(The following press release was issued by the TTD.)
One Death, Over 40 Accidents Caused by Remote Control Locomotives
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Acting on behalf of 35 unions representing transportation workers, the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department’s (TTD) today called upon the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to issue an emergency order immediately stopping the use of unsafe remote control locomotives until rigorous, enforceable federal rules can be established to protect workers and those who live near railroads.
In the last two years there have been over 40 accidents involving remote control trains, including the death of a rail worker near Syracuse last month. In a letter to the FRA, the TTD supported the petition of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE), an AFL-CIO affiliate, in calling for the FRA to take action. TTD noted that what the FRA terms “recommended minimum guidelines” do not actually require rail carriers to adopt the FRA’s suggestions. “We have seen accident after accident while the FRA has simply allowed carriers to use this technology without any set of rules or sufficient oversight,” the letter said, adding that while AFL-CIO labor unions applaud the actions of local governments in banning remote control locomotives, this issue should instead be “governed by the highest national standard” issued by the FRA.
The letter also expressed frustration that the FRA, an agency of the U.S. Department of Transportation, has both refused to meet with BLE leaders on this matter, or even provide the public with accident data on the use of remote control locomotives.
Also today, hundreds of workers gathered outside of the FRA headquarters to demand government action to save rail workers’ lives. AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Rich Trumka, International Brotherhood of Teamsters General President James P. Hoffa, BLE International President Don Hahs, and TTD Executive Director Ed Wytkind were among those speaking at the midday rally. Additionally, U.S. Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA) today sent a letter to the FRA to ask for strong federal action to protect worker safety.
Addressing the FRA, Wytkind said, “your silence is deafening. Your silence tells railroad workers that their safety isn’t a priority. Your silence must end,” adding that this is yet another example of the challenges workers face when corporations “put their profits ahead of people’s lives . . . This is unacceptable corporate behavior, aided and abetted by what appears to us as a code of silence in the Bush Administration.”
Wytkind said that the entire labor movement will “keep fighting until going to work doesn’t kill you.”
TTD represents 35 member unions in the rail, aviation, rail, transit, trucking, highway, longshore, maritime and related industries. For more information, visit www.ttd.org.