 |
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  |
|
 |
|
 |
local lodge 478 News  Rail Negotiations Sidetracked3/15/2002Two days of intense negotiations ground to a halt over management demands that railroad workers pay even higher premiums for health and welfare costs, reports Transportation GVP Robert Roach, Jr. The IAM and representatives from the Sheet Metal Workers and Boilermakers unions met with their counterparts from the carriers in Washington, DC, seeking agreement on a new contract. Efforts to reach agreement ended when management insisted that workers pay 50 percent of all increases in health insurance premiums. “That could mean as much as $150 a month for most workers,” Roach said. The three unions represent 11,000 workers on the major railroads; most of those workers are IAM members. On a related matter, the AFL-CIO and its affiliated transportation unions, including the IAM and rail unions, have been lobbying Congress for a long-term plan that gives Amtrak adequate funding and give the passenger service a “chance to excel.” Amtrak needs at least $1.2 billion for fiscal year 2003, Congress was told. The Bush administration proposes a meager $521 million. Additionally, reauthorization legislation should be enacted that places Amtrak on a steady and long-term course to financial stability. “The first step in turning Amtrak around…is to eliminate the mandate for Amtrak to operate subsidy-free,” says Ed Wytkind, who heads the federation’s Transportation Trades Dept. “No other national passenger rail system in the world operates subsidy-free. The right answer, he said, is a long-term investment in Amtrak and its dedicated workers.” Related Link:
AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Dept.
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Contact Us | Search | GoIam | iMail Signup | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Last modified: 3/4/2004 Copyright 1996-2001, The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
