Railroads Labor Relations

The national freight rail strike that threatened to paralyze the sagging U.S. economy was snuffed out in less than a day when President Bush early this morning signed legislation ordering 235,000 strikers back to work immediately. The bill, passed hurriedly by Congress late Wednesday night, also creates a special three-member presidential panel that will review the protracted labor dispute between the freight railroads and eight unions and impose a final settlement by June.

CSX to Take $699-Million Charge: CSX Corp. said it will take a $699-million charge against second-quarter earnings to pay for labor agreements aimed at reducing the size of its train crews. The Richmond, Va.-based company said the charge, which will come to $450 million after taxes, stems from agreements that have been reached or are being negotiated between its CSX Transportation Inc. unit and the United Transportation Union.

With contract negotiations broken down and a nationwide freight rail strike scheduled to begin, Southern California train commuters scrambled Tuesday to make alternative plans for getting to work today and bus operators raced to try to accommodate them. Orange County Transit District officials said they planned to add buses from Huntington Beach and Fullerton to downtown Los Angeles, but the number and schedule of the extra buses were uncertain late Tuesday afternoon.

A federal judge in Los Angeles late Friday issued a temporary restraining order against the 50,000-member International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union to block its threatened one-day walkout Monday at West Coast ports. ILWU officials could not be reached for comment about the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Robert A. Takasugi. Previously, the ILWU announced plans to stage a 24-hour walkout in protest of Southern Pacific's layoffs of 350 longshoremen at a Wilmington rail yard.

CSX to Take $699-Million Charge: CSX Corp. said it will take a $699-million charge against second-quarter earnings to pay for labor agreements aimed at reducing the size of its train crews. The Richmond, Va.-based company said the charge, which will come to $450 million after taxes, stems from agreements that have been reached or are being negotiated between its CSX Transportation Inc. unit and the United Transportation Union.

President Bush, trying to avoid a "crippling nationwide rail strike," named an emergency board to help settle bargaining disputes between 11 unions and most of the nation's major railroads. The action effectively imposes a 60-day cooling-off period on management and labor. Rising health care costs had been a major holdup in contract negotiations, which had been going on for two years.

A bill to require drug and alcohol testing of all railroad workers who hold safety-sensitive positions was passed by the House. Cleared on a voice vote and sent to the Senate, the measure requires the immediate suspension without pay of any employee who tests positive for drugs or alcohol. It requires pre-employment testing, random testing, testing based on reasonable suspicion of drug use, testing after train accidents as well as part of regular physical examinations.

A federal judge in Los Angeles late Friday issued a temporary restraining order against the 50,000-member International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union to block its threatened one-day walkout Monday at West Coast ports. ILWU officials could not be reached for comment about the ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Robert A. Takasugi. Previously, the ILWU announced plans to stage a 24-hour walkout in protest of Southern Pacific's layoffs of 350 longshoremen at a Wilmington rail yard.

The national freight rail strike that threatened to paralyze the sagging U.S. economy was snuffed out in less than a day when President Bush early this morning signed legislation ordering 235,000 strikers back to work immediately. The bill, passed hurriedly by Congress late Wednesday night, also creates a special three-member presidential panel that will review the protracted labor dispute between the freight railroads and eight unions and impose a final settlement by June.

California companies heavily dependent on railroads to deliver raw materials and finished products are greeting the potential problems from a rail strike with trepidation and some contingency plans. At Farmer John Products in Los Angeles, where 6,000 live hogs are delivered by rail each day for slaughter and processing, company representatives got on the telephone Monday morning to change their transportation plans.

Negotiations between a dozen major freight railroads and eight unions representing nearly 200,000 workers broke off late Tuesday night. Hours later, as a federally mandated 90-day cooling-off period expired, two of the largest unions said they would begin a strike at 7 a.m. local time today. The remaining unions were expected to follow.

When President Bush said the other day that a railroad strike "could severely disrupt the economy" and prolong the recession, it may have come as a surprise to many Americans that railroads were still so important. Yet the fact is, railroads still haul most of the nation's coal, lumber, chemicals, paper and food products, as well as most of the automobiles--which travel most of the way from factory to dealer by rail. Railroads are also responsible for commuter services in many major cities.

With contract negotiations broken down and a nationwide freight rail strike scheduled to begin, Southern California train commuters scrambled Tuesday to make alternative plans for getting to work today and bus operators raced to try to accommodate them. Orange County Transit District officials said they planned to add buses from Huntington Beach and Fullerton to downtown Los Angeles, but the number and schedule of the extra buses were uncertain late Tuesday afternoon.

President Bush, warning of economic disaster for a nation already in the grip of a recession, Monday urged the nation's freight railroads and their 235,000 workers to avert a national strike. But both sides continued to predict that the differences between them are so great that a walkout at midnight today Eastern time is inevitable.

President Bush, warning of economic disaster for a nation already in the grip of a recession, Monday urged the nation's freight railroads and their 235,000 workers to avert a national strike. But both sides continued to predict that the differences between them are so great that a walkout at midnight today Eastern time is inevitable.