Jan - June 2010 Mtng Minutes

January - June 2010 Meeting Minutes

Here's What Happened at the Meeting on Monday, January 18, 2010

Meeting was opened by President in Due Form.

Members attending – R. Etienne, C Nibler, R Pratt, R. Huelle, X. Wilson, H. Bailey, R. Hill, R. Maggio, D. Haney, W. Barnes, R. Tiffiany, K. Anderson, J. McHenry, K, Baker, D. Robertson, K. Fox.

Minutes for Dec. meeting read and approved with amendments..

Finances - We currently have 123 members. Secretary made presentation on current finances, The bills were presented for payment. Motion to pay bills by Brother Haney and seconded by Brother Wilson. Motion passed.

Cab Committee – None

Safety Committee – Enhanced training is coming up, look for it.

WPO - It is in place and working, Numbers are good. The committee was looking at crossover, roll bys, train securing..

Local Chairman –

Vacations - All engineers have the ability to float a second week. Please advise committee ASAP if you want to give up a week for a 2^nd floater and be sure to tell which week you want to change. Those earning a 6^th week, please notify ASAP it you want that new week to be a floater, after all floaters are done, available weeks will be bulletined for those with a 6^th week that don't want a floater. This has to be done by the end of the month, for those that don't respond will automatically be issued the 6^th week as a floater.

Those that don't get a 6^th week and don't respond will not be able to change a week to a floater. January 30, 2010 is the deadline, no exception.

Road Switchers between 0001 – 0500 – DeLargy wants to put another road switcher on however this must be authorized by Ft. Worth. Times may not be 2100 however. Carrier vows to make sure extra road switchers are on the lineup and it not we can revisit this in the future. Is this OK to do?

Claim Conferencing – There are several required documents needed for claims conferencing, a cut slip, working ticket, delay report (if one available), 816 for that pay period, and an understandable explanation for what is being claimed. I have been asking for years with continuing lack of results and I am spending too much time trying to get these documents. GCA requires them for any claims that have to go them, not all claim are paid locally. From now on, a claim with no paperwork will be returned to claimant, help me and yourself, this is your money.

Held away at Pasco - This committee is in dialogue with corridor supt. Regarding held away and the imbalance of the pool. He has learned that we won't go away in our complaints and he says he is working on it. He been advised that moral is down, and layoffs will be the result of not getting this fixed. This problem appears to be happening elsewhere and not just Vancouver.

XBD's & short cycle times – Doug Jones agrees the boards have been cut too much in all locations. He promises to get the boards back in shape, we'll see.

Profit sharing – No word yet on profit sharing, carrier is going to announce 4^th quarter earnings on January 21^st and hopefully they will announce the profit sharing then.

Old Business – Officer pay will continue to be as followed – Local Chairmen - $400.

Secretary/Treas - $600

President – basic day

New Business -

Motion is made by Brother Bailey to continue looking for competent storage and to continue to have our union meeting at current location, seconded by Brother Cordez. Motion passed.

Motion by Brother Nibler to accept R. Jacobs for membership to the BLET, seconded by Brother Pratt,. Motion passed. Motion by Brother Nibler to accept R. Roaldson for membership to the BLET, seconded by Brother Etienne. Motion passed.

A check will be issued for the purchase of a retirement watch for Brother M. Smith.

Motion made by brother Huelle to close meeting and seconded by Brother Anderson. Motion passed.

Meeting adjourned at 1511.

Here's What Happened at the Meeting on Monday, February 15, 2010

Meeting was opened by the Vice President in Due Form.

Members attending – R. Etienne, R Pratt, T. Jacobs, R Jacobs, J McHenry, H. Bailey, W. Barnes, R. Tiffany, D. Kautz, R. Huelle, K. Huelle, R. McCartney, K. Atwood, D. St John, R. Burns, W. Pelham.

Minutes for Jan. meeting read and approved.

Finances - We currently have 126 members. Secretary made presentation on current finances, The bills were presented for payment. Motion to pay bills by Brother Atwood and seconded by Brother Huelle. Motion passed.

Cab Committee – None

Safety Committee – Safety Marathon on the 16th and 17th. Need Vol. For up coming feed, if interested contact Brother Jacobs. Ensure that when using crossovers that both ends are restored to the same direction. New Officers for the Safety Committee are, Chairman – H. Bailey, Vice Chairman – M. Weathers and Secretary - T. Jacobs.

WPO - Are evaluating fouling points, crossovers. If anyone is interested in helping contact R. Huelle.

Local Chairman –

Vacations - Extra float vacation does not show on your vacation schedule, if you didn't ask for another assigned week, it;s automatically a floater.

Road Switchers between 0001 – 0500 – Do we have a decision yet?

RSIA Rest – If the call time of a job occurs after you are rested (the 10 hours have expired), put a claim in for a board runaround. There is no mandatory requirement that the additional 1.5 or 1.75 time be added to your RSIA. While we have a guarantee of the 1.5 or 1.75 hours call, a call may be short, with the understanding that we have that time to get to work, carrier is considering that additional time as being required as RSIA.

Territorial Qualification for Board 30 – Engineers on board 30 are required to be qualified to Albina, if you are not qualified, notify the carrier to make arrangements to get qualified.

Resolutions – We have the next two meetings to decide if there are any resolutions our Division wishes to submit. Resolutions need to be approved by members attending and Resolutions need to be mailed to GCA by the first of April.

Expiration of Engineer Card – We need to make sure we know when our cards expire.

The carrier makes it our responsibility to keep card current, to include mandatory FRA vision and hearing tests. Don't let your card expire. Your card expires at 2359 on the date listed on the card. If expired there is no alternative handling on this, protect yourself.

Code “EO” - Claim code “EO” if called as utility Engineer.

Old Business – Motion to un-table question on 0001 -0500 Road switchers by Brother Etienne for discussion, motion passed.

Motion to table discussion on 0001 – 0500 switcher so Brother Etienne can discuss with carrier on a cancellation clause in side ltr. Motion passed.

New Business -

Resolution was read by Brother Etienne to extend held away at away from home terminal to start at 12 hours and remain continuous. Motion made by Brother St John to except resolution and submit to GCA, seconded by Brother Jacobs. Passed.

Resolution was read by Brother Etienne that if the Engineers extra board is augmented by other boards by 5 or more in a weeks time the board must be increased. Motion to accept resolution as read by Brother Jacobs and seconded by Brother Kautz. Motion passed. Resolution will be submitted to GCA.

Resolution was read by Brother Etienne to allow yard job engineer to get on the No Call list. Motion to accept resolution by Brother Bailey and seconded by Brother Tiffany, motion passed. Resolution will be submitted to GCA.

Motion made by Brother Jacobs to donate $500 to Susan G. Komen foundation in the name of Elizabeth Ann Kautz, seconded by Brother Huelle, motion passed.

Motion made by Brother Etienne to donate $500 to the Memorial fund for Ron Langlois, member of the P&W Railroad. Seconded by Brother Bahr. Motion passed.

Motion made by brother Bailey to close meeting and seconded by Brother Atwood. Motion passed.

Meeting adjourned at 1510.

Here's What Happened at the Meeting on Monday, March 15, 2010

Meeting was opened by the President in Due Form.

Members attending – R. Etienne, R Pratt, T. Jacobs, W. Barnes, R. Huelle, C. Nibler, A. Nollette, M. Bahr, T. Ponciano, M. Smith, D. Robertson, R, Edgar, R. Hill, T. Reddish, R. Maggio, W. Knowles.

Minutes for Feb. meeting read and approved.

Finances - We currently have 126 members. Secretary made presentation on current finances, The bills were presented for payment. Motion to pay bills by Brother Nollette and seconded by Brother Robertson. Motion passed.

Cab Committee – None

Safety Committee – Great safety Feed. Vancouver is on top within the 12 divisions, keep up the good work.

WPO - We evaluated the following – Tracks in the clear 100%, Crossovers 70%, Radio communication (Engineer repeating) 74%. Next week will be three point contact and shoving.

Local Chairman –

Territorial Qualification for Board 30 – Engineers on board 30 are required to be qualified to Albina, if you are not qualified, notify the carrier to make arrangements to get qualified.

Expiration of Engineer Card – We need to make sure we know when our cards expire.

Old Business – None

New Business -

Resolution was read by Brother Etienne to extent the recall time of an engineer when being recalled from a furlough status. Motion to except the resolution and submitted to GCA by brother Bahr and seconded by brother Reddish.. Passed.

Motion made by brother Nollette to close meeting and seconded by Brother Ponciano. Motion passed.

Meeting adjourned at 1415.

Here's What Happened at the Meeting on Monday, April 19, 2010

Meeting was opened by the President in Due Form.

Members attending – R. Etienne, R Pratt, T Ponciano, H. Allington, R. McCartney, N. Scruggs, D. Haney, K. Baker, J. Norvell, J. Zozosky, K. Anderson, W. Barnes, R. Tiffany, R. Maggio, B. Bocchi, M. Cousineau, M. Bahr, D. Lathim, M. Miller, A. Haynes, R. Jenkins, B. Connolly, K. Kawawaki.

Minutes for Mar. meeting read and approved.

Finances - We currently have 125 members. Secretary made presentation on current finances, The bills were presented for payment. Motion to pay bills by Brother Wilson and seconded by Brother Anderson. Motion passed.

Cab Committee – Windy cabs please report. When the step way light are out please report that.

Safety Committee – None

Local Chairman –

Road Switchers between 0001 – 0500 – Longview will be opening their new grain elevator in about a year, this one will be able to handle two trains at a time, and load two ships at a time. This will generate lots of work. Carrier will look elsewhere for manpower if they can't get the restricting eased. The UTU has agreed to do away with the ban.

RSIA Rest/XBD Guarantee – The carrier is docking guarantee for RSIA rest, check your 816's to see if you were docked. If you were marked to the XBD, yet docked guarantee due solely to RSIA, put in a claim, use the wording on our web site to claim the withheld guarantee. If your income exceeded the guarantee, there's no reason to make a claim.

Territorial Qualification for Board 30 – Engineers on board 30 are required to be qualified to Albina, if you are not qualified, notify the carrier to make arrangements to get qualified.

Expiration of Engineer Card – We need to make sure we know when our cards expire.

Codes Payable for Annulled Jobs – The carrier is not paying the various codes when a job is annulled due to no rested employees. The GCA has told us these codes (CP, SPD, Short crew, BE) are not payable when not worked. The exception is when the claim is a make whole due to being pulled off he job, or lay off CBT LCB etc.

Setting out at T-6 – Instruction are gone regarding pulling in trains only at T6, some YM want the train backed in, we have the tools to do the job safely, empower yourself. If required to back the train in, take the safe course, and walk it in. There is no requirement to ride the cars if you feel it's not safe.

Carrier proposes change in ALT Handling process – Carrier has notified us they plan to change way alt handling is requested. They say if alt handling isn't requested before first postponement, none will be given. 5 day yard men are exempt from the first time postponement restriction, due to time restrictions. This is not acceptable, GCA has been notified and we are waiting their instructions.

MOW Windows showing on lineups – Carrier has been put on notice that it is unacceptable for lineups to not reflect MOW windows that are known in advance. It is agreed that managing our rest depends on accurate lineups, there is no reason these known windows can't be reflected in the lineups. Mr. DeLargy has put out instructions to TM's and also asked the Crew Planner to comply.

Board Placement When Working Yard Jobs – When RSIA was put in place we were assured that early quits on yard jobs wouldn't affect board placement on the XBD, sadly it was. This is a violation of CBA's, carrier has assured us this is fixed in TSS. Regardless of early tie up, engineers will be placed back to board in order they were called for yard jobs, exception is overtime. Please check to see if this is done properly

E4 Assignment – Carrier says the E4 assignment is not working. Blame is not on crews but rest & Sounder schedules. Want to abolish until end of May. Second garbage train will be on then, and the crew can get the 2^nd train out of Roosevelt. What other option do we have, suggestions!

Old Business – None

New Business -

Resolution was read by Brother Etienne as follows - Whereas switch engines and road switchers are each subject to the National Holiday Agreement, and TY&E Comp Systems have taken the position that an XBD engineer may only qualify for holiday pay if at least 11 yard engines are worked with in the previous 30 days, and no consideration is given to the number of road switchers worked. Motion made by Brother Bahr to except resolution and submit to GCA for consideration, seconded by Brother Allington. Motion passed.

Here's What Happened at the Meeting on Monday, May 17, 2010

Meeting was opened by the President in Due Form.

Members attending – R. Etienne, R Pratt, D. Lathim, T Jacobs, X. Wilson, H. Bailey, T. Reddish, M. Bahr, R. Huelle, R. Hill, A. Nollette.

Minutes for Mar. meeting read and approved.

Finances - We currently have 125 members. Secretary made presentation on current finances, The bills were presented for payment. Motion to pay bills by Brother Bailey and seconded by Brother Lathim. Motion passed

LR – Meeting on 051810, will give report at next meeting. .

Cab Committee – None.

Safety Committee – Health fair is in Sept. at Firstenburg, climbing wall will be available, this is a big deal be sure to attend. Next Safety mtg is 052010. The NW division is currently in 8^th place. The summer month are coming, ensure you have enough water for you trips.

Local Chairman –

Red Block Violations – Email from GCA says we are still experiencing Authority Violations, those involved did not call out emergency or backed up without permission or inspection of train. Never back up with out permission and always be sure to call out emergency. Remember that most everything is fixable except dishonesty.

Expiration of Engineer Card – Please be sure to note the date your card was issued to you and ensure you recert. Prior to the 3 year expiration date on the front of the card. You have until 2359 on the date 3 years from the date of issue. Don't forget your vision and hearing test and drivers license abstract.

Board Runaround were not rested at start of canvassing – Carrier doesn't have programming in place to go back to see if an engineer is rested on board 30 once canvassing starts. If you find you were rested on board 30 when someone is used POS, let this committee know, you may have a claim. The carrier won't pay the claim locally, but we can argue it at the GCA.

Claim Paid at GCA for PP02 – Some time ago we asked those who got notification of a claim paid at GCA to check to see if you were really paid. We have several claims that were supposed to be paid in PP02 that didn't show up on any 816's this year. If you received notification of a claim settlement for pp02, check your 816 to see if you were in fact paid. This is only claim settlements from GCA.

Held away at Pasco – Carrier continues to force us into massive held away, complaints don't seem to get the issue fixed, in fact after email them the held away increased by 25%. We will involve the GCA to help get this fixed.

E5 Assignment – We aare trying to get the carrier to re-establish the E5 assignment, the HEVEBAR is running 4 consecutive days so we are looking at an assignment that works 4 days. If we are successful the mileage would be 192.2 miles for the round trip and if required to bring a train back the mileage would be 130 miles each way.

12^th St. Switch engine at Willbridge – Flat spots keep showing up on the little switch engine at Willbridge and the carrier is getting upset. The problem seems to be the wheels slide easy. Engine should be only used for 12^th St. or spotting Union Oil, please don't use the engine for anything else, carrier is wanting to cite crews for make flat spots.

Instructions for putting down times when claiming certain codes – Instructions are out to enter accurate times for certain codes (CBT, ST, ERC, etc). This is a requirement by FRA under RSIA, not carrier desired. The RSIA bill requires documentation of any and all times when working for BNSF. If times aren't entered the ticket will not be paid and if times are creatively far fetched the ticket will not be worked.

Paperwork for claims – Still have to ask for 816's, working tickets or delay reports when working claim, these are mandatory in order to get claim paid. If conferencing claim and don't have requested documents can cause claim to be withdrawn. Remember this is your money!!!

Donations for Brother Ray and Brother Cacas will be handled by Brother Nibler and Brother Fox or to Sandy.

Motion made by brother Nollette to close meeting and seconded by Brother Huelle. Motion passed.

Meeting adjourned at 1503.

Here's What Happened at the Meeting on Monday, June 21, 2010

Meeting was opened by the President in Due Form.

Members attending – R. Etienne, R Pratt, M. Bahr, R. Hill, J. McHenry, B. Bocchi, D. Ruiz, R. Maggio, M. Cousineau, J. Zozosky, A. Nollette, C. Marsh, D. Farrar, D. Robertson, R. Tiffany, G. Bryson.

Minutes for May meeting read and approved.

Finances - We currently have 125 members. Secretary made presentation on current finances, The bills were presented for payment. Motion to pay bills by Brother Nollette and seconded by Brother Tiffany. Motion passed

Safety Committee – Health fair is in Sept. at Firstenburg, climbing wall will be available, this is a big deal be sure to attend.

Local Chairman –

Attendance Guidelines – Rumor has it there are going to be changes to the attendance guidelines, this rumor is not true. Carrier is considering also looking at those who don't work at least 60 hours in a month, this doesn't count those taking compensated days off.

General Notice on Outlying Areas – This includes Longview Jct. And any work trains that are bid in and tie up on line. Currently our position is this notice violates our agreements. XBD engineers need to be notified before tie up about any release. Carrier says they will not let anyone work if they don't mark up before the job ties up and that XBD engineers on a hold down must check their status each day. Current CBA's require carrier to notify emp. At time of call how long the hold down will be and if your not told how long the hold down is you can request to be released at the end of the shift.

If you own a job at outlying area, and lay off, and they don't allow you to work the next day, put in a time slip for the lost earnings.

If you aren't notified of the amount of time for the hold down, and not released at the end of the shift, turn in a time slip for a basic day for each day you are not allowed to return.

Rumor change in Alternative Handling – Rumor are flying about doing away with Alt handling, not true. Changes requested by carrier are same as already being done, 1 alt handling per 12 month for attendance. Deadly decisions and authority violations will be decided on a case by case basis.

RSIA Rest/XBD Guarantee – The carrier is docking guarantee for RSIA rest. Check your 816's to see if this has happened to you. If you wee marked to the XBD, yet docked guarantee due solely to RSIA, put a claim in and use the wording on our web site to claim the withheld guarantee, its your money. If your income exceeds the guarantee, there's no need for a claim.

Demoted Engineers taking calls for Engineers - If you are 1^st or 2^nd out on your respective boards, you cannot turn down “extra work” for engineers. Carrier is going to start missing calls for demoted engineers not answering their phone if they are 1^st or 2^nd out on there boards. Currently TSS allows you to turn it down, this is going to stop. Engineers are required to protect engineer positions under the provisions of the A-700 rules.

Board Runaround when not rested at start of canvassing – Carrier doesn't have programming in place to go back to see if an engineer is rested on board 30 once canvassing starts. If you find you were rested on board 30 when someone is used POS, let this committee know, you may have a claim. The carrier won't pay the claim locally, but we can argue it at the GCA.

Wes and Ty – Both are still off, we are still taking donations in either cash or PL days, anyone willing to donate, please see Sandy.

New Business

Hold WPO in consideration to eliminate the program for the next mtg. Will have R. Huelle give presentation if available.

Motion made by brother Robertson to close meeting and seconded by Brother Bahr.. Motion passed.

Meeting adjourned at 1525.