(The following article by John Goodall was posted on the Warren Tribune Chronicle website on August 21. John Hill is the Local Chairman of BLET Division 565 in Youngtown, Ohio.)
WARREN, Ohio — A union representative said a proposed reduction in the number of workers on trains presents a serious safety hazard for the public.
That issue is part of contract negotiations between the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and railroad management. The BLET has been working without an agreement since Dec. 31, 2005.
A CSX spokesman was contacted, but did not have a response by the end of the business day Friday.
Railroad companies want to cut minimum personnel on trains from the two presently to one, said John Hill, chairman of BLET Local 565. That’s dangerous, he contends.
The change would greatly reduce the ability of the worker to detect a problem such as the wheel of a freight car coming off track, the union official said. If undetected, that kind of a problem could lead to a derailment, he added.
Hill noted that trains transport a great deal of hazardous materials. A common one is chlorine, he said.
The Chlorine Institute said a 90-ton tank car damaged in a crash could create a toxic cloud 40 miles long and 10 miles wide. It could kill 100,000 people in 30 minutes, the U.S. Naval Research Lab said.
Hill said CSX runs eight to 10 trains a day through this area. They operate on a line that runs from New Castle to Lordstown.
Norfolk Southern sends two to three trains per day along two lines. One stretches from New Castle to Lordstown and the other, a northern route, from New Castle into Ashtabula.
It crosses through such communities as Hubbard and Brookfield.
A widespread condition that Hill said is another major safety concern is the long hours that railroad employees work. Under the law, they can complete a 12-hour shift and start another within a 24-hour period.
BLET members worked an average of 10.2 hours on the day they completed their Safe Rails/Secure America surveys conducted by the union.
Long hours create fatigue, Hill said. That has played a role in some crashes that otherwise were avoidable, he added.