Eastern Railroad Discussion > UTU letter re: harassment, unsafe demands, yard eclipse injury

RE: Unsafe Conditions due to Operations leads to severe Injury

Ms. Sanborn,

The SMART-TD Organization had a member and trainman for CSX in Nashville Radnor Yard who was seriously injured yesterday about 1330 central time and during the totality of the eclipse. ___ was working as a foreman on the Y103 job and ___ as his switchman. This job was switching on the 3 Throat lead while another crew, Y101, was switching on the adjacent 4 Throat lead.

Our office just learned yesterday that these two crews were switching side by side on two separate leads and on different radio channels. This all started when the decision was made to stop flat switching at C yard due to the high rate of speed of the cars rolling into the tracks and crews reporting concerns with possible derailments from the impact. I had discussed this matter with Mr. Swafford and Labor Relations. Apparently when the decision was made to stop switching at C Yard, the switching was moved to one of the Throat leads. There was already a regular assignment switching on one of the leads. These leads involve an uphill movement where the engineers must get the engines up to 7 or 8 throttle to move up the hill and by the time the cut is rolling and the slack is running out, the trainman pulling the pins is basically running around 6 or 7 miles per hour sometimes. It has been nearly impossible to pull the pins at a walking speed per the rules due to the terrain. And the crew switching on the 3 Throat lead has to be in the middle of the two tracks to pull pins.

The crews have advised management of their concerns in switching on two separate leads right beside each other if something happened. The engineers have to get a hard kick with the engines to get the cars into the proper tracks since the track infrastructure is not made for flat switching. This has never been a safe method to flat switching on a constant basis. It is apparent the close proximity of these two jobs kicking besides each other was not a safe environment.




Furthermore, ___’s switchman on the job, ___, and the other crews on duty state that the crews were never given any instructions on having lights during the eclipse nor to stop operations for a few minutes during this dark period of the eclipse. It is apparent the close proximity of these two jobs kicking besides each other was not a safe environment. The dark period lasted about 2 minutes. While it is still unclear how the car being kicked by the other crew on 4 Throat snagged and drug ___ and caused the severe injuries to him, it should have never happened if there was a genuine concern for safety.

Now we have an employee that has forever had his life altered due to the emphasis on production over safety.

This office has documented many of our concerns for the lack of a safety culture and disregard for safety rules in place. The push, push, push, rush, rush, rush, environment created by the current managers is a direct result of this very tragic incident. This office has advised CSX Upper management and Labor Relations of the trainmasters at Radnor screaming at employees for taking lunch or taking a heat break. One manager screamed at the crew for wasting 7 minutes for checking a switch list. The employees have been threatened with being taken out of service and told they would never come back to work for taking too long to eat lunch or switch a cut. Some employees have been taken out of service for not working to satisfy a manager. The employees have been charged for not meeting performance expectations when no one can even explain to the employees the expectations. The employees have been scared of losing their jobs by these overzealous managers brought in from the CN. Because of these tactics the employees have had to abandon rules compliance and comply with the instructions given by these managers. Even had one employee suffer heat exhaustion due to fear of stopping long enough to have a heat break and drink some water.

Yet when this tragic event happened to ___, and the other crew members were rushing to his aid and constantly trying to call the Radnor Tower to get help and call 911, there was no one answering. One of the crew members had to run to a nearby shack to retrieve a first aid kit to aid ___ and still no answer from the tower or management with CSX. The road crews heard the transmissions for help and tried calling the tower themselves with no response. The dispatcher heard the road crews calling for help over the radios and tried calling the tower at Radnor with no response. Why? Because the entire group of managers and yardmasters were outside watching the eclipse. The very managers that have berated crews for wasting 7 minutes checking a switch list or taking 10 extra minutes to return from lunch due to a bathroom break, were all outside doing something else and no one was in place to handle any emergencies.

Since CSX has abandoned a mutual safety culture with the Organizations and the employees no longer have safety committees that their Locals are involved in with the local management team, there is a disconnect in addressing safety concerns and working together to prevent unsafe operations and conditions.

It is very telling of the culture and mindset of CSX management now based on comments made by a manager yesterday. A second shift crew that had been early to work and experienced part of the scene involving their fellow injured employee, advised they had to go home at their lunch break due to not being in the right frame of mind. One manager was going to allow the crew to leave and get some rest but his boss stated “these guys are not going to take advantage of an employee getting hurt to get out of work”.

CSX used to be proud to support and live by their Code of Ethics and a safety slogan that stated “No Job is so Important, No Service is so Urgent That We Cannot Take Time to Perform all Work Safely”. Neither seems to be a priority any more when it concerns the treatment of employees and operations. When there was a mutual safety program between the Carrier and the Organization, our T&E crews were the safest in the industry. Our local safety committees addressed unsafe practices, operations and conditions. Safety was a priority first and then operations. But that is no longer the case. The crews are expected to work 12 hours every shift and quality of life is no longer a consideration.

The majority of the SMART-TD General Chairman on CSX attended a meeting on Friday, August 18, 2017 at CSX Headquarters on 500 Water Street at 1400 to address many issues ongoing at this moment on CSX. We met with the Labor Relations team and the Crew management Team and expected both Mr. Swafford and yourself to be in attendance. But neither was available due to being in a conference with Mr. Hunter Harrison. Even though the Organization represents the bulk of the manpower on CSX and we had addressed issues with a recent letter from Mr. Harrison to the media, no one from upper management was in attendance other than Labor Relations and Crew Management. The Organization brought to light many of these contributing issues in this tragic event. The inner company memo that stressed to managers to basically hound the employees in and out of their meal period was discussed at length. The Organization discussed many important matters concerning the operations and blatant disregard for the agreements. We were promised the issues would all be reviewed and discussed with Mr. Swafford and yourself. We were told that Labor Relations would reach out to the field to address the meal period issues and manner in which the employees were being treated. I can only assume that process has yet to begin.

This office can no longer accept such intolerance for our safety, the rules and the agreements. We have seen an increase in injuries and derailments while our members continue to operate as professional railroaders and performing duties with an infrastructure not designed for the work. Even with the intimidation and harassment, our members strive to perform for our customers. But morale and pride in our company is at an all-time low.

With the lack of a clear management structure, our Local Chairmen have had no one to address the safety issues, rule issues or operational issues. Without a mutual safety culture, disregard for agreement provisions and the push for production, the employees are being expected to disregard the rules and rush to get the work done.

I hereby request an immediate meeting to discuss how this Company intends to handle our safety and well-being and how safety concerns will be addressed. We cannot have any more members injured or killed for the sake of a dollar or 5 minutes.

Well written letter. Is safety (or lack thereof) a reason to strike or at least a sick out? Not being a union guy or a rail I do not know, but it sounds like a legitimate reason.

Wow this is a sad, sad story.  Thank god there were others more responsible around this poor man to save his life, shame on CSX!!!!!!!!!!!!



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/17 13:21 by dozerman.

Cole42 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well written letter. Is safety (or lack thereof)
> a reason to strike or at least a sick out? Not
> being a union guy or a rail I do not know, but it
> sounds like a legitimate reason.


You can't just "decide" to strike. There's an extremely long chain of things that must be followed before "self-help" is allowed, for either the union (strike) or the carrier (lockout).

That's an exceptionally well written, perfectly documented by example, letter. Were the previous complaints by guys on the ground equally well documented?


When I was in college, I had a summer/holiday job for several years in a Teamster represented warehouse in Kearny NJ. If stuff happened, the entire workforce would meet in the parking lot for a safety briefing and update.

This is all very important. And more importantly 100% true, as far as the new safety culture is concerned. "Safety is a way of life," is no longer preached, or even spoken for that matter.
We now work in a culture of fear. This is about all that is "Fact based" anymore...

Posted from iPhone

Thanks for posting this darkcloud. That is the letter I read that I posted about in the original thread on this incident here...

https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,4363811

Very sad situation indeed. I'm especially do not like elimination of the "Three Step Protection" rule. This takes less than a minute to apply and release and ensures the engineer cannot move the locomotive while the conductor goes in between cars to couple hoses and release hand brakes. I heard this rule was started on Conrail; others say not. And brake sticks have been banned. And guys are getting on and off moving equipment "if approved" and riding cars over a busy crossings.

It used to be when Three Step Protection was requested a response was provided by the engineer, one here even said "3-step protection has been provided for your safety and protecting". Now, with it not being allowed, it has been reduced to "keep your paws off the throttle I'm going in to play with my hoses". The shortline that comes into the yard has been told by their management to use three step protection regardless of what CSX says.

I have pointed out to several employees what is printed on the back of my current CSX Baltimore Division Timetable "SAFETY ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE". I'm retired, but a lot of these guys are my friends. I said if you want 3-step, or any other safety thing like stopping in bad conditions ask for it. If a supervisor objects, turn over the timetable to the back page and point to that. Of course, Hunter will probably have the next issue of the TT with that page blank. And we have no supervisors here. Now. The place runs itself.

JLinDE Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Very sad situation indeed. I'm especially do not
> like elimination of the "Three Step Protection"
> rule. This takes less than a minute to apply and
> release and ensures the engineer cannot move the
> locomotive while the conductor goes in between
> cars to couple hoses and release hand brakes. I
> heard this rule was started on Conrail; others say
> not. And brake sticks have been banned. And guys
> are getting on and off moving equipment "if
> approved" and riding cars over a busy crossings.
>
> It used to be when Three Step Protection was
> requested a response was provided by the engineer,
> one here even said "3-step protection has been
> provided for your safety and protecting". Now,
> with it not being allowed, it has been reduced to
> "keep your paws off the throttle I'm going in to
> play with my hoses". The shortline that comes into
> the yard has been told by their management to use
> three step protection regardless of what CSX says.
>
>
> I have pointed out to several employees what is
> printed on the back of my current CSX Baltimore
> Division Timetable "SAFETY ABOVE EVERYTHING ELSE".
> I'm retired, but a lot of these guys are my
> friends. I said if you want 3-step, or any other
> safety thing like stopping in bad conditions ask
> for it. If a supervisor objects, turn over the
> timetable to the back page and point to that. Of
> course, Hunter will probably have the next issue
> of the TT with that page blank. And we have no
> supervisors here. Now. The place runs itself.

Like I said earlier,

This is all very important. And more importantly 100% true, as far as the new safety culture is concerned. "Safety is a way of life," is no longer preached, or even spoken for that matter.
We now work in a culture of fear. This is about all that is "Fact based" anymore...

Posted from iPhone

Do not work hard in a "culture of fear" I do not know, or want you to post it anywhere where you are. But if The CSX TT in effect in your area has that message on the back cover USE IT. Abide by it. Keep the TT with you (I know it is too fat and cumbersome) for you carry on person while you are working your job. You can also keep it on the seat of your personal vehicle. Remember that safety message. Do what is safe for you with situational awareness.

Full, unredacted letter has been published here in a general circulation newspaper:

http://www.newschannel5.com/news/newschannel-5-investigates/gory-csx-train-accident-linked-to-solar-eclipse

It's been 30 years so maybe I'm not remembering correctly. Up in northern New England when Guilford/Springfield Terminal was in their second strike in two years, wasn't the reason they went out on the second strike due to safety? As I somewhat recall an employee got killed in Massachusetts to set the 1987 strike off? Picket line talk was they didn't need to go through the motions for a safety related strike. I wasn't a railroad employee at the time so I don't know, but there they were, on strike very soon after the original strike in 1986.

RS11 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It's been 30 years so maybe I'm not remembering
> correctly. Up in northern New England when
> Guilford/Springfield Terminal was in their second
> strike in two years, wasn't the reason they went
> out on the second strike due to safety? As I
> somewhat recall an employee got killed in
> Massachusetts to set the 1987 strike off?

Dim memory says that is correct.

TAW

I wonder why the FRA hasn't got more involved with this stuff at CSX. With all the rule changes, resulting in a mostly less safe working environment, I don't understand why this hasn't got the attention of the FRA?

Maybe one reason the FRA has not been involved yet is that they have no leader. That is appointed by the President, and one has been appointed. Probably the most qualified person for any position Trump has selected. It has been in the trade press. He revived the BRC (which now is full of traffic with EHH closing Barr Yd) and made CR Shared Assets work when many thought it might not. I do not know him, but have friends that do including one just had lunch with him recently. His reputation is impeccable, and he already has a good RR retirement. Maybe he is having second thoughts having to work for Trump/Chao. If there is one deadly RR accident when he is in command, particularly if perceived has being NAFTA trade, he could be fired with one twitter tweet. (that sound like it should be the underside of some large animal).

It seems that the union wants to pass off the responsibly for safety to someone else. What happened to personal responsibility? Should the railroad be forced to tell employees to work with lights when it is dark? They want to complain that the railroad did not specifically tell the crews to work with lights during the eclipse but did the railroad specifically tell the crews to make moves without lights during the eclipse?

I understand that the workers feel like they are under a lot of pressure to get the work done. But safety begins with each employee doing hazardous work. Not in the boardroom.

The conditions described in the letter are dangerous at high noon, in sunlight.

Doing them in darkness and severely restricted light increases the risk.

A safer course of action would have been to suspend operations at the already hazardous site during the short period of near darkness.

Posted from Android

I hate to say it but I agree with you. Also where was the union before this? They could have stepped in and briefed crews of the dangers when the company failed to. They are here to protect and guide us too....

justalurker66 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It seems that the union wants to pass off the
> responsibly for safety to someone else. What
> happened to personal responsibility? Should the
> railroad be forced to tell employees to work with
> lights when it is dark? They want to complain that
> the railroad did not specifically tell the crews
> to work with lights during the eclipse but did the
> railroad specifically tell the crews to make moves
> without lights during the eclipse?
>
> I understand that the workers feel like they are
> under a lot of pressure to get the work done. But
> safety begins with each employee doing hazardous
> work. Not in the boardroom.

Posted from iPhone

Where were we Union guys before, you ask? Right here. working. Trying like hell to make this idiotic plan work. Because, what choice do we have? If it doesn't work I don't have a JOB. It's not like being a locomotive engineer is a plus when it comes to getting a job in any other field. It's such a specialized craft that its the reason we get paid well. Doing the best we can with NO IDEA what is going on. Asking--no PLEADING with whatever manager we could happen to find to address safety concerns. Even going so far as to make suggestions as to how to make something work better. (they REALLY don't want to hear ideas from us. That's beneath their haughty status). IT all falls on deaf ears. The managers they have in place now are just here to answer for when things go wrong from above, and yell at us for the most random things, like job briefing a switch list, or attempting to berate a guy for "showing up late" for work--even though he showed up :45 early and the call for the train was moved. Did the manager apologize when presented with the new info? Of course not. Arrogance dictates that you never show weakness in front of the troops. I said from the outset that these changes on the outset can work (at least operationally, not in shuttering any yards) but They are asking too much, too fast, and from people that don't know what to do and how to do it, and this is the end result. Asking kids(guys under 10 years here) that have worked their whole career under a microscope of safety and getting fired for minor rule violations (not looking GOOD ENOUGH in the view of a train master at a switch was my favorite ding on my work history) to suddenly stop that mentality and start to act like cowboys and railroad "the old fashioned way" when they WERE NEVER TAUGHT the old way is a recipe for the perfect storm. There is nobody left to show anyone HOW to railroad the old way.
Back in the spring when this really got ratcheted up, We went around all the yard crews and found of the 25 guys there, only 7 had ever kicked cars at any point in their career! those 7 (including myself) were all engineers, and as such weren't going to be much good in showing how it was done. We did our best to walk the guys through it verbally, and that is how we do it.
We are professionals, but working in a situation where the most common answer I hear now from Dispatchers, yardmasters, trainmasters (when you find one), and other "higher ups" is "I don't know" followed by "Just Figure it out!" You can see that this isn't going to end well...
Should they have stopped? Probably? Were they scared because in our culture of fear if they stopped they'd get their yard (and by proxy their own job) cut off because of CSX's daily disaster management style? Probably.

This business is getting out of hand, and it is only going to get worse. It is going to end badly.
Finally, While I appreciate and agree with the sentiments in the letter, putting it out on a public forum only serves to entrench the Carrier and their position that the whole reason the plan won't work is because of the Unions. I will not abide by that excuse. The plan doesn't work because it's a bad plan. Long-haul railroading doesn't work on a hub-and-spoke system. If I can see it (and I'm just one of those Union Thugs the Carrier tries to beat up on) why can't they? Oh? What's that? $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Yeah, that's what I thought.

I love my job. Railroading SAFELY is my life.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 08/26/17 17:44 by DrLoco.