Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, March 20, 1990 TAG: 9003202526
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
However, neither side believes a strike will actually happen or, if one does, that it would last very long. Federal law gives both the president and Congress power to intervene if a strike threatens the nation's commerce.
"I see a strike imminent, yes; but I don't know when," said Richard Kilroy, president of the 105,000-member Transportation Communications Union (formerly the Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks). Once a strike date is set, a 90-day cooling-off period almost automatically follows under the Railway Labor Act.
Since World War II, the longest a national rail strike has lasted is four days, although selective strikes against individual railroads have lasted longer.
How to bring escalating health-care costs - now climbing at 15 percent to 20 percent a year - under control is the major issue separating railroad labor and management.
The railroads want workers to pay a share of increased health-care premiums, but the unions have proposed other ways of curbing costs, including switching to a system of managed health care in towns where it is available.
Both sides have agreed to deal with the health-care issues first in contract talks because the cost of health care will bear on the outcome of such issues as wages and work rules. The 280,000 unionized rail workers covered by the nationally negotiated contracts have not had a pay raise since Jan. 1, 1988.
Under federal law, railroad labor contracts do not expire but continue until they are renegotiated or the government intervenes. The current contract opened for renegotiation on July 1, 1988, but talks have been suspended since the middle of February.
The unions believe the talks are at an impasse. Kilroy said they want the mediation board to recognize the impasse and to release them from mediation with an agreement that the dispute would be submitted to an emergency investigative board named by President Bush. Kilroy is chairman of the Railway Labor Executives Association and that group's health and welfare committee.
Fred Hardin, president of the 100,000-member United Transportation Union, which represents train crews, said he expects the mediation board to declare an impasse and offer arbitration by April 1. Kilroy expects the board to act, maybe even before that.
Hardin doesn't expect either side to accept arbitration.
A strike can be called 30 days after arbitration is turned down. If interstate commerce is threatened, the board notifies the U.S. president, who can name an investigative board.
Frank Wilner, a spokesman for the American Association of Railroads, agreed that the two sides are close to an impasse. Negotiators "just have nothing else to talk about," he said.
Wilner stressed, however, that it is up to the mediation board to declare an impasse. "The National Mediation Board doesn't release you just because one side asks. It is in control."
The mediation board has not decided yet what action it will take, said board spokesman Lew Townsend. The board does not comment on the status of negotiations, he said. "We are working with the parties and are making progress in attempting to establish procedures for resolution of the case."
The cost of workers' health care has been central to most labor talks in recent years, including the just-ended dispute between the Pittston Co. and the United Mine Workers. Rail union officials say the time has come for Congress to enact a national health-care plan.
Skyrocketing health-care costs have been threatening labor-management relations on the railroads since 1984, when both sides agreed to form a joint committee to explore ways to bring costs under control. The naming of union representatives to the committee and the issuance of its report were delayed, however, because some unions failed to reach a contract with the railroads until late 1987.
All of the 14 rail unions are covered by the same health-care plan, but they negotiate wages and work rules separately with each company. The current health plan has a $100 yearly deductible and then pays 80 percent of covered medical expenses.
The plan has not changed since 1955, Wilner said. Workers pay no premiums now, but Wilner said workers need to start paying some of the costs to give them an incentive to help the railroads control costs. One railroad proposal is that workers pay one-half of the cost of yearly premium increases.
A second major contract issue is the desire of the railroads to expand what constitutes a workday for train crews. Now, once a crew has traveled 108 miles it is considered to have worked a day.
Because of the speed of today's trains, crews can earn three days' pay in one day, Wilner said. Because of competition with trucks, the railroads want to see the day extended to "a more realistic" 150 miles, Wilner said.
Another major work rule dispute centers on the number of people required to perform work on the shop floor, Wilner said. Management wants greater flexibility in assigning work across craft union lines.
Meanwhile, the United Transportation Union and the Transportation Communications Union - which combined represent about 75 percent of railroad workers - are talking about merging.
Talks are proceeding on a friendly basis, Hardin said. A merger would give more clout to the unions, whose numbers have been declining. If the merger talks are successful, it would be "a great step forward," Hardin said. If the UTU and TCU merge, other rail unions will join them, he said.
Wilner said the railroads would not oppose union mergers. Stressing that he was not endorsing this particular merger, Wilner said the railroads would welcome having fewer negotiations to face.
A merger would also simplify the issue of craft union work rules in the shops, Wilner said.
by CNB