Hotline #6-A - October 31, 1997

In the Senate, we now seem to have the long-awaited, bipartisan agreement on Amtrak labor protection, contracting-out policy, and liability. The Senate is scheduled to vote November 3 on the Amtrak reauthorization. Passing it would be a big step forward.

But there's more. On October 24, House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Bud Shuster (R.-Pa.) pulled his Amtrak reauthorization bill off the floor after losing a key labor-reform vote. Sen. James Jeffords (R.-Vt.) then developed Senate Joint Resolution 37, which would freeze Amtrak pay until a reauthorization became law. Then, a 90-day negotiating period would begin, to be followed by arbitration. The goal was to give labor an incentive to support reauthorization, the key to unlocking the $2.3 billion in Amtrak capital funds in the tax law passed in July.

As reported in the October 28 Wall Street Journal, the Amtrak Board has taken over Amtrak's negotiations with the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes, so amateurs represent Amtrak while pros continue to represent labor. It was the board, under pressure from the White House, that negotiated an eight-day strike postponement, to 12:00 am on November 6. This undercut Jeffords' S.J.Res.37, so the Senate did not vote on it this week. The new strike deadline is the day before Congress plans to adjourn for the year.

Republicans have criticized Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater, as an Amtrak board member, for politicizing the negotiating process. As foreshadowed in today's Wall Street Journal, the Amtrak Board has put a proposal on the table to give labor raises based on future generous actions by Congress. Late today, Senators Lott, McCain, Hutchison, and Jeffords sent a letter to Amtrak expressing grave concern about the proposal. If the BMWE accepts it, Senator Lott might protest by not taking up the Amtrak reauthorization on November 3.

If Lott pulls the bill, Amtrak once again would be in limbo. Congress plans to adjourn for the year on November 7. If an Amtrak reauthorization has not been passed by then, Amtrak likely would have a difficult time in December convincing its short-term lenders to extend the credit line on which it depends.

If you can't answer legislators' questions about the reauthorization, call, e-mail, or fax them to NARP, saying whether you want us to respond to you or to your legislator.

Last week, Amtrak was a pawn in a fight between Western and Eastern House Republicans. Now the Administration is politicizing the Amtrak negotiations in that the Senate votes November 4 on fast-track legislation, a high-profile issue that pits the White House against labor and makes the White House eager to please labor on everything else. Finally, some of the big rail labor unions would rather see Amtrak die than set precedents they fear would weaken their negotiating posture with the freight railroads.

The board-negotiated contract, by the way, might make sense if it includes real productivity advances, but there's no indication of that yet. Also, right now Amtrak's BMWE workers make more than their freight railroad counterparts. That's without considering overtime, and the Amtrak workers get slightly more overtime than the freight workers. If the existing Amtrak BMWE contract remains in effect, next year the freight workers would get slightly more than the Amtrak workers.

If there is a strike, Amtrak trains that do not use the Northeast Corridor should be unaffected. Boston-area and Connecticut Shore Line East commuter rail would shut down totally, Virginia Railway Express would terminate at L'Enfant Plaza and MARC CSX lines would terminate at Silver Spring and Greenbelt. But arrangements protecting Long Island, New Jersey Transit, and SEPTA would be reviewed after a week. Separately, SEPTA commuter rail engineers say they are overworked and have threatened to strike as early as November 9 if service is not cut 15%.