07/01/08 - Immediate medical care after an injury
We have recently become aware of several instances where railroad supervisors have held rail employees from immediate medical care for extended periods after an injury. Sometimes the excuse is waiting for safety directors; other times it is to obtain an accident report; other times it is to perform a re-enactment of the accident. Federal Railroad Administration regulation 49 CFR, Part 225.33 prohibits railroads from interfering with an employee's right to proper medical treatment after an injury. If you or your coworkers are injured, you have the right to demand immediate emergency care via ambulance or otherwise. SOMETIMES YOU MUST DEMAND THIS RIGHT IN ORDER TO RECEIVE IT.
If you are injured, immediately request medical treatment at an emergency facility. If you are denied, advise railroad officials of the FRA requirements and immediately contact your local chairman and State Director. Only YOU can decide whether your injuries are too severe for a delay in treatment. If you are in pain and can't intelligently complete forms or answer questions, then don't try. Talk to your local chairman or state director and let them handle it. You may also call us for advice and assistance
Cordially,
Mark Allen,
UTU Designated Counsel
06/30/08 - A PAPER TRAIL LEADS TO SAFETY
By Mike Futhey - International President
We have been receiving numerous reports of members disciplined following an on-the-job injury. Too often, the injury was the result of a carrier’s failure to correct its own safety hazard or safety violation.
But if there is no paper trail of the safety hazard or carrier safety violation prior to the injury, the injured employee can end up becoming a victim for a second time through discipline.
How do you keep from becoming a victim twice? You write a detailed letter to the carrier describing every safety hazard and every violation of FRA safety regulations encountered – but you must also provide a copy of that letter to your local legislative representative and your state legislative director.
By so doing, you have created a paper trail, preventing the carrier from later disavowing knowledge of the safety hazard or safety violation.
Beyond protecting yourself against arbitrary carrier discipline following an injury, here are three other reasons why you should write that detailed letter:
•The Federal Railroad Administration has a limited number of safety inspectors. They cannot, on their own, find every carrier safety violation. When state legislative directors receive copies of your letter to the carrier, they can refer those safety violations to the appropriate FRA official. By collecting those letters, state legislative directors can also identify multiple violations that should be reported to the national legislative office for handling at the highest levels of the FRA.
•State legislative directors work with lawmakers at the state and federal level to craft legislation leading to new and improved safety regulations. In Illinois, for example, State Legislative Director Joe Szabo convinced the legislature to pass a rail-safety bill based on evidence presented by UTU members about safety hazards. The current federal rail safety bill being considered by Congress includes provisions that would not have been embraced by lawmakers were it not for written evidence provided by UTU members.
•When employees are injured, and they seek recovery under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act, it is not uncommon for the carrier to deny knowledge of the safety hazard or its own violation of safety regulations. But when local legislative representatives and state legislative directors can provide UTU Designated Legal Counsel with copies of such letters, your legal case is strengthened.
Simply calling a carrier’s safety hotline is not enough to protect you, your family or your brothers and sisters from carrier safety hazards and safety violations. Those telephone calls go only to the carrier, which may or may not correct the situation.
Only when your local legislative representative and state legislative director receive your letter can they help you take action to correct the problem and make the workplace safer. If you need help writing the letter, ask your local legislative representative or state legislative director for that help.
Don’t become a victim twice. Write that letter and make sure a copy goes to your local legislative representative and your state legislative director.
06/19/08 - UpdatedTo: UTU Local 807 Members
Re: July 2008 Regular Meeting
Moved from 2nd Tuesday to first Tuesday in July!
Regular Monthly Meeting to be held, Tuesday, July 01, 2008 @ 10:00am. IBEW Hall 750 S. Tucson Blvd. 17th & Tucson Blvd. South side of the building. This is the first Tuesday of July, moved up so those attending UTU Region meeting in Denver, July 7-9 will be in attendance for the July meeting.
Total Safety Culture motion made at June regular meeting: UTU Local 807 Postcard ballot for TSC.
Motion made at Local 807 union meeting held June 10, 2008.
“SHALL UTU LOCAL 807 PARTICIPATE IN THE TOTAL SAFETY CULTURE PROGRAM.”
YES___ NO___
Your ballot must be in the union office by union meeting July 1, 2008, 10:00am
Do not remove your name and address from this card. We must have your Name & address correctly on this card in order for your ballot to be counted.
Drop off at union box at yard office or at UTU office.
We will also take nominations for the Tony Trejo vacancy on the Board of Trustees.
05/20/08 - UNITED HEALTHCARE TAKES OVER ELIGIBILITY AUDIT
Over the past several months, Aetna has been conducting an audit of eligible dependents and requiring employees to submit proof for their eligible dependents to continue uninterrupted health-care benefits.
Those employees who have failed to provide the required proof have had their dependents’ coverage terminated, effective April 15, 2008.
United HealthCare has now taken over the eligibility audit process and if you receive notification that dependent coverage has been terminated, immediately call United HealthCare at (800) 753-2692 in order to obtain information about reinstating those eligible dependents.
04/30/08 - I have just received an email from the General Chairman which says that everyone will be able to hold their turns on single vacation or PLD's regardless of your seniority. According to Dave Martinez this should take effect onMay 1st sometime in the morning. If you have any questions please give the office a call.
Gary W. Crest
12/8/07 - "An FTX not discussed did not happen." Joe Santamaria, VP Transportation - this was said at the Total Safety Culture meeting in Tucson on 12/05/07.
Check your EQMS score every time you go on duty and write it in your job briefing book. If you notice a bad FTX that you has not been discussed with you contact the union office for follow up.
You can find your EQMS score at this link. You can also find it by going to MyUP, click off-duty and look in the upper right hand column for TE&Y EDR Documents System under the Quality Mgmt section. Please call the office if you have questions. Thanks.
08/24/07 - Interest in being generated by others about the harassment and intimidation of injured employees. We have testified in Congress that it is almost automatic that when an employee is injured they are charged with a rule violation. In addition, our members are discouraged in filling an accident reporting form by the employee's supervisor. We have already provided some information that we have in the office but additional information is needed. We need this information as promptly as possible.
Please provide information only if it can be made public and the affected member is not concerned about additional retaliation by their employer. The information should include all the facts including names, dates and times. Our injured members should not suffer twice when they are injured. First the pain and suffering connected to the injury and discipline or the treat of discipline for being injured.
Thank you very much for your interest in this matter. Please forward such documentation on this matter at your earlier possible convenience.
James Brunkenhoefer
Please send information to Scott Olsen utuazboard@msn.com
07/25/07 - It has come to my attention that the Carriers are again trying to hide accidents by telling our members to just go home and don't turn in accident report. Please advise all members that not reporting an accident, even under instructions by Carrier officers is against State and Federal laws and they can be held personally responsible if officers deny instructing them to not report it. It is also against all Carriers rule books and is a dismissible offense.
Please make sure all accidents are reported to officers immediately and in writing as soon as possible. If an attorney is involved, and I would hope all injured members would get assistance from an attorney, they should get attorneys advice in preparing their accident report to make sure they are protected under FELA.
As you all know we are involved in getting the Rail Safety Bill passed in Congress as I write this. One of the provisions is to make sure all accident victims are not harassed by Carrier officers to not report accidents. If you have first hand information on any such incident please advise this office at once. I will immediately pass it on to Washington Office for addition to our handouts to Congress on the Carriers threatening our members with their jobs over reporting of an accident.
A couple of years ago one of the UP crews was harassed at the hospital over a derailment caused by a bad order switch. The Carrier held up pain meds to our member and the ble member in order for their Contracted drug woman to be present while tests were taken. I was able to get FRA involved in one day. They brought pressure on UP and VP in charge of labor was fired, as was the Superintendent at Tucson over their actions that violated FRA rules. The same rules that apply in not reporting of accidents by Carriers.
Sooner or later all accidents get reported. When they do our members need to have complied with their rule book and FRA/State regulations by reporting those accidents. In AZ the Carriers only have 24 hours to report an accident. If our member does not report it for 2 or 3 days then they could be in violation with AZ law. While reporting for FRA is longer and the Carriers may talk our members into not reporting in hopes of hiding an accident when it come to light that the report was held up for over 24 hours by carrier intimidation, the carrier is guilty of not reporting it and FRA then looks with a different interest in the accident.
Thank you for your time and help in correcting this problem with the Carriers.
Fraternally,
Scott T. Olson, Director