The BLET wasted no time in making working conditions safer for new members at COASTER by securing participation in C3RS. NCTD image
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The BLET has hit the ground running at COASTER and is already making the workplace safer for its newest members. After coasting to an organizing victory at the California-based commuter railroad on July 31, the BLET secured COASTER’s participation in the FRA Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS) on August 18.
C3RS is a program designed to enhance railroad safety by allowing employees to confidentially report safety concerns with the assurance that such reports will not result in discipline. The information collected is used to identify problems and implement corrective actions to improve safety.
BLET Amtrak General Chairman Pat Darcy, whose GCA now represents the COASTER employees, said: “I want to thank the members of COASTER present at their meeting who voted unanimously in acceptance of the C3RS IMOU to begin on their property. Coaster engineers and trainmen recently voted to join our Brotherhood on July 31, 2024, and as we do with all of our members, we fought to make sure our newest members were afforded protections which come from a safety program like C3RS.”
The airline industry has used confidential reporting to identify problems and improve safety for several decades, but the rail industry has been slow to adopt C3RS. A rail safety bill (H.R. 8996) introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on July 15 would make C3RS mandatory at all Class I railroads. Norfolk Southern is the lone Class I to have a C3RS program with BLET.