CLEVELAND, June 22 — Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen/Teamster members joined Members of Congress yesterday to speak out about the state of rail security in the nation at rallies across the country. Among those holding press conferences or rallies were Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) at Grand Central terminal in New York City and Congressman Sherrod Brown (D-OH) at the Amtrak station in Akron, Ohio.
“The Bush administration is failing to address the threat posed by hazardous materials routed on rails through high target areas. Since 9/11, the government has been focused on airline security while leaving the rails virtually unprotected,” said Jim Hoffa, Teamsters General President. “While more attention has been paid to passenger train security in the U.S. after the Madrid bombings, freight rail security has been ignored. With the nation’s elevated threat level, much more needs to be done to secure our rail system.”
Unlike the airline industry, the rail industry has been left to its own devices to protect against potential terrorist attacks. In fact, the rail industry has introduced cost-cutting measures that have replaced federally certified locomotive engineers with remote control technology, leaving locomotives unmanned and the railroad infrastructure vulnerable. The contrast between funding levels for security is startling: since 9/11 the airline industry has been the beneficiary of nearly $3 billion in Homeland Security Department funds for bolstering security while the rail industry has received less than $100 million.
“We must shift the focus of the rail corporations from pure profits to the safety and well being of rail employees and the general public. We need the eyes and ears of every railroad employee on the job and helping secure the rails,” continued Hoffa.
Rail Security Day was organized by Democrats in the House of Representatives to increase awareness of the dangerous security gaps in the rail industry.
The International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, including members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, a division of the Teamsters Rail Conference.