGH SPEED RAIL PROJECTS
Statement from Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa
January 29, 2010
(WASHINGTON) – Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa issued the following statement regarding President Obama’s announcement about the distribution of $8 billion for high speed rail projects in the United States:
“We represent the skilled railroad workers who build and maintain our nation’s railroad tracks and operate our freight and passenger rail network nationwide. These highly skilled Teamsters possess the skills, training and safety qualifications necessary to build, maintain and operate these new high speed rail lines and safely handle the trains along the routes.
”High speed rail is a crucial investment in our future and building these rail lines will create good jobs and provide working families with security.
“The growth and expansion of our country was partly determined by the first railroads that crossed the nation. We see high speed rail as a modern extension of those first projects.
“I, along with Freddie Simpson, President of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes and Paul Sorrow, President of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, look forward to continuing our work with the Obama administration to preserve rail jobs and expand work opportunities for members of the Teamster Rail Conference.”
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters was founded in 1903 and represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. The Teamsters Rail Conference represents more than 70,000 railroad workers, including locomotive engineers and trainmen who operate the trains and maintenance of way workers who build and repair tracks, switches, and related rail infrastructure on freight, passenger and commuter rail lines across the United States.
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January 28, 2010
Last night, the White House issued fact sheets containing basic details on high-speed stimulus grants that are scheduled to be announced by President Obama today at a town hall meeting being held at the University of Tampa.
Following is a list of the grant recipients, divided by region, and the amount they will receive. For more specific details on what the funds will cover, click on the individual regions to link back to the White House fact sheets.
We will be covering the grant awards in the days and weeks ahead. Check our site often for more details on the grant awards, particularly in Pacific Federation territory, with information on how the money will be spent, and interviews with state DOTs and high-speed rail authorities.
Click on area to see details
California
Awardees: California Department of Transportation; California High-Speed Rail Authority
Total Approximate Funding (all corridors): $2.34 billion
Eugene-Portland-Seattle-Vancouver, B.C.
Awardees: Washington State Department of Transportation, Oregon Department of Transportation
Total Approximate Funding (entire corridor): $598 million
Fort Worth, Texas, Area
Awardee: Texas Department of Transportation
Total Approximate Funding (entire corridor): $4 million
Northeast Region
Awardees: Northern New England Passenger Rail Authority; Vermont Agency of Transportation, Massachusetts DOT, Rhode Island DOT, Connecticut DOT, New York State DOT, New Jersey Transit, Pennsylvania DOT, Delaware DOT, Maryland DOT, District of Columbia DOT
Total Approximate Funding (entire corridor): $485 million in ARRA high-speed grants; $706 million in ARRA Amtrak grants ($1.2 billion total)
Tampa-Orlando-Miami
Awardee: Florida Department of Transportation
Total Approximate Funding (entire corridor): $1.25 billion
Charlotte-Raleigh-Richmond-Washington, D.C.
Awardees: North Carolina Department of Transportation, Virginia Department of Transportation
Total Approximate Funding (entire corridor): $620 million
Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati
Awardee: Ohio Department of Transportation
Total Approximate Funding (entire corridor): $400 million
Pontiac-Detroit-Chicago
Awardees: Michigan Department of Transportation, Indiana Department of Transportation, Illinois Department of Transportation
Total Approximate Funding (entire corridor): $244 million
Chicago-St. Louis-Kansas City
Awardees: Illinois Department of Transportation, Missouri Department of Transportation
Total Approximate Funding (entire corridor): $1.13 billion
Minneapolis/St. Paul-Madison-Milwaukee-Chicago
Awardees: Wisconsin Department of Transportation; Minnesota Department of Transportation
Total Approximate Funding (entire corridor): $823 million
Iowa
Awardee: Iowa Department of Transportation
Total Approximate Funding (entire corridor): $17 million
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January 20, 2010
Progressive Railroading
Class Is, Unions Pledge Donations to Aid Earthquake-ravaged Nation
A number of Class Is and rail labor unions are making donations or encouraging employees and members to do so to help earthquake-ravaged Haiti. On Jan. 12, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the Caribbean nation, collapsing buildings and causing an estimated 200,000 fatalities.
CN announced it will donate $100,000 to the Red Cross to support relief efforts and match employee donations dollar for dollar.
“We are reaching out — and encouraging our employees — to help the Red Cross address some of the immense human suffering caused by this natural disaster,” said CN President and Chief Executive Officer Claude Mongeau in a prepared statement.
Canadian Pacific also will match workers’ donations through an employee match program, as well as donate $50,000 to the Red Cross and Save the Children Funds.
“We are all aware that these are difficult economic times, but we also know that the situation in Haiti transcends fiscal consideration; it requires swift and comprehensive action,” said CP President and CEO Fred Green in a note to employees. “Simply put, this is the right thing to do.”
Meanwhile, the Norfolk Southern Foundation will provide a dollar-for-dollar match for active Norfolk Southern Railway employees’ contributions of at least $25 made by June 30 to certain international aid organizations, such as the American Red Cross/International Response Fund, CARE and Salvation Army. In addition, NS will donate intermodal transportation for 10 containers (each holding up to 43,000 pounds) of relief supplies.
Union Pacific Railroad also will provide a dollar-for-dollar match for active employees’ donations to the American Red Cross, AmeriCares, Catholic Relief Services, Salvation Army, Save the Children, and University of Nebraska Medical Center's Haitian Relief and Outreach Fund. CSX Corp. will match employees’ donations, too, and is determining whether to make other contributions, while Kansas City Southern is "considering the best way to make sure our contributions are used for humanitarian relief," said spokesperson Doniele Kane in an email.
Labor unions are trying to pitch in, as well. The United Transportation Union (UTU) will donate $1,000 to the American Red Cross in the name of members of Haitian descent.
“This is a small humanitarian gesture, and I hope others within our union donate what they are able to,” said UTU International President Mike Futhey in an item posted on the union’s Web site.
At the Transportation Communications Union, leaders are encouraging members to make donations to Partners in Health, Doctors Without Borders, the American Red cross International Response Fund, RN Response Network or United Way Worldwide Disaster Fund.
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February 3, 2010
Dear President Obama,
Mark Dudzic, National Coordinator
E-Mail: Mark Dudzic
(201)314-2653
www.laborforsinglepayer.org
The lives and livelihoods of a vast majority of Americans have been held hostage for decades by this country’s failure to provide an equitable, socially just health care system. Your Administration should be commended for identifying the need and pushing for a comprehensive solution to this uniquely American dilemma. But this year’s rancorous, special interest driven Congressional debate is now stalemated over differing House and Senate passed Bills, which do not meet the test of either equity or justice.
As grassroots representatives of millions of this country’s union members and in the interest of all working people, we respectfully submit that taking the single-payer solution off the table was both a strategic and tactical mistake. Medicare is an example of a successful single payer model and it is a very popular health care program. A”Medicare -for-All”system would be far more cost effective than any of the proposed current reforms based on the continuation of for-profit, market-based insurance. And it is a program that Americans are already familar with--a solution right at our fingertips.
The rising cost of health care is one of the biggest issues in the collective bargaining process. Many working families have given up wage increases and are being asked to cover more of their health care costs. Others are losing their health care benefits altogether because more employers are drop- ping individual and family coverage. This is a crisis and a moral issue. People currently covered by private health insurance are understandably apprehensive when it is suggested that their only alterna- tive to degrading that coverage is not to be covered at all--as is the current situation for approximate- ly 50 million of our fellow citizens today.
Our current jobs crisis is further aggravated since the cost of health care in the U. S. is almost double that in other industrial countries, making our export sector increasingly uncompetitive and a majorcause of the off-shoring of jobs.
At this past year’s AFL-CIO Convention in Pittsburgh, on the very day that you, Mr. President, addressed the Convention and were so warmly received, the delegates unanimously adopted a detailed resolution in support of a Single-Payer, “Medicare for All” system in America.
We welcome your call for a better approach that will “bring down premiums, bring down the deficit, cover the uninsured, strengthen Medicare and stop insurance company abuses.” We submit to you that a “Medicare-for-All” health care system accomplishes all of these worthy goals, contrary to the untruths that have been advanced by opponents of true health care reform.
The American people deserve better. We want our leaders to solve the health care crisis and to do so in a transparent way. No one in this country should have to fear losing their health care coverage or face bankruptcy. This is simply unacceptable for the United States of America. The time for single payer health care is now. We urge you to use this impasse as the time to put single payer health care on the table and into the health care reform discussions as the real solu- tion. Millions of working people and an overwhelming majority of unionists voted their confi- dence in your call for “change we can believe in.”
cc: Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid
Karen Ballard, President NY State Nurses Association
Larry Barragan, President Los Angeles Ports Council
Michael Bilbrey, 1st Vice-Pres. Calif. School Employees Assoc.
Mauro Camporeale Exec. Director Bergen Cnty CLC
Al Cholger USW Staff Rep. – Detroit
Jeff Crosby President, Northshore MA CLC
Donna Dewitt, President South Carolina State AFL-CIO
Mark Dudzic, USW & Labor Party
Sandy Eaton MA Nurses Association
Respectfully Submitted,
The Labor Campaign for Single-Payer Health Care Steering Committee & Advisory Board
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Dear Colleagues:
Preliminary data indicates that 2009 may have been the safest year on record by many measures. This accomplishment is the result ofthe diligent and sustained efforts ofrail labor, rail management, and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). I thank you and commend you for your role in this accomplishment.
The news is not uniformly good, however. Last year, 16 railroad employees were killed on the job. This tragic toll is more than just a number; it represents human lives: a father not there to walk his daughter down the aisle, a mother not there for her son's first day of school, an employee nearing retirement who did not live to enjoy the fruits ofhis labor.
As the new year begins, I'm asking each ofyou to use your time and talents to help eliminate railroad employee fatalities. In this world ofinstant communication and technology and information "overload," we need to maintain complete situational awareness. Keep your mind clear of distractions-keep cell phones and other devices turned off.-and focus on the task at hand. The railroad environment is totally unforgiving and the slightest lapse could be tragic.
We need to think about rules compliance and consider its impact on ensuring a safe return home after each tour ofduty. We must break down the barriers that keep us from achieving rules compliance, like taking a shortcut or yielding to pressure from a supervisor to unsafely expedite a move. We must take the time to ensure each rule is complied with, and mentor fellow coworkers. Remind them that it is all about going home safely, and if you are pressured by a supervisor to expedite a move by turning your back on the rules, report it. FRA will work diligently to ensure that the focus on rules compliance is consistent within each carrier's organization.
Having spent 19 years on the ground myself, I-like you-understand the realities of railroading. My stomach still turns in knots each time I hear ofan on-duty fatality. Let us each do everything we can to take care ofourselves and our coworkers. Zero fatalities is the only acceptable number, and it's a number we can all live with.
Sincerly,
Joseph C. Szabo Administrator
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The only organization in America focusing entirely on advancing a state-of-the-art national high speed rail network across the country. We are an independent, nonprofit 501(c)(6) trade association chartered to organize and mobilize the industry with a shared vision for a 21st century, 17,000 mile national high speed rail system built in phases for completion by 2030.
This new national electric transportation project will revive our economy and manufacturing sector by creating millions of new jobs. It will also greatly reduce our dependence on oil and significantly reduce our national carbon footprint, and will also create efficient mobility that's safe and affordable for its passengers.
Our vision includes a national HSR Express system connecting cities and states into an integrated system, laid out in phases with an aggressive schedule for full system build out. Our vision sets high standards for state-of-the-art dedicated track, advanced control systems, elegant multi-modal train stations, and top-of-the-line 220 mph trains connecting major cities together. Our plan calls for a support network of 110 mph trains connecting smaller cities and towns together with the high speed system.
To go to US HSR site, Click Here
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