Here's What Happened at the Meeting on Monday, March 18, 2002

Meeting opened by the President in due form.

Members present: D St John, R Etienne, R. Balkowitsch, B. Knowles, H. Allington, T. Jacobs, W. Ridgeway, W. Boomgaarden, T. Nollette, R. Huelle, S. Evans, J. Hill, R. Pratt, C. Nibbler, J. Johnson, W. Wasnoska, D. Kautz and retired member J. Bonnin.

Minutes of previous meeting read. No corrections made. Motion to accept by Brother Huelle, seconded by Brother Nollette. Motion passed.

Budget Committee: Dennis L. St. John made report, no meetings were held and still waiting for a budget.

Finances: Presentation of current status made by sec/tres. Current membership is 109 plus one trainman. Copies of this year CT-1 and LM3 made available. The current balances of accounts were discussed and several questions were asked from the floor. Resolution of IRS finally done and all payments made. The bills due for payment were presented and discussed. Motion to pay the bills by Brother Nollette, seconded by Brother Allington.

Motion passed.

Legislative Chairman: Brother Knowles made report, no actions taken this month. They are working on a newsletter to be put out, still working on the fatigue measure. Bill will be more active in encouraging the members to vote.

Local Chairman: The following topics were discussed:

1. Boot policy - The new boot policy is based on a rolling 12 months. Anyone requesting a new pair of boots from the carrier will have their history checked to see if they have purchased a pair of boots within the previous 12 months. If so, the entire amount of the boots will be deducted from the pay check. Once again, the carrier has failed to either inform the employees in a clear and concise manner, nor are they monitoring at a local level to keep those not qualified from thinking they are able to purchase a new pair of boots. Anyone who had entire amount taken out please let him know. Make sure carrier officer checks status to make sure approval is valid.

2. Ops testing - Carrier is serious about the 7 deadly failures. Recently, a SIAP was held concerning an employee who was nabbed for not saying "in between" when reaching in to close an angle cock. It seems, the entire crew was standing on the ground within 15 feet of the employee, and there were no other jobs working. The carrier still requires radio announcement of "in between" and "set and centered". This means the issue is not a safety issue, but an observation enforcement issue. SupOps Stuhldreher is responsible for all activities outside of the terminal and it appears he is not as forgiving as some previous officers here. looking for a body count. Be careful.

3. Move to yard office in Pasco -  a discussion was held, and no new problems were aired. The transportation issue will continue to be monitored.

4. Qualifying when working on yard jobs. Carrier requires yard engineers to be qualified to dogcatch up to 25 miles in each direction. Informing Carrier of non-qualification will trigger the need to get qualified. If you inform the carrier you are not qualified to dogcatch outside the terminal, under FRA rules, the carrier is allowed to make you get qualified. You will be compensated for a qualifying trip each direction.

5. FRA Guest - Darryl Morrow from the FRA has been invited to attend the next meeting to talk about FRA issues.

6. Vote taken for Extra board amendments as follows- Yes (3) No (24) measure fails. The amendment will be set aside. At a future time, if desired, we can bring the issue up again. All future 7-3 rest cycle agreements will include the floating days.

7.  A Ballot under section 43(b) has been received covering proposal by GCA concerning Safety Involvement/Alternative Handling Discipline. Proposal was read by local chairman, letter by D. Pierce outlining proposal was read and letter from General Chairman to members read. A lively discussion was then taken from the floor. Luckily, no projectiles were thrown.

There were several questions from the floor with a discussion of each. Vote taken as follows- Yes (9) No (5) Abstain (4). Motion to vote yes passes. This means we cast one vote as a division. The GCA is gathering votes from all the other divisions in our GCA, and the result will be announced around the middle of next month. 

Motion to close by Brother Knowles, seconded by Brother Nibbler. Motion passed.

Here's What Happened at the Meeting on Monday, Arpil 15, 2002

Meeting opened by the President in due form.

Members present: D St John, R Etienne, R. Balkowitsch, B. Knowles, D. Haney, C. Nibbler, L. Weed, D. Green, S. Evans, J. Hill, L. Coughlin, T. Jacobs, retired member J. Bonnin and special guest Darryl Morrow.

Mr. Morrow was introduced and gave a brief presentation. He is an operations practice inspector. If you call the FRA, please leave your name and number. They will not give that information out to the carrier. Discussions included:

Speedometers, working or not. If your speed recorder becomes B/O enroute, under federal rules you are required to proceed at a speed not to exceed 20 MPH.
 SOFA, five things the FRA has found to be causes of accidents. Prevention includes;
        Securing equipment before action is taken
        Protecting employees against moving equipment.
        Discussing safety at the beginning of a job or when a project changes.
        Communicating before action is taken.
        Mentor less experienced employees to perform service safely.

Working rules changing so rapidly, how do you keep up? Rules require the employee to be familiar with all rules. There seems to be a silence as for the carrier ensuring they instruct employees timely.
General Track Bulletins went into effect prior to bulletin coming out. Questions on block signal testing. Hand brake stenciling? Availability policy and Safety.

Mr. Morrow will return at the next monthly meeting with answers to questions as to why ground personnel need not be certified, but yard locomotive engineers do.

Minutes of previous meeting read. No corrections made. Motion to accept by Brother Haney, seconded by Brother Nibbler. Motion passed.

Budget Committee: D. Haney made report, no meetings were held and still waiting for a budget to be finished.

Finances: Presentation of current status made by sec/tres. Current membership is 110 plus one trainman. The current balances of accounts were discussed and several questions were asked from the floor. Resolution of IRS apparently not done, have received another bill. Have talked with Dr. Reese and she will attempt to find out what this one is for. The bills due for payment were presented and discussed. Motion to pay the bills by Brother Coughlin, seconded by Brother Jacobs. Motion passed.

Legislative Committee: Brother Knowles has resigned as legislative representative and brother Kautz will be filling in for the time being. We will need a special election to fill the post or the alternate position.

Discussion was held on sending a delegate to the International Western Convention. This would require a payment of $1.00 per member ($111.00 total). Motion to pay the fee made by Brother Haney, seconded by Sister Evans. Motion passed.

Local Committee: The following topics were discussed:

1. Orange cones. There is a bulletin out on these, you need to review this. Basically once these cones are placed 100 feet in from the fouling point of tracks, we will lose 200 feet from each track for storage. Switching rules will change, and cars will not be allowed to be left between the cones and the fouling point. You can depend on Ops testing on this one. Be sure to read the instructions in the General Notices, and follow them.
2. Safety participation. No joint auditing will be done. Blind studies may be conducted with the data being given to the safety coordinator for development of safety programs.
3. Weight on drivers. Payroll has been documenting individuals claiming large number of locomotives for wt. on drivers. Agreement has always stated that wt. on drivers are the largest # of locomotives handled at one time. They  have to be coupled together and used at the same time to claim.
4. Pasco problems still need info on any problems happening at Pasco. Not receiving documentation.
5. ITD/FTD Carrier is looking at a report that shows exact time by each control point to cut ITD/FTD. If you are required to move your train for convenience of carrier, with no intent to depart, make a note in the comment section stating facts. If you depart then are held at Evan or McLoughlin for trains, you have departed. This is the same as going to Hover for trains. If you get on your train at Evan or McLoughlin, your ITD stops when dispatcher tells you to go. If you are talked by block at Evan, and pull up behind a train at 8^th St., make a note in comments. Carrier is having a great time showing us ITD/FTD times that are at McLoughlin. Be accurate.
6. Lineups. If you get caught due to bad lineup, please document and give to us. Same with laying off fatigued.
7. LRC Blowouts. Keep track of times you call to blow out rest days. This is the only way we can prove you asked to keep working. TSS has no place for report on request to keep working. We need to pull tapes when carrier argues.
8. Manpower specialists will be cut in on 4-22-02. They will be responsible for all crew notifications, lay offs, mark ups, etc. The crew callers will only be calling trains now. Upon  implementation, this plan should work as well as all the others, and you need to keep your pencils sharp as there are bound to be penalties.
9. Remotes are going to be implemented soon in Seattle, Spokane and Everett. Be aware there will be people moving around.
10. Discussions of other issues.

Motion to close by Brother Nibbler, seconded by Brother Haney. Motion passed.