WASHINGTON, D.C. — After meeting with Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta, labor leaders representing Amtrak employees said Tuesday they believe financial troubles won’t derail the railroad company — nor do they believe workers will be forced to make sacrifices to keep it afloat, according to CNN.com.
“We feel optimistic that Amtrak will keep running,” said Edward Wytkind, executive director of the AFL-CIO’s Transportation and Trades Department in a conference call with reporters after the meeting.
The unions asked for the meeting to urge the Bush administration to take action to avert a shutdown.
The union leaders said Mineta gave them no specifics on how the administration would keep Amtrak running, but were assured that Mineta has a plan.
Amtrak says it will run out of money to operate by July 1 if it doesn’t get $200 million. Amtrak President David Gunn has said the federally subsidized passenger railroad would begin shutting down as early as Wednesday if it didn’t have a clear signal the funds were on the way. Mineta is looking at various options including a federal loan guarantee.
The union leaders said labor concessions were not discussed at the meeting.
“The secretary’s exact words to us were that ‘Labor is not a target’,” said Charlie Moneypenny, director of the railroad division for the Transport Workers’ Union of America.
Some members of Congress have criticized Amtrak’s labor costs. For example, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison. R-Texas, called them “out of line” with other unions.
But the unions said labor is not the problem.
Mark Filipovic, of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, said workers are not willing to give any wage or work rule concessions. “The workers have given, given and given… . We’re the lowest paid in the industry,” he said.
The union leaders said 23,000 workers would be put out of work if Amtrak was idled. In addition, they said other commuter railroad service and freight service in some areas would be halted since they use Amtrak-owned railroad tracks.