CLEVELAND, September 10 — Allies from different unions helped delegates from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers pass a remote control safety resolution at the North Carolina State AFL-CIO Convention.
Members of the firefighters union and North Carolina State AFL-CIO President James Andrews were especially helpful in getting the resolution to the floor, according to BLE Division 435 (Hamlet, N.C.) Local Chairman Curtis Driggers. It passed unanimously.
Brother Driggers worked with Brother Wayne Fuller, Division 435 President and Legislative Representative, on the passage of the resolution. Together, they attended the convention and, with the help of President Andrews, got the resolution to the delegates.
“We also met several allies, including firefighters, who are very interested in helping us with this important public safety issue,” said Brother Driggers.
The North Carolina AFL-CIO joins state bodies in Nevada, Michigan, Arizona and Texas in passing resolutions regarding remote control safety. The North Carolina resolution asks the Federal Railroad Administration to develop comprehensive safety regulations for the use of remote control locomotives.
The text of the resolution follows:
A RESOLUTION OF THE NORTH CAROLINA AFL-CIO ON THE MATTER OF RAILROADS OPERATING REMOTE CONTROL LOCOMOTIVES WITHIN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
Submitted by Delegates of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, September 5, 2003
Whereas, helping secure a safe workplace for all North Carolina workers is a primary goal of the North Carolina AFL-CIO
Whereas, the North Carolina AFL-CIO takes an active interest in the safety of all North Carolina citizens, and the security of our homeland; and
Whereas, the State of North Carolina has two Class One railroads involved in the transportation of hazardous materials by rail,
Whereas, a significant amount to these hazardous chemicals, including nuclear waste, that are transported on North Carolina railroads travel through our cities and neighborhoods and in close proximity to our homes, schools and hospitals; and
Whereas, hazardous materials are subject to uncontrolled release if their container is ruptured during a railroad derailment or collision; and
Whereas, railroads in North Carolina are now using Remote Control Locomotive Technology (unmanned locomotives) in their rail operations; and
Whereas, railroads in North Carolina are conducting remote control operations with employees who receive as little as two weeks training, and
Whereas, heretofore all railroads have manned their locomotives with Locomotive Engineers, who are rigorously certified and fully qualified by standards established by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA); and
Whereas, the Federal Railroad Administration has allowed railroads to establish a new program of lessened training, testing, and qualification requirements for remote control operators, without regard to the wishes of the citizens of the State of North Carolina; and
Whereas, the FRA has issued only non-binding guidelines to govern the day-to-day operational practices involving Remote Control locomotives; and
Whereas, railroads have failed to adopt all the provisions of these minimal FRA guidelines for operational practices;
Now, Therefore Be it Resolved, that The North Carolina AFL-CIO supports the position of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and hereby admonishes all railroads within the State of North Carolina to continue to use fully qualified Train Service Engineers to operate all locomotives, including those remotely controlled; and
Be It Further Resolved, that the North Carolina AFL-CIO calls on the North Carolina Public Utilities Commission to require railroads operating Remote Control Locomotive Technology to: (1) fully comply with the minimum railroad safety requirements to be adopted by the North Carolina Public Utilities Commission; and (2) notify the North Carolina Public Utilities Commission as to the nature and location of remote control railroad operations, so that the Commission may coordinate with local emergency planning agencies in the areas where such operations are being used; and
Be It Further Resolved, that in the interest of public safety, the North Carolina AFL-CIO admonishes the Federal Railroad Administration to develop comprehensive safety regulations for the use of remote control locomotives, and that those regulations ensure the highest level of skill and qualifications of persons operating all locomotives; and
Be It Finally Resolved, that the President of the North Carolina AFL-CIO will send a letter to FRA Finance Docket No. 2000-8422, which was established at the request of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and ask Alan Rutter, Administrator of the FRA, to promulgate enforceable regulations governing Remote Control Locomotive Technology that will ensure the safety of the employees, citizens and communities of the State of North Carolina.