Transcript North Dakota State Legislative Board

Norfolk Southern General
Committee of Adjustment
Quadrennial Meeting
Roanoke, VA
What is likely to move in this Session?
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While gridlock has been common in the 112th Congress, there
are several pieces of legislation which may move this session:
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Surface Transportation Reauthorization – the Senate legislation was
voted on the week of March 13. It allowed the Secretary of
Transportation to push back the implementation deadline for PTC in
one year increments if railroads could not achieve those deadlines. It
also contained some positive provisions for Amtrak.
The House is still up in the air. The legislation introduced by Rep.
Mica contains many provisions which would negatively impact BLET
members – the implementation of PTC is rolled back to 2020;
Amtrak funding is cut and provisions are included to privatize parts
of the operations; crew van drivers are exempted from the Fair
Labor Standards Act. There have been signs that the House will take
up the Senate legislation as opposed to this piece though.
What is likely to move in this Session?
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Other legislation likely to move:
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FAA Reauthorization – The Conference Committee report
was passed by both the House and Senate and was signed by
the President on February 14. It significantly alters the Railway
Labor Act and also the way that the National Mediation Board
does its business. Labor is trying to get these changes fixed in a
separate piece of legislation
A JOBS bill – for political reasons, it is likely that job creation
legislation in some form will be passed.
BLET Supported Legislation
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The BLET is proposing several pieces of legislation to
Congress:
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Compassion Leave Act – which would amend the Family and
Medical Leave Act in order to allow more BLET members to
qualify for leave. It would reduce the number of hours that it
takes to qualify for FMLA from 1250 per year to 504 hours or
60% of the applicable monthly guarantee.
Hours of Service Technical Corrections – These corrections
would help to address issues unintended consequences of the
RSIA, and would give railroad operating employees predictable
and defined work/rest periods. Among the changes: 10 hour
call for unassigned railroad service; employees with regular
assignments with defined start times will be covered by
provisions of passenger hours of service regulations.
BLET Supported Legislation
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The BLET is proposing several pieces of
legislation to Congress:
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Amendment to Interstate Commerce Act – This
legislation would require that any entity that
receives federal funds to acquire, lease or improve
existing railroad rights of way be considered a
railroad carrier under federal law.
Legislation to slow down the implementation of
several regulations that would decrease the amount
of coal used by electric generation plants.
Other Legislation
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STB: These bills reauthorize STB and deal
primarily with shippers, along with mergers
and acquisitions.
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H.R. 30 -- Biggert
S. 49 -- Kohl
S. 158 – Rockefeller
Other Legislation
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Infrastructure Banks: An Infrastructure Bank is
a publically funded loan program for both
public and private entities looking to build or
redevelop qualifying infrastructure.
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S. 652 -- Kerry/Hutchison
S. 942 -- Murray
S. 936 -- Rockefeller/Lautenberg (BLET supports this
legislation.)
H.R. 402 -- DeLauro
H.R. 341 -- Johnson – TX
H.R. 1122 -- Richardson
Other Legislation
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Railroad Tax Breaks: These bills give a 25% tax
break to either shortline or other railroads on
qualifying investments. The shortline bills are
more likely to pass due to their broad support,
and a version was included in the House
surface transportation bill.
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S. 100 –Ensign
S. 672 – Reid/Rockefeller
H.R. 721– Jenkins
H.R. 2091 – Boswell
Federal GOP Rail Union Attacks
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National Right to Work – S. 504 and H.R. 2040 would
eliminate collective bargaining under the Railway Labor
Act. S. 504 has 20 co-sponsors and H.R. 2040 has 72 cosponsors.
Repeal of the NMB rule change which made union
elections under the Railway Labor Act more democratic –
H.R. 3538 (which would make it easier to decertify
unions under RLA and has 161 co-sponsors) and H.R.
548, which is a stand alone bill that would repeal the
NMB rule change if the provision had been removed from
the FAA reauthorization.
State GOP Union Attacks
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Right to Work Legislation was passed in Indiana and is
proposed or may be proposed in several states:
Missouri, Minnesota, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
Other states have legislation to limit collective
bargaining for public employees.
RTW prevents employers and their employees from
negotiating an agreement – known as a union security
clause – that requires all workers who receive the
benefits of a collective bargaining agreement to pay
their share towards the union representing their
interests at the bargaining table. Members have to
voluntarily choose to join the union and pay dues,
which weakens unions.
State GOP Union Attacks
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While proponents of Right to Work legislation
tout its economic benefits, the actual effects
of Right to Work are:
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reduce wages by $1,500 a year, for both union and
nonunion workers, after accounting for different
costs of living in the states (Gould and Shierholz
2011)
lower the likelihood that employees get healthcare
or pensions through their jobs—again, for both
union and nonunion employees (Gould and
Shierholz 2011)
have no impact whatsoever on job growth (Lafer
and Allegretto 2011)
What is at stake in the attacks?
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There were 14.7 million union workers in this country in
2010.
Millions more would like to join -- 60 million workers in
America want to have a union in their workplace.
Union workers earn higher wages and get more benefits
than workers that are not unionized.
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Union workers make 28% more
78 % have employer provided health insurance (only 50% of
non-union workers do)
34% are covered by guaranteed (defined-benefit) pensions
(only 11% of Nonunion workers covered by guaranteed
(pensions)
What is at stake in the attacks?
Unions are the people who brought you the weekend,
Railroad Retirement, Railway Labor Act, rail safety
regulations, FELA, Hours of Service, employer provided
health care, Social Security, the 8 hour workday, the 40
hour work week, job security, sick leave, vacation time,
Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment compensation, fair pay
for fair work, protection from employer harassment and
arbitrary discipline, child labor laws, minimum wage,
workplace equality and a safer working environment.
What is behind these attacks?
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Early in 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to allow
corporate funds to be used in election campaigns.
As a result of this decision, millions were spent to elect
corporation-friendly candidates in 2010.
The Chamber of Commerce, the National Right to Work
Committee and the American Legislative Exchange
Council (ALEC) have been pushing these issues for years.
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ALEC is allegedly a group of legislators, but is actually a front
for corporate interests and has been pushing corporate
legislation since the 1980s.
Now, as a result of the 2010 elections, we are seeing a
surge of anti-union, pro-corporation measures in states
and on the federal level.
What are we up against?
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Railroad PAC giving 2010 cycle: $5,285,391
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BNSF = $1,372,241
UP = $1,171,450
CSX = $1,155,750
NS = $869,900
KCS = $63,563
AAR = $212,951
The bulk of these donations went to Republicans. During the
past two decades, the railroad industry has regularly
contributed more to Republicans (68 percent) than
Democrats (32 percent).
These numbers do not include corporate donations which
occurred as a result of the Supreme Court decision.
What are we up against?
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After the 2010 elections, railroads spent millions more
lobbying the candidates they got elected totaling
$34,090,714 (and this is before the fourth quarter
numbers are in).
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AAR = $8,443,331
UP = $3,975,247
CSX = $3,296,637
BNSF = $4,905,000
NS = $4,931,848
KCS = $135,000
Between 2004 and 2009, the railroads doubled their
lobbying expenditures.
What are we up against?
The railroad industry is one of the most
federally regulated industries in the country.
 We have recently seen the intersection
between politics and our livelihoods with these
attacks, and the power that politics has over
us.
 The railroads choose to support candidates
who will support their issues. We must do the
same.
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What can we do about it?
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The BLET obviously does not have the financial resources
to compete with the railroads and their billions in profits
and their millions in PAC dollars.
Our PAC fund is comparatively small.
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We average approximately 82 cents per member, with only 1/3
of our members giving to the PAC.
The BLET-PAC fund is used to promote candidates who
best represent our interests and those of our families.
All of the races in 2012 will be vital to our interests.
We need to ensure that candidates who support our
issues get elected in 2012.
Where do we go from here?
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Most polls suggest that it will be difficult, but not impossible for Democrats
to retake the U.S. House of Representatives. Several states are still awaiting
the outcome of redistricting.
The Senate configuration will depend on the results of a few races that are
considered toss-ups. The Democrats, due to retirements, have a more seats
to hold than the Republicans.
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According to the Cook Report, Democrats will defend 23 of the 33 seats on the
ballot in November to 10 for Republicans. There are 10 open seats; seven held
by Democrats in CT, HI, NE, NM, ND,VA and WI. Of these seven seats, only CT
looks reasonably safe for the party today, while five more are in the Toss Up
column and the seat in NE is in the Likely Republican column, meaning that it will
be very difficult for Democrats to hold onto it. Two Democratic incumbents also
have races that are now considered toss-ups – Claire McCaskill (MO) and Jon
Tester (MT).
In the Presidential race, it looks like the determining factor will be who
wins the Republican nomination and also how the economy is doing.
Currently, President Obama is in a virtual statistical tie with Mitt Romney,
the expected Republican nominee.
Where do we go from here?
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In the U.S. Senate, Democrats currently hold 53 seats
(with 2 Independents choosing to caucus with
Democrats) and Republicans hold 47. In the U.S.
House, Democrats currently hold 192 seats and
Republicans hold 242.
In the House, there are currently192 Democrats, 242
Republicans, and one vacancy
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There are 23 competitive Democratic seats
32 competitive Republican seats
11 open Democratic seats
6 open Republican seats
QUESTIONS?