(The following article by Brian Peach was posted on the Southern Illinoisian website on October 21.)
CARBONDALE, Ill — Justus Karban’s grandmother died Saturday, so he was on a train to Chicago Monday afternoon.
Karban, a senior at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, doesn’t have a car and takes Amtrak trains to Chicago when he travels home. But few trips have meant as much to Karban as Monday’s did.
“It’s pretty important right now that the train’s running,” Karban said.
A court hearing was scheduled to take place Monday to determine whether to allow six Amtrak unions to strike, but for the second time, the hearing was postponed.
Karban said he knew of the unions’ requests for further federal aid to run Amtrak, but he had no idea a strike that would shut down the whole system for one day was a possibility.
“I don’t think a strike would be too fair,” he said. It’s not fair to the riders who depend on it.”
The hearing was scheduled because Amtrak sought a temporary restraining order in U.S. District Court.Charles Moneypenny, director of the railroad division of the Transport Workers Union of America, said attorneys from both sides agreed to postpone the hearing Monday until Nov. 14 in an attempt to further prepare.
If the unions strike, 8,000 of Amtrak’s 21,000 employees have said they’d walk off the job to protest what they call the railroad’s chronic underfunding by the government.
Moneypenny said he doesn’t want the railroad to shut down, but if his and other unions are allowed by the court to strike, he hopes the impact on riders is kept as minimal as possible.
“We want to give people notice,” he said. “If you have travel plans, please change them.”
Moneypenny said if the courts allow unions to strike in November, it “doesn’t mean we’re going out the door Nov. 15.”
He said the unions would try to give the public ample warning so their plans won’t be ruined or so they won’t be stuck across country if the long-distance trains stop for one day.
Dan Stessel, manager of media relations for Amtrak, said the decision to postpone the strike was made Wednesday, but it doesn’t make Amtrak more confident in the situation.
“Regardless of when it happens, a strike would be devastating,” Stessel said. “We have long-distance trains and we’d have to make arrangements to reschedule.”
Stessel said the day of the week also would not matter in the case of a strike. The original proposed strike date was set for Oct. 3, a Friday, but Stessel said that would affect travel plans as early as Tuesday because of long-distance plans.
Amtrak has been campaigning the federal government for more funding. It asked for $1.8 billion in federal subsidies in 2004, but President George W. Bush proposed half that as a way to force the railroad to restructure itself.
The House agreed in September to give Amtrak $900 million next year, while the Senate is proposing about $1.35 billion. Amtrak has said that if it receives only $900 million, numerous routes and workers will have to be cut to compensate for the loss.
State Representative Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, has long been a proponent of the Illini Amtrak route that runs from Chicago to Carbondale, and he said he doesn’t want to see it stopped.
“It allows people in Chicago to access affordable education,” Bost said.
If legislators intend to cut Amtrak funding or hand control of the railroad over to the states, Bost said the federal government will have to decide if a rail system is needed, because it may have to shut down.
And in the meantime, Bost does not see how a strike would be beneficial to anyone.
“I don’t know that striking is going to raise awareness,” he said. “There are people that are right on the bubble as far as choosing a form of transportation and a strike might put them over the edge.”
“(The unions) better calculate their cost before they strike.”