Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen

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Special Enrollment Extension for the
Health FSA Benefit Only

November 5, 2013 through December 1, 2013

Note: This special enrollment extension is only for the Health FSA benefit.
Enrollment for all other 2014 Railroad benefits closed on November 2.

The Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) endorsed a federal mandate that requires at least a two-person crew on U.S. freight trains. “Just four months ago in Quebec Canada we saw firsthand why the federal government must act now to mandate two-person crews on freight trains as a safety precaution,” said TTD President Edward Wytkind.

Following the implementation of the Roadway Worker Protection (RWP) Rule in 1997, there have been a total of 42 fatal RWP accidents, in which 44 roadway workers have perished, as of January 1, 2012. The FAMES Committee was able to obtain data to analyze 39 fatal RWP accidents, which accounted for 41 of the 44 fatalities. The FAMES Committee analysis is based on the available data.

A health flexible spending account (FSA) is a benefit plan that lets you save money by putting pre-tax money aside in a special account to help pay for certain medical costs and other health services. This means you can save on what you pay in your annual income taxes.

RRB Offices Remain Open

The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) has announced that during the lapse in Federal funding for certain Government operations which began October 1, 2013, ongoing benefit payments will continue and all RRB offices are expected to remain open.

FAMES — Fourth Quarter Safety Alert

Twenty-one years of data shows 4th Quarter spike in fatal roadway worker incidents

A comparison of roadway worker fatality data over a span of 21 years (1986–1994 and 1997– 2010) indicates that the highest number of roadway worker incidents occur in the 4th Quarter.

CLEVELAND — Late on Friday, September 20, 2013, United States District Court Judge John R. Adams issued a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) in Akron, Ohio, ending a strike that began earlier that day by locomotive engineers and by trainmen represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) against the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway (WLE).

Union members living in areas impacted by the floods that ravaged parts of Colorado and who participate in Union Plus programs may be eligible for financial assistance.

Download:

Disaster Assistance Colorado Floods 09-2013.pdf

Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Strike
Wheeling & Lake Erie

CLEVELAND, September 20 — Over 100 members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) struck the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway (WLE) at 5:00 local time this morning to protest that railroad’s repudiation of the Collective Bargaining Agreements that cover the two operating crafts.

In July, the Passenger Rail Labor Bargaining Coalition (PRLBC), consisting of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS) and the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes (BMWED), made the commitment to explore the possibility of resolving their disputes with Amtrak through the arbitration processes contemplated by Sections 7 and 8 of the RLA, 45 U.S.C. §§ 157, 158.