Times Online: December 30, 2005
By Ben Webster, Transport Correspondent of The Times

The Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) appeared determined tonight to go ahead with its New Year's Eve Tube strike from noon tomorrow until noon on Sunday.

Brendan Barber, the TUC general secretary, made a series of telephone calls to both RMT and London Underground (LU) today but there were no direct talks.

The strike would ruin plans for a huge New Year?s Eve street party in Central London, with the Tube running all night to take revellers home. The New Year?s Day parade, which starts at noon in Parliament Square and had been expected to attract 400,000 people, would also be badly affected.

LU expects to run some services on all lines but said that trains would be severely disrupted if there was a strike by the 4,000 RMT members among its 6,000 station staff.

The dispute centres on changes to rosters, which LU says are needed to help fund a reduction in the working week from 37.5 to 35 hours.

The RMT says that up to 800 staff would have to move from their current workplace to another station. It claims this will leave some stations dangerously understaffed.

But LU said its safety team had reviewed the plans and passed them.

Mike Brown, LU?s chief operating officer, said: "Does anyone really expect that, after what we have seen this year where the Underground staff behaved magnificently in the response to July 7, that we would ever want to operate a system that was less safe than it was in July?"

Transport for London tonight advised anyone planning to celebrate New Year?s Eve in Central London to plan an alternative route home which did not involve the Tube.

In a statement, it said: "In the event of the RMT strike going ahead, we expect there to be some disruption to Tube services, but London Underground intends to run as full a service as it can, throughout the night if possible. We expect to be able to provide some service on all lines.

"Before they travel, passengers should check the TfL website, local radio and television travel bulletins or call 020 7222 1234 for up-to-the-minute travel information.

"Given the possibility of disruption, and the very cold weather, we strongly recommend that passengers plan their journey carefully in advance so that they know how to get home using an alternative route if necessary."

The RMT has also called a 24-hour strike from 6.30pm on Sunday January 8 to 6.30pm on Monday January 9.

Posted on 06:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Times of India: December 30, 2005
Shalini Singh

NEW DELHI: The Indian Railways are ringing in the New Year with a path-breaking policy reform: The long-awaited privatisation of rail-based container transportation.

According to highly placed sources in Rail Bhavan, the new policy - the first such policy announcement in the history of Indian Railways - will be unveiled by Railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in the first week of January.

The move puts an end to Railways' subsidiary, Container Corporation of India's (Concor) monopoly in the containerised transport segment. With this, Lalu Prasad also stands to make history as one of the country's most progressive railway ministers.

While that policy guidelines are already in place from 1994 allowing competition to Concor, in reality, no approvals have ever been given to private players by any former railway minister, forcing the framing of a fresh policy on the issue.

According to sources, the new policy opens up all the container freight transportation routes simultaneously and allows entry even to companies without prior exposure in the transportation sector. While no licence fee has been proposed, registration fee of around Rs 50 crore for the Delhi-Mumbai route and about Rs 10 crore for the lower traffic volume routes for a 30-year term can be expected.

This is substantially lower than the Rs 135 crore licence fee that was recommended by Rites for the Delhi-Mumbai corridor.

Potential bidders - which include global and domestic firms like P&O Ports, Maersk, NOL/APL, the Adani Group, SAIL, Tisco, Lafarge, Reliance and the AV Birla Group - will also need to either own a port or Inland Container Depot or enter into a tie-up with one to qualify for registration.

What's more, the over 25 new players who intend to pitch for this business, are being offered a level playing field with Concor, a long standing demand, and one that has faced the strongest resistance from the Railways. This means that like other new players, Concor and Pipapav Rail Corp will have to pay registration fees.

The motivation for all this change rests on the desire to wean traffic back from roads. The Railways, which will carry 670 million tonnes of freight this year, has a 33 per cent share of total transport. Just 1% additional traffic translates into Rs 1,000 crore in revenues, while profit margin in the business is 70 per cent

Posted on 06:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Newindpress: Dec 31, 2005
SOUTHERN NEWS - ANDHRA PRADESH

VIJAYAWADA: The Railway employees are likely to go on a nation-wide strike in February, 2006, stated National Federation of Indian Railwaymen (NFIR) general secretary Marri Raghavaiah.

Addressing the employees at Divisional Railway Manager's Office here today, he said the Joint Consultative Machinery would conduct a "strike ballot" between Jan 3 and 10 to take a decision on the proposed stir.

The railway staff will have no alternative but to go on strike as the government has failed to appoint the sixth wage revision committee. Moreover, the employees are yet to get the benefits of Fifth Wage revision.

The Centre will be held responsible if the 34 lakh employees go on strike en masse, he said. The management and the unions had entered into an agreement to pay 61 days' wage as bonus but the Railways paid only 59 days' wage as bonus.

This indicates that the government had no sincerity to implement the agreements reached between the employees federation and the management, he added.

The demands of the employees include wage revision panel, announcement of interim relief, merger of 50 per cent DA with basic pay, cancellation of 2002 running allowance recommendations, cadre restructuring, increase in interest rate on Provident Fund, dropping of contributory pension scheme, pension to casual staff, filling up of vacant posts etc. South Central Railway Employees Sangh divisional secretary M Bhaskara Rao, union assistant general secretary M Ramajoga Rao and divisional president M Haribabu were present.

Posted on 06:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

RMT: 30 December 2005

LONDON UNDERGROUND should not squander its final chance to avoid strike action by 4,000 Tube station staff on New Year's Eve, the system's biggest union said today.

On the eve of its first strike over the imposition of rosters the union believes will leave stations dangerously understaffed, RMT called on LUL and the Mayor to respond positively to its compromise offer that would enable the Tube to run and talks to take place.

"Our offer to suspend strike action if Tube bosses suspend the imposition of the new rosters at the heart of this dispute remains on the table, but time is running out," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"Rather than accept our olive branch LUL yesterday repeated the myth that we are seeking to renegotiate the 35-hour week deal, and unfortunately the Mayor has joined in.

"For the record, we do not want to renegotiate the deal, but want LUL to stick to the one we actually signed.

"The rosters LUL want to impose were not a part of that deal, and the number of staff being displaced could be more than four times the 200 we were given to believe would be the case.

"The effect of these imposed rosters will be to reduce the number of station staff on duty at any one time, in many cases by more than half, and that is the crux of this dispute.

"That casts doubt on our ability to respond adequately to emergencies of all sorts, and therefore poses an unacceptable threat to safety, both for our members and for Tube users.

"Maybe the Mayor is not aware of the shabby strokes his Tube bosses have pulled since we signed that deal, but he will recall that, as a Mayoral candidate courting our support, he once pledged to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with RMT members on the picket line.

"He should reflect that our members, people who deliver a public service every day of the year, have voted by a margin of five to one to defend Tube safety, not just for themselves but for everyone who uses the network," Bob Crow said.

Posted on 12:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

BBC News: 30 December 2005

A Tube strike is still threatening to shut down the entire network on New Year's Eve, after talks broke down.

Thousands of London Underground (LU) workers are due to walk out for 24 hours at noon on Saturday.

On Thursday the RMT union refused to attend talks, after LU turned down its request to delay the introduction of new rotas at the centre of the dispute.

London's mayor said the strike would "spoil a great night out for hundreds of thousands of Londoners."

Crowds fill the streets around Trafalgar, Parliament and Leicester squares and the Victoria embankment to hear Big Ben strike and watch the fireworks display at midnight.

The mayor had planned to offer free travel on the Tube from 2345 GMT on New Year's Eve to 0430 GMT the following day.

But now the whole Tube is likely to be closed, because of the row over the implications of shifting LU staff onto a 35-hour week.

"We had no choice" - Bobby Law, RMT

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union says when it agreed to make the change, it had not been shown new work patterns.

It says it understood 200 staff would be moved to new jobs, but claims there are plans to move up to 800 people - which it says will leave some stations short of staff and compromise safety.

The union had offered to suspend the action, if LU agreed to suspend the introduction of the rotas, to allow more time for talks.

But Tube bosses turned down the "ultimatum", saying it could have compromised holiday arrangements for thousands of staff.

Of the strike, RMT regional organiser Bobby Law told the BBC: "We had no choice really.

Striking on New Year's Eve is not about industrial relations. It is a cynical way to exploit Londoners
Mike Brown, LU

"It's LU that won't suspend the introduction of the rosters which we believe is unsafe - not just for our members - should they be introduced. We believe they will be unsafe for the travelling public as well."

LU's chief operating officer, Mike Brown said the union had not raised any specific safety concerns with them.

"Does anyone really expect that, after what we have seen this year where the Underground staff behaved magnificently in the response to 7 July, that we would ever want to operate a system that was less safe?," he said.

He said LU would remain available "for the next 24 hours, right up to the 11th hour before this strike" for talks.

"Striking on New Year's Eve is not about industrial relations," he said.

"It is a cynical way to exploit Londoners and I think it is a big mistake."

Posted on 12:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The New York Times: DECEMBER 30, 2005
By John Tagliabue

Overseas, the Trains and the Market for Them Accelerate
KREFELD, Germany High-speed trains without locomotives? Europe must be kidding.

In one vast hall, workers in blue overalls are putting the finishing touches on what would, on a normal train, be a locomotive, except that it houses a spacious conference room with a large table and seven comfortable armchairs.

In an adjacent hall, others are attaching what look like ordinary wheel trucks to a rail car, except that these contain electric motors that will essentially do the locomotive's job of pulling the train.

"We're now turning out a car every one or two days," said Michael Gessner, project manager at the Siemens rail car plant in the Uerdingen suburb of this industrial city. "When we begin the Chinese order, it will be two a day."

Work at the Siemens factory illustrates a coming together of two developments in high-speed passenger train travel: technical breakthroughs in the way the bullet-shaped trains run, and the opening of vast new markets in Eastern Europe and Asia that are combining to give a steady boost to the business.

As countries like Italy and Spain - and emerging markets like China and Russia - open their pocketbooks for huge high-speed rail development, the United States remains on the sidelines, risking to lose out on new technologies for propulsion and vehicle control.

For those who thought railroads were basically 19th-century technology, think again. Thanks to miniaturization, these powerful new trains have motors built into the axles of every second rail car, rather than concentrating the pulling power in the locomotive, as was done in traditional pull-push trains.

The new technology makes the trains lighter and enables the trains to go faster, to brake and accelerate more easily, and to cause less wear on rails and wheels. It also frees up locomotives for up to 20 percent additional seating space. The newer generation of very high-speed trains has other breakthrough features, including so-called eddy current brakes, which employ electromagnetic fields rather than brake disks to slow and stop.

"The carriages are stable and light, and of very high speed," said Frans Lac senior vice president in Alstom's transport division, which will install the new technology in the fourth generation of its TGV.

(The French manufacturer Alstom, like most of the industry, considers high-speed trains those with a top cruising speed of 240 kilometers, or 150 miles, per hour; trains with a top cruising speed 340 kilometers an hour are considered very high speed. The Acela's top speed is about 200 kilometers per hour.)

In November, Siemens landed a $804 million contract to supply 60 sleek-nosed high-speed trains to the Chinese railroads. The order is just one in a 15-year program to upgrade China's rail network, including the introduction of 290-kilometer-an-hour bullet trains. "Up to 2020 they want 12,000 kilometers of high-speed rail," said Dietrich Mir, president of Siemens' trains division.

At about the same time, Siemens signed a preliminary contract for high-speed trains to connect Moscow and St. Petersburg. Like China, Russia, too, has gigantic rail ambitions.

The line may one day continue beyond St. Petersburg to Helsinki and past Moscow to Russian cities like Nizhny Novgorod.

In South Korea, Alstom, the inventor of the train grande vitesse, or TGV, is supplying 300-kilometer-an-hour trains for a five-year, $17 billion project linking the southern city of Busan with the capital, Seoul.

The growth in Asia is giving the small club of high-speed passenger train manufacturers a lift just as Western European governments are watching their budgets more closely. Europe's dense population and geographical features like the Alps make the construction of high-speed lines costly.

Moreover, environmental groups often resist the construction of new train lines, claiming they bring noise and unwanted development and draw money from more urgent needs.

Nonetheless, Spain hopes to have the Madrid-Barcelona link open by 2008; France and Germany are upgrading the line from Paris through Strasbourg and on to the German cities of Stuttgart and Frankfurt for 340-kilometer-an-hour trains.

American industry is largely sitting this one out. While some American companies, like the electromotive division of General Motors and the MotivePower Industries division of the Wabtec Corp., are doing brisk business with Chinese rail operators, their business is mainly freight, while the market for high-speed passenger trains is limited to a small group that has shrunk in recent years through a wave of mergers and acquisitions.

In 2001, Bombardier, the Canadian transport company, acquired Adtranz, a German-based rail equipment maker; at about the same time, Alstom bought Fiat Ferroviaria, Fiat's rail equipment division and the original developer of technology that enables high-speed trains to tilt into curves, much the way a motorcycle can. Within Europe, the three leaders are vying to grab market share with snazzier and ever faster models and new technology.

In Europe, to be sure, the growth of the market is not without its obstacles. Some argue that the cost of high-speed rail is excessive, compared with the operation of no-frills airlines, and that it only indulges a European penchant to go first class whenever possible; others say the environmental damage is too great.

In northeast Italy, near Turin, the site of the next winter Olympics in February, environmental groups are opposing a new high-speed line and tunnel to connect Lyon in France and Turin, arguing they would drag even more industrial traffic into the Alps. The train will cross a valley that already has a conventional train line and a superhighway.

"It's incredibly costly, they're talking 13 billion euros," about $15 billion, said Marco Ponti, a transportation expert at Milan's Polytechnic Institute who backs the protesters.

Ponti likened the project to the English Channel rail tunnel, whose construction cost almost doubled from original estimates.

"The Channel tunnel went bankrupt not once, but twice," he said.

But Ponti, a former World Bank consultant, acknowledged that "there is a place for high-speed trains for medium distances and in very densely populated areas."

Still, the governments in Rome and Paris are throwing their full weight behind high-speed rail. West of Turin, engineers are blasting a tunnel through the craggy Alps, and this fall Italy took tenders on 30 very high-speed trains and says it wants to acquire 100 in all. Its master plan foresees building high-speed lines in the shape of a T, from Milan in the north to Naples in the south, and from Turin in the west to Venice in the east.

In Asia, too, the European train builders face challenges. For one, there is competition from Japan's fabled Shinkansen, the first high-speed train to go into service. A Shinkansen consortium led by Mitsui & Co. that includes many of Japan's top industrial companies was chosen by Taiwan for a 340-kilometer-an-hour train inaugurated last year from Taipei to the southern port of Kaoshiung. While Asian contracts are lucrative, most countries insist on technology transfers including the assembly of most of the trains in local factories.

Such requirements put pressure on the Europeans to continuously upgrade their technology or risk being overtaken by their own customers.

"The key is new technology," said Alstom's Lac? "The Chinese market is very interesting. They have the culture; they want to acquire the technology."

Posted on 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Guardian: December 30, 2005
Mark Milner

Rail travel will reach its highest level for almost 50 years in 2005 with travellers clocking up some 1.07billion journeys, according to the Association of Train Operating Companies.

The total is an increase of 30m on 2004 and has been exceeded only twice in the industry's record books: in 1957 and 1958, during the pre-Beeching era when the rail network was 40% bigger than it is today.

However, ATOC warns that more investment will be needed if Britain's railways are to cope with the expected growth in rail use over the next decade.

"The strong rise in passenger numbers underscores the urgent need for incremental investment - in rolling stock and to relieve pinchpoints - to grow railway capacity," ATOC's director general, George Muir, said yesterday.

ATOC said long-distance and regional services grew by 5%. London and the south-east were up 1%. This would have been higher but for the July bombings. The organisation, which represents the train operating companies, said long-distance journeys had been boosted by the completion of the upgrade of the west coast main line, which runs between Euston and Glasgow. Passenger numbers between London and Manchester rose 19%.

"The railways on all long-distance routes are winning business back from the airlines - to the great benefit of the environment," ATOC said in a statement.

The low-cost carrier easyJet took a different view. "Passenger numbers between London and Glasgow are pretty stable. We have not really seen a change," a spokeswoman for the airline said. ATOC said it was pleased with the pilot schemes for the Community Rail Strategy, which is designed to improve the use of rural and local lines. It said the St Ives Bay line had seen its income climb by 25%.

Meera Rambissoon, a public transport campaigner with Transport 2000, said: "We welcome this continued growth in rail use - it shows that people want to use the railways. But passengers are fed up with sardine-tin trains and the government must act to tackle overcrowding and enable growth to continue.

"The above-inflation fares increases in the new year, at a time when overall motoring costs are falling, are not the right way forward. Instead, we need to expand capacity," she said.

Posted on 11:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Press Association: Thu 29 Dec 2005

Time is running out to avert a damaging New Year's Eve Tube strike.

Despite informal talks being held on Wednesday, London Underground (LU) and the RMT transport union ended Thursday seemingly as far apart as ever from reaching agreement in a dispute over the implications of a new 35-hour week.

Should no last-ditch breakthrough be reached, RMT Tube station staff will strike from noon on New Year's Eve to noon on New Year's Day.

LU had been prepared to meet the RMT at conciliation service Acas to try to resolve the working-week issue and address concerns the union has about new rosters, safety and manning levels on the Tube.

But the RMT saw little point in an Acas meeting after LU had rejected the union's offer to suspend the strike if LU suspended the introduction of new rosters.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone said he "very much regretted" the refusal of the RMT to take part in talks.

He said: "Londoners will be wondering what the RMT actually want. They are getting a 35-hour week with no loss of pay and no reduction in staffing.

"They have a commitment from Transport for London that there will be no overall cut in station staff and they know perfectly well that no new rosters will be introduced which have not been fully validated for safety."

Mr Livingstone said a strike would "do nothing other than spoil a great night out for hundreds of thousands of Londoners".

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "It is almost beyond belief that London Underground has turned down flat an offer that would have allowed services to run on New Year's Eve and given us the room for in-depth discussions to take place later. Surely the priority should be to get the services running."

Posted on 05:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Bloomberg: Dec. 29

London Underground Ltd., which operates the city's commuter-train system, and a rail workers' union failed to make progress in talks aimed at averting a New Year's Eve strike.

The company yesterday refused to delay implementation of a plan to redeploy workers that's at the center of the dispute, and the Rail, Maritime and Transport union passed up a negotiating session today with the company and a mediator.

"London Underground's point-blank refusal to accept our compromise offer means that strike action remains on for 24 hours over New Year's Eve and over Jan. 8-9,'' general secretary Bob Crow said on the RMT's Web site, referring to the union's rejected offer to suspend the strike if the company delayed the personnel changes.

A strike will affect the travel plans for New Year's Eve revelers and people planning to attend a Jan. 1 parade.

London Underground wanted to continue talks today with the union and the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, an independent body that mediates industrial disputes, said company spokesman Allan Ramsay.

The union refused to attend the session after the company wouldn't back off the February implementation of the job changes, said Derek Kotz, an RMT union spokesman.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone planned to operate the rail system free of charge between 11:45 p.m. New Year's Eve and 4:30 a.m. New Year's Day to encourage visitors to go to central London.

Livingstone

"A strike will do nothing other than spoil a great night out for hundreds of thousands of Londoners,'' said Livingstone in a statement e-mailed from his office today. ``I very much regret the refusal of the RMT to take part in talks today to avert a strike on New Year's Eve.''

About 4,000 workers voted to hold the walkouts to protest the proposed transfer of 500 employees to different jobs on the underground network, also known as the Tube.

The union says the reassignment of workers would reduce safety at stations and that the changes are being imposed without its approval.

The company says the moves will improve security by putting more workers on platforms rather than in ticket offices and are part of a contract union workers approved more than a year ago.

The union canceled a planned strike last New Year's Eve after it reached an agreement with the company on different issues. A 24-hour RMT strike in June 2004 shut down the train network, forcing the 3 million daily riders to walk, drive, cycle or ride buses.

Posted on 04:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Independent: 28 December 2005
Johann Hari

...and how Tony Blair failed to protect us from them. This year, the Prime Minister has taken a hat-trick of decisions soft on corporate crime.

After religious fanatics massacred 52 people in central London, Tony Blair said legislation had to be introduced "immediately". His mantra was simple and compelling: "The greatest responsibility of any Prime Minister is to ensure the safety of the British people from killers." But it turns out there is a silent clause to his statement, a neat little loop-hole he forgot to mention. The Prime Minister will act relentlessly against people who might kill you - unless they are smart-suited corporate killers, in which can he will bend and twist the law according to their whims.

This year, the Prime Minister has taken a hat-trick of decisions that are soft on corporate crime and soft on the causes of corporate crime. The first - and most startling - emerged in the past week as a bitter Christmas present for the British people.

In three successive manifestos, Blair has promised to introduce laws to hold companies that kill people criminally responsible. You just need to glance at the death tolls to see why this law is needed. Last year, 220 workers and 361 members of the public were killed in the workplace. Some were, of course, just accidents - but the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found that 70 percent of these deaths were due to managers cutting corners, knowingly gambling with human life. If you want a human face to slap on these statistics, picture Simon Jones, a 24 year old who was sent to unload cargo on board a ship - one of the most dangerous jobs in the country - with just a few minutes "training", and was crushed to death within two hours.

So a Prime Minister committed to our safety above all else, a Prime Minister armed with three electoral mandates to act from the British people, will be rushing to the statute book, surely? Not quite. After intensive corporate lobbying, he prevaricated for eight years, publishing glacial "consultation papers" and "inquiries." Then - at last - this April, a draft Corporate Manslaughter Bill was published.

But if you pick through the Bill's provisions, it becomes clear it is a deliberately dud piece of legislation. Company directors are not subject to punitive sanctions, even though the government itself had accepted in 2000 that this would mean there was "insufficient deterrent force" to save lives. The bill contains more loopholes than a rollercoaster, and the Transport and General Workers' Union - which has been at the forefront of this campaign - warned that "convictions will be as hard, or perhaps even harder, to obtain than at present." The government's own Regulatory Impact Assessment said that it expected only five prosecutions a year to emerge from the new laws - less than 2 percent of the deaths judged by the HSE to be caused by negligent management.

And then - just before Christmas - even this lame, limping Bill was judged to be too much and put down. A flotilla of carefully-placed leaks in the right-wing press have revealed that the Cabinet has decided the Corporate Manslaughter Bill should be buried along with the 406 British people the government refused to protect in 2005.

But - wait! - what is this sitting under the Christmas tree, next to the rotting Bill? Why, it's a lovely chunk of asbestos! As part of its "bonfire of red tape", the government is about to beat back regulations protecting us from exposure to a deadly poison. From next month, unlicensed contractors will be allowed to handle textured wall and asbestos ceiling coatings. Or, to be more precise: hundreds of minimum-wage painters and decorators will be required to by their employers. So far, only 60 Labour MPs have rebelled. Yet the death toll from asbestos makes even the massacres of Mohammed Sidiqh-Khan and his jihadist friends look like a grazed knee: over 2000 people die in this country of asbestos-induced mesothelioma, a disease that agonisingly destroys your lungs.

Why would the government do such a thing? Well, corporations have complained about the "onerous" costs imposed by the existing regulations, and they can afford swish lobbyists and expensive quasi-scientific studies to make it look like they are being perfectly reasonable. The future victims of asbestos, by contrast, are diffuse. They have nobody except the often-ignored trade unions to speak for them. It is the government[s job to see through the claims of vested interests and regulate for the public good - but even under Labour, this no longer seems to be happening. They have lost any sense of the difference between corporate interests and the public interest. Ronald Reagan outlined one of the core neoliberal ideas when he said, "If it's good for General Motors, it's good for America." Tony Blair seems to believe if it's good for Joe Corporation, it's good for Britain.

And the triple-bill of corporate treats is topped off with Tony Blair's refusal to deal with the dozens of toxins washing through your bloodstream as you read this. This year, the World Wildlife Fund checked the blood of British volunteers for traces of chemical pollution, and found something startling: the average Brit has 27 different hazardous substances in their blood. This matches the findings of the Standing Committee of European Doctors (a body which includes the British Medical Association), who warn that the Europe-wide rise in asthma, cancers, infertility and birth defects appears to be directly linked to the chemical pollution in our flesh.

That's why the European Union has proposed over the past twelve years to bring the huge amount of untested chemicals all around us under some sort of safety framework. The proposals were very basic: the 30,000 untested chemicals in everyday items should be logged and investigated, and the potential undiscovered DDTs and asbestoses subject to tough restrictions. This process was supposed to reach a crescendo this month, when the Registration, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals (REACH) was established.

Again, our Prime Minister, concerned for our safety "above all else", will have been at the forefront of these proposals - won't he? You guessed it: he has been a fierce critic of the original REACH proposals, demanding the protections be peeled back and peeled back to a bare minimum. The deal eventually signed this month is a skeletal parody of the original proposals, lacking even a requirement for corporations to stop using a dangerous substance when an affordable safe alternative is available.

Blair claims the REACH regulations would be "too costly" - yet when it comes to jihadi bombers, he says "you can't take risks with safety, no matter what the cost." Why can we haggle over the lives of one set of victims, but not the other? But even Blair's premise is flawed: the REACH proposals would save us money in the long term. Researchers at University College London found that while the regulations will cost industry at most £3.5bn, they will save us £191bn in healthcare costs and added productivity over the next 30 years because fewer of us will be sick.

But the calm, quiet voices advocating the long-term public good have been drowned out by the well-resourced, super-slick salesmen of the rich. In this instance, Blair has been lobbied mainly at one remove, via his friends in the Bush administration. The US chemicals industry sells over $20bn worth of chemicals to Europe every year, and they use these profits in part to grease the palms (and psalms) of Republican politicians to the tune of £9.3m a year. In return for the cash, the White House has been fighting hard against REACH and the costs it would impose on their chemical paymasters. A leaked memo last year revealed the Bushies planned to "target the UK" as a weak link in the EU chain. It worked ? and you and I are less safe as a result. As the Spanish Green MEP David Hammerstein-Mintz explains, "The health of millions of children is being sacrificed for a few per cent of company profits."

Next time Tony Blair talks tough about protecting the British people, don?t just picture suicide-murderers. Picture a workman crushed to death, a painter hacking out his asbestos-scarred lungs, and the chemical cocktail washing around your own guts.

Posted on 03:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

RMT: 28 December 2005

STRIKE ACTION by 4,000 members of London Underground's biggest union is set to go ahead on New Year's Eve and January 8 and 9 after bosses rejected a compromise offer to suspend action to allow talks on new rosters the union believes will leave stations dangerously understaffed.

"Discussions with London Underground broke down today because the company refused to suspend the introduction of the new rosters at the heart of this dispute to allow us to enter into detailed discussions in January," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"As a gesture of goodwill we offered to suspend our strike action if the company responded by suspending the introduction of new rosters that have not been safety validated.

"It is almost beyond belief that the company has turned down flat an offer that would have allowed services to run on New Year's Eve and given us the room for in-depth discussions to take place later. Surely the priority should be to get the services running.

"It is no good LUL talking about three days of talks at Acas if they have already made it clear that they will not move towards recognising our members' safety concerns - that would simply have left Londoners and our members high and dry.

"LUL's point-blank refusal to accept our compromise offer means that strike action remains on for 24 hours over New Year's Eve and over January 8 and 9," Bob Crow said.

Posted on 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Times Online: December 29, 2005

Hopes of averting a damaging New Year's Eve Tube strike remain slim today.

London Underground (LU) says it is prepared to meet the RMT rail union at Acas, the arbitration service today. But the RMT, which has called a December 31 strike of its Tube station staff, says it sees no point in attending after LU rejected a compromise move in the dispute over the implications of a new 35-hour week. Although it has agreed to the shorter working week, the RMT is unhappy at the implementation of new rosters which it says will compromise safety.

Yesterday LU rejected the RMT's offer to suspend the New Year's Eve strike if LU suspended the introduction of the new rosters.

Station staff are due to walk out from noon on New Year's Eve to noon on New Year's Day in an action which will lead to a complete shutdown on the network. As usual at new year, it had been planned to keep the Tube running all night on New Year's Eve, with the service free from 11.45pm on December 31 until 4.30am on January 1. A Tube strike would create travel difficulties for thousands of new year revellers.

The RMT has also called a 24-hour strike from 6.30pm on Sunday, January 8 to 6.30pm on Monday, January 9. The strikes were announced last Thursday and talks at Acas the following day ended without agreement.

Posted on 12:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Cumbria News and Star: 28/12/2005

CUMBRIAN MP David Maclean has written to Transport Secretary Alistair Darling demanding that all stations and services on the Carlisle to Newcastle line should be retained.

Leaks have suggested the Government wants to shut uneconomic lines and stations and among those up for closure are Brampton, Wetheral, Haltwhistle, Dunston, Blaydon, Haydon Bridge and Bardon Mill.

Mr Maclean, Tory MP for Penrith and the Border, said the excuse that small, rural lines delay high-speed trains is nonsense in this case because no high-speed trains use the Carlisle-to-Newcastle line.

He claims the route and stations are essential for tourism development along the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage site.

Mr Maclean said:"I have asked Alistair Darling for urgent assurances that these stations will not be closed and there will be no loss of early or late train services to all the stations.

"Furthermore I want him to publish these secret documents as soon as possible so that we can all have our fears allayed."

Earlier this month, Mr Darling pledged there would be no rail line closures in Cumbria. He was speaking in advance of a review of the northern rail franchise which includes the lines from Carlisle to Barrow, Newcastle and Leeds.

Mr Darling, who was travelling through the county on a service marking the start of 125mph trains, said: "We are not in the business of wholesale closures. Those days are behind us."

Posted on 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Times of India: December 28, 2005

YANGON: Indian locomotives and carriages are being used on a newly opened railway service between Myanmar's current and former administrative capitals, Pyinmana and Yangon, state-run media reported on Wednesday.

A ceremony was held at Yangon's Central Railway Station on Tuesday to launch the new rolling stock purchased with an Indian government loan, said the "New Light of Myanmar".

Myanmar Railways bought 11 locomotives, 12 upper class coaches, 22 ordinary class coaches and spare parts with a USD 57 million credit awarded by the Indian government to upgrade the Yangon-Mandalay trunk line and its facilities, the report said.

Mandalay is the country's second-largest city. Pyinmana, formerly a provincial trading town about 400 kilometres north of the old capital, lies on the highway between Yangon and Mandalay.

Since the government announced in November that it was moving its capital, it has launched regular rail, car and air services between Pyinmana and Yangon.

Indian railways supplied coaches and locomotives to neighbouring Myanmar in the mid-1960s.

Posted on 12:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

NewIndpress Dec 29, 2005
SOUTHERN NEWS - TAMIL NADU

COIMBATORE: The Southern Railway Employees' Sangh (SRES), on Wednesday, adopted a resolution demanding the Union government to constitute a committee for the sixth pay commission.

At the Divisional Executive Committee Meeting (DEC) of the Sangh, V Arumugam, President of SRES, said that the Employees? Sangh in association with other unions would enter into an indefinite strike from February 25, 2006, if the Centre refuses to accept their demands.

However, a two-day referendum would be conducted by all the unions to study the opinion of the employees from January 6, with regard to the strike, he said. The Sangh President urged the employees not to fall for false promises.

Briefing on the issue, he said the Centre would try to dismantle the unity of the unions by promising employment to the children of the members by branding them as "loyal workers", who in turn would be forced to boycott the strikes.

In the meeting, the Sangh members also condemned the Centres decision to bring down the interest rate of Employees Provident Fund (EPF).

Furthermore, the Sangh urged the Union government to fill the vacancies in Railway department, so as to reduce the heavy work burden on the existing employees. Besides, employees of all the Centre-run establishments, as per the decision of the Joint Consultative Machinery (JCM), would enter into an indefinite strike from the aforesaid date, Arumugam stated adding that the Government was planning to cut down the existing staff strength.

On the proposed new Salem Railway Division, several employees who took part in the DEC meeting, implored the Railway Ministry to appoint officials who would act with due consideration for the welfare of the people of Tamil Nadu rather than several existing top notch officials, who were neglecting the interests of the State.

Addressing the employees, P S Rajaram, Secretary of Erode line branch of the Sangh, said the Division authorities were shifting the parcel office in Erode junction from its existing location to the railway residential colony without any worthwhile motive.

Condemning the move, Rajaram said the members of the Sangh would stage a demonstration if the officials at the higher rung proceed with the plan of shifting the parcel office.

Posted on 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

TWU Local 100: December 28, 2005
CONTRACT 2005 BULLETIN 7

After an historic 3-day strike, the TWU Local 100 Executive Board by an overwhelming 37- 4 vote with 1 abstention, approved the proposed contract with the MTA and sent it to the membership with a recommendation for a YES vote.

The agreement will be sent to every TA/OA member for a mail vote.

Vote Yes

The two top goals of Local 100 members were wages and lifetime medical coverage so they can afford to retire. The contract achieved both, as well as several other major items. The contract also includes a 1.5% membership contribution for health premiums. Here are some details:

2005 Contract Highlights

*Wages: 3% 4% 3.5%;
*Lifetime medical coverage;
*25/55 Pension refund;
*Martin Luther King Birthday holiday;
*$320/year additional for all maintainer titles;
*State Disability Coverage;
*Increased AVAmaximums in most departments;
*OT banking and vacation cash-ins;
*Reduced Pre-disciplinary suspensions;
*New CED pick every other year;
*2-year assault pay at run pay;
*Doubled death benefit for line of duty;
*1st ever Maternity pay;

Just as important is what the contract does not include:
*No Broadbanding;
*No new pension tier for new hire;
*No Surface Integration

We went out strong. We came back stronger.

One Union - United, Invincible

Was the strike worth it?

Yes - It?s about respect, and it?s about results

How do you measure success in a strike? A strike changes the rules. It?s no longer just about the demands you had when negotiations started. There are two things to consider.

First, a strike raises the stakes. You have to avoid defeat at all costs. Second, did you come back with more than was on the table when you went out.

On both fronts, the 2005 transit strike was a big success. Thousands of members stood up and told the TA that they were tired of being abused. It?s about respect. We were up against the Mayor, the Governor, the MTA, the rabid dog news media. We had to watch the MTA attempt to use our own International to try and get us to cross our own picket lines. But we stood strong, and came back proud.

And we came back with more than was on the table before the strike.

We said No Two Tier. We kept one tier.

We said lifetime medical. We got it.

We said we need pension justice. We got it.
The 25/55 refund will mean $8000 - $14,000 for some 20,000 members.

We said No Broadbanding. No more Surface Consolidation. No OPTO.
We stopped them all.

The package on the table before the strike had two tiers, but no lifetime medical. It had broadbanding, but no 25/55 refund. It had no disability. No maternity pay. No assault pay. No pay for attending school. The list goes on.

Was it worth it to stand up for respect and to come back with a bigger, richer package?

Members have to decide for themselves. Your Executive Board says an overwhelming yes.

TWU Local 100

Posted on 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The New York Times: December 28, 2005
By ALAN FEUER

The inflatable rubber rat, bucktoothed bane of strikebreakers and emblem of union wrath, may be headed for retirement. The National Labor Relations Board is now considering a case that could make it harder to employ one on a picket line.

Inflatable rubber rats have become common at labor demonstrations, including this one at a construction project using nonunion labor in Midtown Manhattan in 1998.

At issue in the case is whether the rat is the equivalent of picketing, which can be restricted under federal law, or a form of free speech, which enjoys far fewer limitations. The case, which was filed three years ago, is slowly percolating through the system, but the labor board is poised to make a ruling. If it decides the rat is, indeed, a form of picketing, it could have a chilling effect on its use.

"It's going to inhibit the rat," said Alvin Blyer, the director of the Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island region of the board. The board's national office will eventually rule on the case.

For those unfamiliar with the rat, consider this description provided in a ruling by Steven Davis, an administrative law judge for the board who heard the case in his Brooklyn court in March:

"The rat presents an imposing figure," the ruling says. "The rats here were 15 or 30 feet high. The body of the rat is gray with pink eyes, ears and nose. Its sits on its haunches with its front paws outstretched and claws extended. Its mouth is open, baring its teeth."

The case arose in 2002 when a concrete pouring firm, Concrete Structures Inc., filed a complaint with the board against the Laborers' Eastern Region Organizing Fund, which arranges job actions on behalf of the Laborers' International Union of North America.

Concrete Structures was doing work at several subdivisions on Long Island and at the Mills Pond Elementary School in Smithtown. The union organizers set the rat up at work sites to protest what they saw as unfair work conditions and to publicize the fact that Concrete Structures used nonunion labor.

In his 30-page opinion, Judge Davis ruled against the rat.

"The union's use of the rat," he wrote, "constituted confrontational conduct intended to persuade third persons not to do business with Concrete."

He continued: "A rat is a well-known symbol of a labor dispute and is a signal to third persons that there is an invisible picket line they should not cross."

The union has appealed the judge's ruling, and its lawyer, Lowell Peterson, said he was confident the rat would survive, even if the labor board decides against it.

"Ultimately, I think the rat will be vindicated, if you will," he said. "Their theory that there's something magical about the rat is wrong. There's nothing magical about a rat - it's just ugly."

Some labor leaders said they could not comment publicly on the case because it has not been decided, though they acknowledged that the rat is a surefire weapon in the union arsenal that would be dearly missed.

"It's a thing that's widely used," said Thomas Van Arsdale, the business manager of Local 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which is embroiled in its own dispute with the labor board, partly due to a rat.

"It's only real purpose is to attract attention," Mr. Van Arsdale said. "Beyond that, what's the harm?"

At any given moment, labor leaders say, as many as 35 rubber rats are at work around the region. They come in different shapes and sizes. One rat, cited in Judge Davis' ruling, is actually a gorilla with the head of a rat.

The rats cost $3,500 to $7,500, depending on their size, and, for at least one union, Local 79 of the Construction and General Building Laborers, they are made by Big Sky Balloons and Searchlights of Plainfield, Ill. This local claims to be the first to have introduced the rat in New York City in 1997 after having seen the rodent on the job in Chicago.

Even if the rat does disappear, Mr. Peterson said, it will not really matter. The unions have a host of beasts in their menageries.

"You don't like the rat?" he said. "Fine. We're going to use a skunk."

Posted on 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Newsday: December 27, 2005
BY DAN JANISON and HERBERT LOWE
STAFF WRITERS

The executive board of the transit system's main union Tuesday night overwhelmingly approved a contract deal that would raise workers' wages a combined 11 percent over three years, but included no pension concessions.

The agreement would end the worst labor crisis at the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in a quarter century -- one that led Transport Workers Union Local 100 to strike for three days last week.

The union's 33,700 members would vote by mail on whether to ratify the deal, which was approved 37-4 by the executive board, with one abstention.

The pact included proposed annual raises of 3, 4 and 3.5 percent -- the MTA's pre-strike "final offer" -- but without a major pension concession on which it had hinged.

However, city bus and subway employees will have to pay 1.5 percent of their pay in health benefits, through a first-ever premium.

According to state budget documents, the MTA in July set aside funds for a wage and fringe increase at the regional inflation rate. That was calculated at 2.9 percent per year.

This could come close to the final rate when the health insurance concession is taken into account. But sources close to both sides cautioned that the cost of fines for the strike and other factors such as work rules, deployment and other possible improvements for the workers had yet to be spelled out.

The executive board convened shortly after 9 p.m., and TWU President Roger Toussaint made the announcement in a terse 3-minute statement at the union's West Side headquarters about two hours later.

"We extend thanks to our riders and to our members for the support that they have received in the last couple of weeks of difficulty," Toussaint said.

He said union members will also get Martin King Day as a paid holiday and receive maternity leave for the first time.

Public employee strikes are barred under the state Taylor Law, which carries a fine of two days' pay for each day off the job as well as millions of dollars in fines for the union and a loss of dues checkoff privileges.

Toussaint has faced dissent within the executive board over concessions.

Tuesday, John Mooney, a member of the executive board who was opposed to ending the three-day strike, attended the scheduled meeting, but said he did not vote. He said after the announcement that he was pleased about one thing: that retirees will be allowed to keep their health insurance.

Just before talks broke off, leading to the three-day walkout, the MTA withdrew its earlier proposal to raise the retirement age for a full pension to 62 from 55, affecting future workers. But management demanded a 6 percent paycheck contribution to the pension fund for new workers. It is 2 percent for those now on the job.

Toussaint has insisted he would not let his union be split into an older group with better benefits and a younger group with lesser benefits.

Mitchell Strong, 45, a bus operator for 14 years, said Tuesday during a break outside the subway station at West 72nd Street that he'd support the agreement based on what he'd heard of it. He said the strike will have been worth it if the pension issue was off the table.

"You got to give up something," Strong said. "We didn't want to give up anything, but that's what happens sometimes, you know. Everybody has to give a little bit."

A token booth operator in the station, who would not give her name, said she would not draw any conclusions until a final agreement goes to the membership.

"I have to hear more, to see if it's going to be me that's going to be contributing more or if it's going to be the new members," the operator said.

She added that she didn't have a problem with the contract offered just before the strike.

To the east, at East 92nd Street and York Avenue in Manhattan, a bus operator on break expressed doubt the strike was worth it. He wondered how much the health care contribution would cut into the pay hike.

Across the street, another driver on break, Robert Fuhrmann, was quick to say, "I don't think we should have went on strike at all." Fuhrmann, with 16 years on the job, said the new agreement is "a little bit" better than the one offered just before the strike. "You're getting a bigger percentage on your pay increase but you're going to contribute on your health insurance," he said.

He also noted the pension increase would not have affected him -- just the new hires.

Some of the more senior workers will get a pension sweetener, possibly amounting to several thousand dollars, as part of the proposed settlement.

Posted on 11:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The New York Times: December 29, 2005
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE

He was excoriated on tabloid front pages and by the mayor and governor. As thousands streamed across the Brooklyn Bridge on a frigid night during last week's transit strike, someone in a car yelled out his name, prefacing it with a curse.

But now, a day after details of an agreement between the transit workers and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority were spelled out, Roger Toussaint, the union's president, seems to have emerged in a far better position than seemed likely just a few days ago.

Mr. Toussaint, whose back appeared to be against the wall last week, can boast of a tentative 37-month contract that meets most of his goals, including raises above the inflation rate and no concessions on pensions. Indeed, several fiscal and labor experts said yesterday that Mr. Toussaint and his union appeared to have bested the transit authority in their contract dispute.

The authority did not come away empty-handed, however, as it obtained a major concession: For the first time, the 33,700 transit workers will pay a portion of their health insurance premiums.

But if there is a real winner in the walkout that hobbled the city at the height of the holiday season, it is the union members who went out on strike, and the man who led them.

"It's a good contract for the union in that it does keep in place, for the most part, benefits that are extremely favorable to them," said Steven Malanga, a senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute, a conservative research organization, who called last week for firing the strikers. "For them, you can say this is a great deal."

When Mr. Toussaint appeared before television cameras at 11 p.m. on Tuesday to announce the settlement, he commented little except to read an impressive list of new worker-friendly provisions: raises averaging 3.5 percent a year, the creation of paid maternity leave, a far better health plan for retirees, a much-improved disability plan, the adoption of Martin Luther King's Birthday as a paid holiday, and increased "assault pay" for bus drivers and train operators who are attacked by passengers.

Then Mr. Toussaint announced a big surprise: Some 22,000 workers will each receive thousands of dollars in reimbursements for what are considered excess pension contributions; for several years, these workers paid more toward their pensions than other workers. For those workers, that money will easily offset the fines of slightly more than $1,000 that most of them face for taking part in the illegal strike. The union itself could still face a $3 million fine that a judge ordered because of the 60-hour strike.

"The union did especially well, all things considered," said David L. Gregory, a labor relations expert at St. John's University. "Toussaint got everything he needed, and he also got what he needed in terms of the bigger picture. With the strike, he mollified the radical left in his union and helped placate the middle of his rank and file who were demanding to be treated with dignity and respect."

All this is not to say that the transportation authority did not achieve some of its major goals. By getting the union, Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, to agree to have subway and bus workers pay 1.5 percent of their wages toward health premiums, the authority took an important step to rein in soaring benefit costs. That provision is expected to save the authority $32 million a year. Not only that, the union agreed that its workers' contribution toward their health premiums might increase if the authority's health costs continued to climb.

At first glance, the authority seems to have embarrassed itself over pensions, the issue for which it appeared to draw its firmest line in the sand.

To bring its fast-rising pension costs down to earth, the authority first pushed to raise the retirement age for future employees, to 62 from 55, and then demanded that future workers contribute 6 percent of their wages toward their pensions. Finally, after Mr. Toussaint said he would never sell out the union's "unborn," the authority pulled its pension demand off the table - a move that state mediators proposed to persuade the union to end its walkout.

Once the deal was announced it immediately became clear that the authority had not only scrapped its pension demands, but also agreed to a pension reimbursement that union officials say will put more than $150 million in workers' pockets. (That amount will come out of the pension funds, but the cost to the authority could be as low as $12 million if actuaries conclude that the pension plans remain adequately financed.)

"It's a very good deal," said John Paul Patafio, a bus driver in Brooklyn. "We went in with them on the offensive on pensions, and we came out of it with pension reimbursements. It's a total reversal."

Nonetheless, Professor Gregory said the authority had achieved one of its - and the mayor's and governor's - main pension goals during the dispute. "The M.T.A., as a representative of public employers, has achieved an important objective: It has put the issue of soaring public-employee pension costs front and center in the public consciousness," Mr. Gregory said.

That, he said, might pave the way for the State Legislature to enact a pension law that reduces pensions for future government workers and cuts government pension outlays.

One part of the settlement could prove a boon to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who, like the authority, is eager to rein in benefit costs.

"What happened on health care is an important precedent for the mayor in terms of the city's collective bargaining," said Charles M. Brecher, research director of the Citizens Budget Commission, a business-backed advocacy group. Noting that only a small fraction of city workers now pay a portion of their health premiums, Mr. Brecher said that if the city obtained an identical provision, with workers contributing 1.5 percent of wages, it would save around $300 million a year.

Still, faced with demands to pay part of their health premiums, the municipal unions might dig in and say Mr. Toussaint accepted the concession only after the authority agreed to a huge sweetener on pension reimbursements.

Also, Randi Weingarten, president of the United Federation of Teachers, said unions might insist that the transit pact sets another pattern, one she sees as generous: raises of nearly 4 percent a year.

"If someone didn't do well in this settlement, it was probably the riding public," said Raymond D. Horton, a professor at Columbia Business School, complaining that the deal did little to hold down costs or increase productivity.

In early talks, the authority made a big issue of increasing productivity by, for example, calling for station agents to empty trash cans and station cleaners to change light bulbs and paint over graffiti. But the union got those demands dropped.

"The M.T.A. had three goals: health premiums, pensions and productivity," Mr. Brecher said. "They got one out of three - that's a far better batting average than many people get in bargaining with municipal unions."

Ed Watt, the transit workers' secretary-treasurer, praised the deal. "I think we have something that our members will ratify," he said.

He also defended the strike. "If you look at it from the context of, it was impossible to get such a contract without a strike, then obviously it was worth it."

In the view of E. J. McMahon, director of the Manhattan Institute's Empire Center for New York State Policy, the transportation authority failed an important test when it agreed to the pension reimbursements. This, he said, negated the punitive aspects of the fine.

"If you want to calculate, 'Is it a win for the M.T.A.?' you'd want the union to be less inclined to strike in the future," he said. "You want this to do something that makes the union members think, 'I don't want to do this again.' You don't seem to do that when you offset the fine for such a large number of workers."

Posted on 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Lanka Truth: 22nd December, 2005

Mr Sumathipala Manawadu of the Organisation for the Protection of the Properties and the Rights of Railway Employees told yesterday that the JVP unionists will work voluntarily in the proposed extension of the Sourthern railway line project.

He said the Union has decided to send 1000 comrades of the organization will donate their labour and strength towards this genuine development project.

Mr Manawadu said the estimated cost of this project per kilometer is around four million rupees. Hence the Government will save a large amount of money as labour cost with this move.

He also mentioned that their comrades worked voluntarily to save the public funds restructuring the Souhthern railway line devastated by the Tsunami disaster. He added that rebuilding of 95 kilometres of Tsunami hit southern coastal railway line was completed in 57 days with a cost of only Rs 450 million paying only for machines and equipment whereas the engineering consultants and agencies had estimated it would cost nearly 1000 million rupees.

He added that in this attempt too they are ready to be a part of President Mahinda Rajapakse's vision of rebuilding the nation and the country. He stated that they have requested a meeting with the President concerning this.

Posted on 10:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Guardian: December 27, 2005
Barbara McMahon in Rome

A commuter who says that repeated delays on the Italian rail network are making his life a misery is planning to sue the train company for allegedly causing him "existential damage".

Mauro Brunetti, a teacher who travels by rail every day to his job in a school in Savona, says he is so exasperated by the constant uncertainty of whether his train will arrive on time that he sometimes wonders if his life has any value or meaning.

The failings of local train services have been making his life impossible and affecting his sense of self, he said.

While researching recent court cases, he found references to people sustaining "existential damage" as a result of the behaviour of another person or legal entity and he decided he could apply the same arguments to Trenitalia, the national rail group.

"As a teacher I have to respect timetables," he told his local newspaper, Secolo XIX, "and shortcomings in this area could have serious consequences - and not only from a disciplinary point of view."

He said that by not being in the classroom when he was supposed to be there, he ran the risk of being sued by parents for neglecting his responsibilities.

"As well as causing material damage, this situation clearly creates intense stress with consequences that recent jurisprudence says can be defined as 'existential damage'," he added.

The legal challenge comes as hundreds of thousands of Italians are having to get used to new train times introduced by Trenitalia. The annual adjustment of the timetable, in which some trains are cancelled or their arrival and departure times are altered, always causes problems for commuters.

One recent example involved a train to Florence, which was first posted as 25 minutes late, then flashed up as 10 minutes late, then went back to 20 minutes late. The train actually arrived on time.

Posted on 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

BBC News: 26 December 2005
By Geeta Pandey, Munnabao, Rajasthan

The quiet platform at Munnabao railway station, in the western Indian state of Rajasthan, comes alive as the day's only train arrives. The new train is scheduled to start service from mid-January

It is 10 in the morning and the desert heat, in the winter month of December, is mellow.

Dozens of passengers descend onto the platform, loud chatter fills every empty space.

A signboard, put up here by the Indian Border Roads Organisation, informs that this is the last station on the Indian side.

The station is now being renovated and expanded for the proposed rail link between Munnabao and Khokrapar in Pakistan.

It was earlier announced that the train would be flagged off on 1 January, but Indian railway officials say it has been delayed and is now likely to start in the second half of January.

Meanwhile, work is in fully swing at Munnabao station - a young man clears a pile of cement while another feeds a stone crusher.

They are among several dozen workers who are constructing a new wing of the station building.

Trial run

The project is generating considerable interest among the residents of nearby villages.

Construction work at the Munnabao station
Munnabao station is being renovated for the rail link

Durga Ram Chaudhari - a schoolteacher - has come from his village 80km (50 miles) away just to have a look.

"I have been reading in the papers that a new platform is being built here. The reports said they are building a station of international standards."

Mr Chaudhari looks appreciatively at the gleaming new platform that is being built across from where his train has stopped.

The contractor in-charge of building the platform is Jagdish Chaudhari.

He says the platform is almost ready and will be functional in a week.

"This is where the passengers will go for immigration," he points at new portable cabins.

"After that they will walk through that door in the middle and come out into the Customs hall. In the departure lounge there will be some stalls which will sell tea, snacks, books etc."

Suresh Kumar Mena, an engineer with the railways, says there has been a trial run. "We have tested the systems and I am happy with the results."

"Narrow escape"

The border is two kilometres from Munnabao station.

Board informs that Munnabao is the last Indian station
Trains will be escorted by soldiers when they come to Munnabao

About 150 metres into the Indian side, a three-metre-high fence of barbed wire clearly marks out the territory.

In the middle of the fence is an imposing black iron gate, secured with a huge padlock.

Keeping an eye on the fence are soldiers of the Border Security Force.

At least a dozen tractors are levelling the ground. An official of the force tells me they are building roads on both sides of the track.

"Once the train enters Indian territory, it will be escorted to Munnabao by our soldiers," he says.

The last train to travel in this sector was 40 years ago, just as hostilities were breaking out between India and Pakistan over Kashmir.

Job opportunities

Devi Singh Sodha, who is now 72, used to be a part of the team that ran the last train to Khokrapar.

"Before 1965, India and Pakistan would take turns to send their trains across the border. The last train that went to Khokrapar on 3 September 1965 was ours. Our driver was Hanuman Singh and the guard was Jagdar Singh.

People in the village of Akli village
Local people are hoping the rail link will generate jobs

"At the station they heard an order to detain the train, but they acted quickly and managed to get the train back into India. They had a narrow escape."

Mr Sodha laughs heartily when I tell him that it sounds straight out a Hindi movie plot.

But today, relations between India and Pakistan are improving and Mr Sodha says restoring the train will benefit the poor.

His enthusiasm is shared by most people.

Almost all the 1,500 residents of Akli - the only settlement between Munnabao and the border - believe the link will bring them financial rewards.

In this remote desert, where few employment opportunities exist and where the land yields little, many are hoping the train will generate some work.

Says resident Tikma Ram: "Ever since work began on the railway track, dozens of people have managed to find work. Once the rail service begins, there will be need for porters too. Some of us may also be able to set up shops at the station. Hopefully our village will see some progress."

His neighbour, Maulakh Ram, points at the border fence, "If I stand up on that hillock I can see Pakistan on the other side. I can see people grazing their cattle and working in the fields. Just like us."

Militants

It is this feeling of kinship that is articulated everywhere you go in this region.

Rail track leading up to the zero line
Some fear easing travel restrictions will encourage militants

Kushal Singh Sodha is from the village of Gadas.

"I was born in Sindh in Pakistan. We lived near Khokrapar, but came to India after the 1971 war. I would like to go back to meet all the people I left behind."

The last big town on the border is Gadra Road and it is abuzz.

Ramesh Maheshwari is a local businessman.

"Once the line is up and running, perhaps in time we can also have trading links," he says.

Some say easing travel restrictions may make it easier for militants to cross the border into India.

But residents of border villages scoff at the suggestion. Unlike the more volatile Line of Control that divides Kashmir, the border here is quiet and peaceful.

"This is a peaceful place. A militant will not be able to survive here. Moreover, militants do not travel by trains and planes. This will never happen here," says Mr Sodha.

Posted on 10:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Reuters: 26 Dec 2005

MUNABAO, India, Dec 26 (Reuters) - India and Pakistan are putting the finishing touches to a new rail link between the two countries, 40 years after Pakistani fighter jets bombed the tracks as a train darted across a desert border crossing.

The passenger train, connecting Munabao in India's western desert state of Rajasthan and Khokrapar, a border village in Pakistan's Sindh province, is expected to run again from next month as the old rivals open another transport link as part of a slow peace process.

At Munabao, a small town known mainly as the last stop for the train to Pakistan, India has built a gleaming new station and workers are rushing to spruce up the terminal ahead of the inauguration.

A date for the launch is yet to be set, but Indian officials said they would be ready to start the service by Jan. 1.

Locals are elated over the prospect of being able to meet friends and relatives separated from them after India was partitioned in 1947 and Pakistan created.

"I can visit my ancestral house across the border and meet relatives I've never met," said Rajendra Panwar, a villager in the Munabao area whose ancestors were from Khokrapar.

A train already links India's Punjab state with Pakistani Punjab, while a bus runs between the Indian capital New Delhi and Lahore in Pakistan and also across the heavily-militarised frontier in Kashmir.

Another bus service is likely to start soon between the neighbours who have gone to war three times -- twice over disputed Kashmir -- and were on the brink of another war in 2002 before launching the latest peace bid.

Many in Munabao remember the day in 1965 when Pakistani jets came zooming in, dropping bombs on the railway tracks and destroying villages.

"We were forced to vacate our houses and take shelter in camps in nearby villages," said Fateh Singh Dhana, a retired soldier. "Our houses were razed to the ground."

Ijraj Dhana, whose brothers live across the border, recalled the days she could "just walk across the border" to meet them.

"Now with the fencing and heavy security, we are not allowed to go towards the border. The rail link might change this," she said.

Indian security officials said the train would be heavily guarded.

A 12-ft (three-metre) high fence is being erected parallel to the tracks from Munabao to the frontier, a few miles away.

Security posts have been built around the station and India's Border Security Force (BSF) jeeps would accompany the train from Munabao to the frontier to prevent smuggling or attacks en route, officials said.

"Unlike other borders, the Rajasthan border has been peaceful due to fencing," senior BSF official Prem Mohan Das said. "The challenge will be to keep an eye on infiltrators who will try to make their way into India on the train."

Posted on 10:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Guardian: December 27, 2005
Justin McCurry in Tokyo

The Japanese government ordered train operators to carry out emergency equipment checks yesterday after four people were killed and 32 others injured when an express train was apparently blown from the tracks by fierce winds.

The train was travelling at 62mph in Yamagata prefecture, 180 miles north of Tokyo, when it derailed on Sunday evening, train operator JR East said. Three of the train's six carriages slid along a snow-covered embankment after flipping on to their sides, and the front carriage ploughed into a farm building.

The train was carrying 44 passengers and two crew. Rescue workers said the dead were in the front carriage.

JR East will be asked to explain why the train, which was running an hour late, was travelling at high speed amid atrocious weather with high winds.

In a strong warning yesterday, the transport ministry accused JR East of eroding public trust in rail safety and ordered all rail companies to check wind gauges. The firm's chief executive, Mutsutake Otsuka, apologised for the accident and promised a full investigation.

Reports claimed the train's 29-year-old driver said the train tilted to the left after being hit by a gust just after it had crossed a bridge. A passenger said on television: "It felt as though I was lifted from my seat, and then everything went black. The rain was hitting the windows and there were flashes of lightning."

The crash is Japan's second rail tragedy this year. In April 107 people died when a train crashed into apartments near Osaka.

Posted on 10:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

AFX News Limited: 12.26.2005

TOKYO - The Japanese railway company responsible for the nation's worst train accident in more than 40 years said its top management would resign to take blame for the incident.

West Japan Railway Co said president Takeshi Kakiuchi would step down along with chairman Shojiro Nanya over the April crash that killed 107 people and injured around 550 when a speeding commuter train jumped the tracks.

'There are still many tasks to be done but we decided to resign at the end of January next year together in order to draw a line here,' Kakiuchi told a news conference in Osaka.

The company said in a statement it 'will introduce new governance ... with the aim to enhance monitoring of business operations,' adding it would name a businessman outside of the firm as the new chairman to help achieve its goal.

Kakiuchi will be replaced by Masao Yamazaki who became vice president in charge of safety measures after the April 25 accident in the western Japan city of Amagasaki.

Noritaka Kurauchi who used to head Sumitomo Electric Industries, based in Osaka, will become chairman in June pending approval at a general shareholders' meeting, after serving as adviser from Feb 1.

Kakiuchi will stay on the JR West board as a director in charge of compensation negotiations with relatives of victims and those injured. Nanya will also stay on with the company as a consultant.

The April crash, in which a speeding commuter train jumped the tracks and smashed into an apartment tower, was Japan's worst rail accident since 1963.

On Sunday, an express train derailed in strong winds in northern Japan, killing at least four passengers and injuring more than 30.

Posted on 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Reuters: Dec 23, 2005

LONDON - Last-minute talks between London Underground and the RMT union over a planned New Year's Eve tube strike broke up on Friday without agreement.

RMT plans a 24-hour stoppage on December 31 and another on January 8/9 following a staffing dispute.

The strike could cause travel chaos on one of the busiest nights of the year and prevent people from taking advantage of the free Underground service on New Year's Eve which had been planned to run from 11:45 pm to 4:30 am on New Year's Day.

A spokesman for London Underground told reporters they would try again next week to hold more talks with the union at the conciliatory service ACAS.

The first strike is set to begin at midday on New Year's Eve while the second starts at 6:30 pm on January 8.

RMT have said front-line station staff, who were praised for their work on July 7 when three suicide bombers caused carnage on the Underground, were being moved to different roles which could hamper safety levels.

Posted on 04:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

RMT: 23 December 2005

TALKS AT conciliation service Acas today failed to resolve the dispute over back-door station staff cuts on London Underground, the Tube's biggest union said today.

Four thousand members of RMT are due to strike on New Year's Eve and on January 8 and 9 in a dispute over the company's refusal to withdraw unsafe rosters and mass staff displacements imposed without agreement.

"We expected London Underground to withdraw the hundreds of displacement notices they have sent out, along with the unsafe rosters they have attempted to impose, and to work with our safety reps to agree safety-validated staffing levels," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"Unfortunately, despite several hours of talks, LUL have not moved towards us on the central safety concerns at the heart of this dispute, and our strike action remains on.

"We waited for three weeks for London Underground to talk and they finally agreed to today's meeting at Acas only after our members voted by a five-to-one margin to strike to defend safe staffing levels.

"It is a great shame that LUL did not use the opportunity offered by today's talks to recognise our members' genuine safety concerns and embark on the discussions with our safety reps that could have avoided this dispute.

"LUL have left it very late to find a solution to this dispute, but we will make ourselves available for talks if the company shows it is prepared to negotiate seriously," Bob Crow said.

Posted on 03:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

RMT: 23 December 2005

CHRISTMAS and New Year strike action by more than 500 RMT conductors at Central Trains has been called off after the company tabled an offer to improve compensation for bank-holiday working.

The RMT executive today endorsed an offer to give all conductors a day's leave for each of the "substitute bank holidays" of December 27 and January 2. The company will also pay double time for conductors working on New Year's day itself.

The company has also agreed to enter into "meaningful discussions" with the union to review contentious Sunday working arrangements.

"Thanks to our members' overwhelming mandate for strike action common sense has prevailed, and our members should be proud of their united stand," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"Central Trains has recognised our grievance over compensation for working bank holidays when Christmas and New Year fall at weekends.

"The company has accepted that substitute bank holidays should be recognised as such and our members compensated accordingly.

"Our members will also receive double time for working on New Year's Day itself, and the company has agreed to review Sunday working arrangements that have caused much resentment.

"Our negotiating committee recommended unanimously that the offer be accepted and the RMT executive has today formally lifted the threat of strike action," Bob Crow said.

Posted on 02:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

AFX News: 12.22.2005

TALLINN (AFX) - The Estonian state is considering a proposal from the main US shareholder in Estonian Railways that it buy back the rail firm it privatised four years ago, officials said.

US company Baltic Rail Services, which owns 66 percent of Estonian Railways, has invited the Estonian government to make a bid for its shares.

The government currently owns 34 percent of the company.

'Whether the Estonian state acquires the shares owned by BRS in Estonian Railways depends on the price and the conditions,' Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip told reporters.

'But I would not give a guarantee that the state (will) buy back the railway at any cost,' Ansip added.

BRS has said it has other interested investors wishing to snap up its stake in Estonian Railways but it approached the Estonian state first.

The Estonian investment bank Suprema said last year Estonian Railways was worth 340 million euros.

Posted on 11:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Toronto Star Dec. 23, 2005
KEVIN MCGRAN - TRANSPORTATION REPORTER

* Strike threatened for tomorrow
* Workers without contract 5 years

Tens of thousands of passengers could be stranded Christmas Eve unless VIA Rail and its engineers and conductors reach a deal to avert a strike.

VIA's 350 locomotive engineers and conductors - who have been without a contract for five years - threaten to walk off the job at 4:30 p.m. tomorrow, which would ruin travel plans for Canadians across the country, federal Labour Minister Joe Fontana said yesterday.

"I am asking the parties to do what is necessary to avoid a work stoppage and resolve this matter," Fontana said. "I hope common sense and common decency prevails.

"That's why I'm asking them to work a little harder to keep in mind the various public interests that are at stake here especially during this time when people just want to be together."

Negotiators for both sides continued to talk yesterday in Montreal with two federal mediators, although Fontana said talks "hit a snag. I won't say a brick wall."

The union said pensions are the main stumbling block. Teamsters Canada Rail Conference president Gilles Halle said VIA could be softening its position. "They're flexible now. I think they got the message."

The VIA Rail engineers and conductors have been without a contract since Dec. 1, 2000, when they were represented by a different union. Teamsters took over their representation about 18 months ago. On Monday, workers voted to give their union a strike mandate.

VIA - which last year carried 3.9 million passengers - said it was trying to avoid a walkout on Christmas Eve. "VIA is working hard to avoid a service disruption to customers and remains hopeful that an agreement will be reached before the set deadline," the company said.

VIA said customers with inquiries concerning their travel plans should call 1-888-VIA-RAIL, or check http://www.viarail.ca.

With Parliament not sitting it would be difficult to introduce back-to-work legislation, Fontana said. But if it can't, he called on the union not to strike and VIA not to lock out its workers.

Bus companies such as Greyhound said they were gearing up in the event of a strike and planned to add buses.

Meanwhile, Transport Minister Jean Lapierre announced last night that Jean Pelletier has been fired - for the second time - as chairman of VIA's board.

He said Pelletier won't receive any compensation, since he's already engaged in legal proceedings aimed at recovering lost salary, benefits and damages.

Posted on 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

CBC News: 22 Dec 2005

The federal government has fired Jean Pelletier for a second time as chairman of the board of directors of Via Rail.

The decision, announced late Thursday evening by Transport Minister Jean Lapierre, is effective immediately. The statement says, "No compensation will be paid to Mr. Pelletier as he has already initiated legal proceedings in Quebec Superior Court to recover salary, benefits and damages."

In November, a Federal Court ruling said the federal government was unfair in the way it fired him as Via Rail chair in March 2004 and ordered it to review its decision. On Thursday Ottawa announced the result of that review. Pelletier, it said, would be "terminated."

Pelletier was dismissed originally after he called former Canadian Olympic gold medalist Myriam B?rd a "pitiful" single mother who was trying to attract attention because she'd been dismissed from her job with Via. He later apologized under pressure, but was dismissed nonetheless.

B?rd claimed she was fired after raising questions about excessive billing by one of the companies at the heart of the sponsorship scandal. An arbitrator's report later found B?rd quit voluntarily.

Pelletier fought the dismissal and, in November 2005, a Federal Court judge ruled in his favour, saying Ottawa had not followed proper procedure when it let him go. It was unclear whether that entitled Pelletier to return to his old job, or entitled him to a settlement over the dismissal.

Either way, the government said it wasn't taking him back.

"I don't have confidence in him to chair the board of Via Rail," Lapierre said in November, prompting Pelletier to start legal proceedings.

Pelletier was chief of staff to former prime minister Jean Chr?en. He was appointed chairman of Via Rail in 2001.

Don Pettit, the current acting chairman of the board of directors of VIA Rail, will continue in that position until a permanent replacement for Pelletier is appointed.

Posted on 11:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

New York Daily News: December 23, 2005
Juan Gonzalez

For three days, their transit strike had paralyzed America's greatest city, and now it was time to go back to work.

The 33,700 members of Transport Workers Union Local 100 were exhausted. They had incurred the wrath of millions of transit riders, of Mayor Bloomberg, of Gov. Pataki, of the city's entire business establishment, even of their own parent union in Washington. For violating the Taylor Law, the local and each individual striker still face huge fines.

Still, many union members returned to work with their heads held high. They are convinced that their walkout was necessary, that their fight was a needed jolt to the country's weakened labor movement.

Thankfully, both TWU President Roger Toussaint and MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow stepped back from the abyss of a long strike, one that would have been disastrous for both the union and our city.

In the end, both chose negotiations over a labor war.

Some will claim the union got nothing from the strike. They will say Toussaint scurried to send his members back to work just before his organization collapsed under a mountain of fines and jail sentences for top leaders.

Those who say such things know very little about unions. And they know even less about Roger Toussaint.

All through Wednesday, state mediators conducted intense talks with union leaders and MTA officials. That mediation - a form of shuttle diplomacy - went on all night, and by early yesterday morning, the framework of a possible solution was already taking shape.

Bargaining, in effect, had gone on even though Pataki and Bloomberg had demanded no new talks until the strikers went back to work.

Those talks went on because Kalikow is a practical man. Kalikow knew he couldn't get the trains and buses running unless he reached an agreement with the union. And every hour those trains and buses sat idle, furious commuters were losing patience, and businesses in this city that desperately depend on holiday shopping were hemorrhaging millions of dollars - far more than the amount under dispute with the union.

The mediators pointed in a press conference to the key ingredient in a possible settlement: The MTA would abandon its demand for a less-generous pension plan for new workers if the union agreed to have its members pay some portion of their health insurance.

This was not just a hint.

Sources tell me the language of such a settlement is already being drawn up, that final negotiations could take only a few days.

"Kalikow's independence [from Pataki] and Roger's flexibility allowed these negotiations to go forward," said Assemblyman Richard Brodsky (D-Westchester), chairman of the Assembly committee that oversees the MTA.

There was one issue, however, on which Kalikow wasn't willing to budge. MTA officials, Pataki and Bloomberg refused to consider a deal that would mitigate Taylor Law fines against the union or individual strikers.

But some of Toussaint's advisers are urging him to aggressively challenge the fines in the courts by demanding jury trials for every union member and seeking to subpoena MTA records.

Bloomberg, whose strident verbal attacks on the union in the past week did little to help this conflict, once again showed how tone-deaf he is when it comes to transit workers.

Bloomberg offered his prayers - and appropriately so - for an off-duty firefighter who was seriously injured by a bus while riding a bicycle to work yesterday.

Yet the mayor neglected to mention the death of a transit car cleaner and TWU member who crossed the picket lines yesterday to report to work and suffered an asthma attack about 9:30 a.m. while working at the Hoyt-Schermerhorn station in Brooklyn.

For better or worse, the past three days have reminded each of us how important the members of the TWU are to this city's life. If we have the finest police and firefighters in the world, we also have the finest transit workers.

Let the healing begin.

Posted on 10:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

New York Daily News: December 23, 2005
Errol Louis

Mayor Bloomberg yesterday confirmed that he stood by every word of his televised outburst against the Transport Workers Union's leadership at the height of this week's strike. He called them "thuggish," "selfish," "frauds" and the like. A host of critics, such as state Sen. Kevin Parker of Brooklyn, now accuse the mayor of being racially divisive.

"We only need to look back to the day and time when MTA workers first gained the kind of pension and benefits which are now being called 'cushy.' The complexion of the union was sure of a different hue at that time," says Parker, the son of a transit worker.

"Now that the Transit Authority workforce is majority black and Hispanic, they are suddenly 'spoiled,' 'selfish' and 'overpaid,'" Parker says. "Are these colors of the race card too obscure to see? Not from my view."

Parker has a point. In August of 2004, when aggrieved members of the 91% white Fire Department of New York were protesting every public appearance by Bloomberg and threatening an illegal strike during the Republican National Convention, Bloomberg's spokesman, Ed Skyler, called the protesting firefighters "thugs." But Bloomberg himself took pains to not to repeat the slur, telling the New York Sun, "I wasn't brought up that way." And yet, when it came to the city's transit workers, the mayor's home training eluded him.

Bloomberg's rant was not only divisive, it betrayed a fundamental lack of understanding of our city and its history. As the Wall Street Journal Online wrote in a revealing story earlier this year, the MTA "has been a haven for African-Americans seeking upward mobility since the 1940s, when Adam Clayton Powell Jr. joined other Harlem activists in pressing city-owned and private transit lines to hire more blacks."

The article described the career of Valerie Beatty, a Harlem native who at 25 years old was a black single mother on food stamps - until she snagged a job as a subway cleaner at $18,000 a year. Beatty ended up in her early 40s as a motor inspector earning $50,000 a year, with a house on Long Island and her sons in college.

Food stamps in the ghetto versus self-sufficiency, health care, a house in the suburbs and kids in college: For native New Yorkers, especially black New Yorkers, that's all this week's strike was ever about. It's why TWU chief Roger Toussaint risked fines and imprisonment and kept repeating the word "dignity" that so baffled and enraged Bloomberg and Gov. Pataki.

Toussaint probably deserves a ticker-tape parade but will have to receive his glory on the installment plan: standing ovations in churches, union halls and almost any place he shows his face in black neighborhoods.

The Trinidadian and Tobagonian-born former train cleaner gave Bloomberg a lesson in real courage, dignity and determination. Toussaint brought the city to a halt with five words to his members - "shut it down, then talk" - a power that even the billionaire mayor will never possess.

And after ensuring that a path to the middle class will remain open to his members, Toussaint ended the strike yesterday with an equally terse order: "Hold your head high when you report to work."

It brought to mind that word again. Dignity.

Posted on 10:52 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The New York Times: December 23, 2005
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE and SEWELL CHAN

Thousands of New York City transit workers put down their picket signs and streamed into bus depots and railyards last night to restart the nation's largest transit system, after leaders of their union agreed to a tentative framework for a new contract and ended a 60-hour strike that hobbled the city.

After three frenetic and frustrating days of carpooling, biking, roller skating and trudging to work in chilly temperatures, New Yorkers reacted joyfully to the news that the city's sprawling network of subways and buses would soon be running again.

Transit officials said they expected the system to come haltingly back to life last night but be running at nearly full capacity by this morning's rush. A Bx15 bus began its route from the Bronx to Harlem around 10:40 p.m., and by shortly after midnight, subways were rolling again.

"I'm so happy," said Christine Grant, 34, of Rego Park, Queens, who bought a weekly MetroCard last Monday but never got to use it to commute to her job in Greenwich Village. "You take things for granted until something like this happens, and then you realize how much you need the subway."

The abrupt return - many strikers simply laid down their placards and walked into the buildings they had been picketing - capped a day of fast-moving developments in a labor showdown that just a day before seemed headed for an intractable and ugly stalemate.

Despite the end of the strike, a final settlement of the dispute remains to be reached. But officials hinted that in exchange for the union's ending the strike, the authority would significantly scale back or even abandon its insistence on less-generous pensions for future workers. In return, the union would consider having its members pay more for health insurance. The negotiations will now resume under an agreement among all parties not to speak with reporters.

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg hailed the union's decision, a state judge postponed a hearing that could have seen union leaders jailed, and many workers expressed relief that the strike was over.

"In 21 years as a transit worker, this has probably been one of the best days of my life," said Dennis H. Boyd, a train operator and member of the union's executive board, who voted to end the strike. "The membership wanted to make a statement, they wanted to go to battle with the M.T.A., and we fulfilled that."

The strike - the city's first transit walkout in a quarter-century - paralyzed New York's mass transit system at the height of the holiday season, devastating sales for retailers, enraging the mayor and governor and making it hellishly difficult for New Yorkers to get to jobs, schools and doctors' appointments.

Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg took a more conciliatory tone toward union leaders than he had in previous days, but reserved his most voluble praise for the residents who had had to contend with major disruptions. "This was really a very big test of our city," Mr. Bloomberg said. "It's fair to say we passed with flying colors. It wasn't easy and certainly serious economic harm was inflicted and we did what we had to do to make the city run."

As buses began to warm up last night and workers went about the complex task of bringing the subway system back to life - inspecting tracks, testing brakes, restoring power - the mood could not have been more different than it was 24 hours earlier, when many signs suggested the strike could be a long one.

On Wednesday, Roger Toussaint, the president of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, had traded barbs with Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. George E. Pataki from afar as all three drew what seemed to be deeper lines in the sand. Mr. Toussaint said he would agree to talk only if the Metropolitan Transportation Authority would remove the nettlesome issue of pensions from the negotiations; Governor Pataki said no talks could take place until the strike ended.

But behind the scenes, both sides were meeting with state mediators. At 2 a.m. yesterday, Mr. Toussaint arrived at the Grand Hyatt hotel, where negotiations had been taking place, suggesting major progress was occurring.

Three state mediators held an 11 a.m. news conference that gave subway-less New Yorkers their first reasons for hope in days.

The mediators said the union's leadership had indicated they would send strikers back to work after accepting the preliminary framework in which the transportation authority hinted it might take off the table the main obstacle to a settlement - its demands that future workers pay 6 percent of their wages toward their pensions.

As part of that framework, the union agreed to negotiate having transit workers pay more for their health coverage to offset the money the authority would lose by relinquishing its pension proposals.

The mediators, led by Richard A. Curreri, director of conciliation for the New York State Public Employment Relations Board, said they expected the two sides to engage in intense negotiations to reach an overall settlement, hopefully in the next few days.

"An agreement remains out of the parties' reach at this time," the three mediators said in a statement. "It is clear to us, however, that both parties have a genuine desire to resolve their differences. In the best interests of the public, which both parties serve, we have suggested, and they have agreed, to resume negotiations while the T.W.U. takes steps toward returning its membership to work."

"The M.T.A.," the mediators continued, "has informed us that it has not withdrawn its pension proposals, but nevertheless is willing to discuss whether adequate savings may be found in the area of health costs."

Two officials close to the talks, one on the authority's side and one on the union's, said the authority would soon take its pension demands off the table.

Around 2:30 p.m., the union's executive board voted 36 to 5 to end the strike. Two members abstained. A half hour later, Mr. Toussaint, low-keyed in contrast to the defiant tone he took on Wednesday, told reporters and union members gathered in the cold: "I'm pleased to announce that the Local 100 executive board just voted overwhelmingly to direct transit workers to return to work immediately and to resume bus and subway service throughout the five boroughs of New York City, and we thank riders for their patience and forbearance."

As soon as Mr. Toussaint made his 3 p.m. announcement, many of the union's 33,700 members put down their picket signs and began heading to bus depots and subway yards.

Even though the strike violated a state law barring walkouts by public employees, many New Yorkers backed the union in its fight with the authority, even as many others cursed the union. As a result of the strike, the union faces a $3 million fine while individual strikers face loss of two days' pay for each day on strike.

Justice Theodore T. Jones of State Supreme Court in Brooklyn had fined the union $1 million a day and originally threatened to have Mr. Toussaint jailed yesterday. Reacting to the end of the walkout, however, he adjourned hearings for a criminal contempt order and the possible jailing and set a new hearing for Jan. 20. He also has the power to alter the fine.

"I am pleased on behalf of the people of the City of New York, and indeed hopeful that we will be able to salvage Christmas," Justice Jones said.

Mayor Bloomberg said that as of today the city would end its emergency plan that allowed taxis to carry multiple fares at flat rates, increased ferry service and barred cars with fewer than four passengers from entering Manhattan south of 96th Street during the morning rush.

The agreement's framework seemed carefully designed to allow everyone to save face.

After Governor Pataki said the authority should not negotiate until the union ended its walkout, the agreement allowed him to save face because the final negotiations would not take place until the strikers returned to work.

After Mr. Toussaint said the strikers would not return to their jobs unless the authority took its pension demands off the table, the agreement allows him to save face because the framework hints strongly that the authority will soon drop its pension demand.

And the authority's chairman, Peter S. Kalikow, can save face because he can maintain that the authority has not entirely scuttled its pension proposal in response to the union's demand.

While many workers seemed relieved to return to their jobs, there was at least a small undercurrent of anger directed at the strike's result.

"I'm very disappointed to have to come back now. I think we should have held out," said Larry Powell, 55, who was returning to work at the 239th Street maintenance shop in the Bronx. "I feel bad. I don't know what we got."

He also said he was unhappy about being fined two days' pay for every day he was on strike, adding: "I do not want to go back to work without a contract."

Governor Pataki did not soften his tone, saying that judges could not grant amnesty to erase the individual fines faced by workers. With transit workers' base pay averaging $900 a week, being fined two days' pay for each day of the strike would cost them $1,080 each on average.

Mr. Pataki said: "I think that there's a lesson to be learned from this: no one is above the law. You break the law and the consequences are real."

Before the negotiations collapsed late Monday night, the authority increased its wage offer to a 3 percent raise the first year, 4 percent the second and 3.5 percent the third year. It also dropped its demand to raise the retirement age for future workers to 62, from 55 for current workers. But it added a demand that new workers pay 6 percent of their earnings toward their pensions, up from 2 percent for current workers.

The authority also agreed to make Martin Luther King's Birthday a holiday, and it dropped its demand that future workers pay 1 percent of their wages toward health premiums. The union's current workers do not pay premiums for their basic health plan.

Mr. Toussaint has said he would steadfastly oppose having workers pay health premiums.

Jose Orjuela, 36, a preproduction manager for a cinema advertising firm in midtown, walked to work this week from his home in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He celebrated the end of the strike.

"We were all freaking out when we heard," he said. "It was huge. We were just relieved it was all over."

Reporting for this article was contributed by Thomas J. Lueck, Conrad Mulcahy, Shadi Rahimi and Matthew Sweeney.

Posted on 10:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The New York Times: December 23, 2005
By SEWELL CHAN and STEVEN GREENHOUSE

On Wednesday morning, Roger Toussaint's closest advisers encouraged him to face his difficult circumstances.

The workers in Mr. Toussaint's union, who had brought the city's transit system to a halt, were incurring fines and public scorn with each day of the union's strike.

What's your endgame? the advisers asked him gently.

Already, Mr. Toussaint had sent intermediaries to seek Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's aid in ending the deadlock with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, according to several people involved in the discussions.

But by noon, other labor leaders had become more blunt in counseling Mr. Toussaint, suggesting that his union was in real peril.

In an early afternoon telephone conference call with 40 union leaders, according to people who participated, Mr. Toussaint showed his frustration as he sought a public showing of support.

"I don't need anyone standing on the sidelines holding my coat," one person recalled his saying. "I need someone to take off their coats."

Eventually, Mr. Toussaint's back-channel communication to Mr. Bloomberg paid off, and the groundwork for a return to work was laid.

Mr. Toussaint signaled that if the transportation authority relaxed its demands involving pensions - the issue at the heart of the contract dispute - he would be willing to bargain over workers' making payments toward their health benefits. Mr. Bloomberg, after initial skepticism, indicated it might be a formula for success.

It was. Less than 24 hours after Mr. Toussaint's moments of hard reckoning, mediators announced that the union leadership felt sufficiently encouraged about progress to announce that the union was ready to call off the strike.

The story of what happened over those 24 hours - the role of the state mediators, the background role of the Bloomberg administration, the contrasting realities of heated public exchanges and behind-the-scenes headway - was pieced together through interviews with government officials, labor leaders and people close to the union and the authority. The principals themselves, Mr. Toussaint and top officials of the authority, have agreed to conduct the remaining negotiations toward a final contract in secret.

The beginning of the end of the transit strike of 2005 started innocuously, with the arrival around 3 p.m. on Tuesday of a middle-aged man with a dimpled chin and a dark gray mustache. He slipped into a Midtown hotel unnoticed, 12 hours after the city's subway and bus workers walked off the job for the first time in 25 years.

The man, a mediator from the state's Public Employment Relations Board who had traveled from Albany to enter what for New Yorkers was the World Series of conflict resolution, would help establish enough of a negotiating peace that millions of people who had been all but stranded in their own city could resume their normal lives.

The mediator, Richard A. Curreri, and two other veteran mediators practiced shuttle diplomacy inside the Grand Hyatt hotel near Grand Central Terminal. But their main accomplishment may not have been performing feats of persuasion so much as providing public cover for each side to resume negotiations, even as a war of rhetoric continued to rage at news conferences and on picket lines.

Mr. Curreri, a lawyer who has worked for the board since 1990 and is its director of conciliation, invited two other mediators to join him on Tuesday: Martin F. Scheinman, a lawyer and veteran arbitrator and mediator who has helped settle thousands of labor contracts, and Alan R. Viani, who was the chief negotiator for District Council 37, the city's largest union of municipal workers, from 1973 to 1985. They would work through the night on Wednesday before emerging early yesterday to say an end to the strike was at hand.

Even though Gov. George E. Pataki opposed negotiations unless the strike ended, and Mr. Toussaint opposed negotiations unless pensions were dropped from the table, all day Wednesday top negotiators for the two sides met repeatedly with the mediators - in effect, negotiating through a third party.

On Wednesday, Mr. Toussaint had clearly begun to appreciate the depth of the problems faced by Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union. Those who were advising him said he seriously contemplated the prospect of being jailed and the economic harm to his workers.

Around 10 a.m., Mr. Toussaint called two other labor leaders: Bruce S. Raynor, the general president of Unite Here, the union representing apparel, hotel and restaurant workers, and Mike Fishman, president of the city's giant union of building service workers, Local 32BJ of the Service Employees International Union. Mr. Toussaint asked the two men, who had both supported Mr. Bloomberg's re-election, to call the mayor to urge him to pressure Peter S. Kalikow, chairman of the authority, to drop his demands on pensions, according to Mr. Raynor.

In its final offer, the authority demanded that future workers pay 6 percent of their wages toward their pensions, compared with 2 percent from current workers. Mr. Toussaint condemned that proposal as onerously high and as treating tomorrow's workers worse than today's.

Mr. Raynor said he had tried to gauge the mayor's response to the idea of having the authority back off on its pension demands and instead consider higher health care contributions from workers as a way of achieving long-term savings. The mayor at first rejected the notion, but "eventually he came around to believing that was a good idea," Mr. Raynor said.

Mr. Raynor said he and Mr. Fishman had tried to serve as informal mediators. "We both believe that you have to find a solution, the quicker the better, and we both had credibility with the mayor and with Roger," Mr. Raynor said.

The resolution of the strike picked up speed Wednesday afternoon, even after harsh public performances by the mayor and by Mr. Toussaint, as well as by Mr. Pataki, who demanded that the workers return to their jobs before negotiations could resume. When David Catalfamo, a spokesman for Mr. Pataki, was asked on Wednesday whether the authority was free to bargain, he replied in an e-mail message, "The M.T.A. can speak for themselves."

Mr. Toussaint went before television cameras on Wednesday afternoon and tried to claim the moral high ground in the dispute. He tried to place the strike in the context of social justice and likened the illegal walkout to Rosa Parks's civil disobedience. He also tried to raise the ante, by offering to resume talks immediately if the authority agreed to drop its pension demands.

Two hours later, more than a dozen union leaders - representing teachers, CUNY professors, police detectives and municipal workers, among other groups - stood before the same cameras and vigorously asserted that Mr. Toussaint's demand to have pensions dropped from the talks was fair and reasonable. What they did not do was declare support for the strike.

Privately, in the conference call on Wednesday afternoon, they had warned Mr. Toussaint that the fines, public anger and contempt citations from the strike could be disastrous.

"All day long there were a couple of us, that kept on trying to figure out what can settle this, what can solve this," said Randi Weingarten, the president of the United Federation of Teachers. "We were very concerned that management was going to bear down and go after the union."

She and Assemblyman Brian M. McLaughlin, a Queens Democrat who is the president of the New York City Central Labor Council, spoke to both Mr. Toussaint and Mr. Kalikow. Mr. McLaughlin said yesterday he was aware that the union's position was delicate but credited Mr. Toussaint for being willing to return to the table. "Nobody really knew where Roger was willing, or not willing, to go," he said. "He said if this issue was removed from the table, we could within hours reach an agreement."

Mr. McLaughlin said the strike had been a major obstacle in getting the authority to make concessions. "You have to work past things," he said. "Once there's a strike, attitudes change. Politicians go more for blood than conflict resolution, and place the blame squarely on one side."

Bill Lynch, a former deputy mayor who has advised Mr. Toussaint, said the unions' stance and the communications with Mr. Bloomberg had been critical in persuading the transportation authority to bend. "I think that they were hearing all that static out there and I think, with the municipal unions coming as strongly as they did, the momentum toward saving the pensions was starting to build," Mr. Lynch said. The transportation authority, he said, was "losing ground on that issue."

Enter the mediators. Their proposal - having the union agree to return to work with the transportation authority essentially acknowledging that pensions were all but off the table - ultimately allowed each side to swallow something.

Barry L. Feinstein, a former Teamsters leader who has served on the authority's board since 1989 and is close to Mr. Pataki and Mr. Kalikow, said Mr. Kalikow deserved credit for showing resolve without foreclosing the possibility of reopening talks. He said many people had expected Mr. Kalikow to give in under the threat of a strike.

"Many people thought that he wouldn't be able to take the pressure, that he would fold, that he would do whatever had to be done to prevent a strike, that the M.T.A. would avoid a strike at any cost," Mr. Feinstein said. "That didn't happen."

Jerome Lefkowitz, a labor lawyer who helped draft a state law that provides for mediation and arbitration in contract disputes involving police, firefighters and transit workers, said he felt the law had helped people find a path of reason.

"Mediators must have the facility to listen to what the negotiators are saying and to hear priorities and demands that may not be articulated explicitly," he said. "When they start making progress, more tradeoffs follow pretty quickly, once you can break the ice."

Posted on 10:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Independent Online: 23 December 2005
By Barrie Clement, Transport Editor

London faces a chaotic New Year's Eve unless talks today avert a 24-hour strike on the Tube that is due to start at noon on 31 December.

The RMT rail union is planning a further 24-hour stoppage on London Underground starting at 6.30pm on Sunday 8 January - spreading disruption over two days.

The New Year's Eve stoppage would wreck plans to run free Underground trains from 11.45pm on New Year's Eve until 4.30am on New Year's Day. As both sides prepared for talks at the conciliation service Acas, the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, claimed the union was reneging on an agreement signed a year ago and there was no question of renegotiating it.

Last December, the RMT agreed a deal that would, in effect, create a 35-hour week for Tube station staff. Bob Crow, the RMT general secretary, said yesterday's vote by RMT members, by a majority of 5-1, in favour of strike action had been taken in protest at management's attempt to force more than 200 safety- critical staff to change jobs under cover of the 35-hour deal. The union argues that London Underground is cutting back on the workforce by transferring many employees into unfilled posts and their actions have implications for safety.

Mr Crow said the RMT headquarters was shutting down for Christmas at 5pm today and would not reopen until 1 January, so management had "better get a move on" if they wanted to settle the dispute.

A London Underground spokesman insisted there would be no staff cuts. "We and the RMT agreed to implement a shorter working week, as long as it came at no extra cost to the Tube farepayers. This means some staff being redeployed from ticket offices to station platforms and ticket halls, which can also boost reassurance for our passengers and security."

Posted on 10:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Guardian: December 23, 2005
Hugh Muir

The mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, yesterday condemned tube workers who plan to strike on New Year's Eve in protest at alleged job cuts. Members of the RMT union voted five to one for industrial action over staffing levels and said they would walk out at lunchtime on December 31.

The disruption would seriously affect London's plans to stage lavish New Year's Eve celebrations.

The RMT and London Underground have clashed over plans to cut the number of ticket office staff to reflect the increasing use of the electronic Oyster card. The union says jobs will go. LU says staff will be redeployed.

A second 24-hour strike is planned for January 8. Last-ditch talks are set to take place today at the conciliation service Acas.

Mr Livingstone said yesterday that the RMT's plan conflicted with a "groundbreaking deal" it signed last year. The deal meant that RMT tube station staff would effectively work a 35-hour week.

"These moves have been agreed and safety validated for 40 out of the 44 station groups," he said. "London Underground have also given the unions categorical assurances that there will be no staff cuts.

"There can be no justification for the RMT now reneging on its agreement and trying to ruin New Year's Eve for thousands of Londoners."

Roger Evans, Conservative chairman of the London Assembly transport committee, also condemned the strike threat. "This is not the season to be jolly on London Underground.

"The RMT may believe industrial action is beneficial for its members. But inflicting passengers with a barrage of strikes is not a success for businesses and shoppers, especially during such a lucrative time for retailers and the capital's economy."

He added: "Tube managers need to get a grip and set up proper negotiations with underground workers. It's time to put an end to this strike culture."

The RMT general secretary, Bob Crow, accused LU officials of "back-door attempts to displace hundreds of safety-critical station staff under spurious cover."

He added: "The RMT will not accept any dilution of safety standards, either for our members or tube users, and we hope that the travelling public will join us in calling on London Underground to step back from the brink and start talking to us seriously."

Mr Crow said the RMT's headquarters would shut today and not reopen until January 1.

He added that if managers hoped to avert the strike, they had "better get a move on".

Posted on 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

RMT: 22 December 2005

FOUR THOUSAND RMT Tube station staff will strike for 24 hours between noon on New Year's Eve and noon on January 1 and again between 18:30 on January 8 and 18:30 on January 9 over the company's refusal to withdraw rosters and mass staff displacements imposed without agreement.

Members of the Tube's biggest union have voted by a margin of more than five to one to take action over Tube bosses' back-door attempts to displace hundreds of safety-critical station staff under spurious cover of the recent 35-hour week deal.

"Our members have seen through LUL's misleading statements and have made it quite clear that they will not accept a massive cull of safety-critical front-line staff," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"We are asking the company now to take a step back and withdraw the rosters they are attempting to impose on our members without agreement or safety validation.

"We have asked the company to rescind the hundreds of displacement notices they have issued and work with us to agree safety-validated staffing levels for all stations across the network. So far they have refused.

"Our members understand the issues at stake and have voted overwhelmingly for strike action to defend safe staffing levels and to stop the blatant abuse of the 35-hour week deal they agreed to in good faith.

"RMT station staff will therefore not book on for shifts commencing between noon on New Year's Eve and noon on New Year's Day, and between 18:30 on January 8 and 18:30 on January 9.

"RMT will not accept any dilution of safety standards, either for our members or Tube users, and we hope that the traveling public will join us in calling on London Underground to step back from the brink and talk seriously about these issues," Bob Crow said.

ends

Notes to editors:In the ballot for strike action, there were 1,327 votes (84.6 per cent) in favour and 241 (15.4 per cent) against. In the ballot for action short of strike, there were 1,435 (91.8 per cent) votes in favour and 129 (8.2 per cent) against.

Posted on 03:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

BBC News: 22 December 2005

A union has called a 24-hour strike on London Underground for New Year's Eve. Staff are being redeployed says the London Underground.

The 4,000 Members of the Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) voted five to one for the industrial action over staffing levels and will walk out at midday.

The RMT fears plans by London Underground, including closing ticket offices, could lead to job losses and compromise safety.

But Tube bosses said they were redeploying staff to more "visible positions" and there would be no cuts.

Another 24-hour strike has also been called for 8 January which will begin at 1830 GMT.

Safety-critical staff

BBC London's transport correspondent Andrew Winstanley said the strikes will "decimate" services.

The New Year's Eve stoppage will mean an end to the tradition of the Tube running all night on 31 December.

Transport for London had already announced the continuous running with the Tube being free from 2345 GMT on New Year's Eve until 0430 GMT on New Year's Day.

Last December the RMT agreed a deal which would effectively create a 35-hour week for Tube station staff.

"The RMT will not accept any dilution of safety standards either for our members, or Tube users" - RMT's Bob Crow

But RMT general secretary Bob Crow said the strike vote had been taken "over Tube bosses' back-door attempts to displace hundreds of safety-critical station staff under spurious cover of the recent 35-hour week deal".

Mr Crow added: "The RMT will not accept any dilution of safety standards either for our members, or Tube users and we hope that the travelling public will join us in calling on London Underground to step back from the brink and start talking to us seriously."

He said the RMT headquarters was shutting down for Christmas at 1700 on Friday and would not reopen until 1 January, so management had "better get a move on".

A London Underground spokesman said: "There are no staff cuts across the Tube network.

"London Underground and the RMT agreed to implement a shorter working week, as long as it came at no extra cost to the Tube fare payers.

"This means some staff being redeployed from ticket offices to station platforms and ticket halls, which can also boost reassurance for our passengers and security.

"We hope this can be resolved without the need for strike action."

Posted on 02:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

BBC News: 22 December 2005

The Competition Commission (CC) is to launch an inquiry into whether the acquisition of the West rail franchise by FirstGroup threatens fair trade. FirstGroup operates rail and freight train services across the UK

The move follows the Department of Transport's announcement on 13 December that FirstGroup had won the new franchise from April 2006.

Of particular concern was the supply of passenger services on shorter journeys.

A spokesman for the CC said pricing on those journeys may constitute unfair competition to bus routes.

The spokesman added: "The CC is required to publish its final report on the acquisition by FirstGroup by March 16 but intends to publish its provisional findings report by the end of January."

FirstGroup's West franchises are worth more than £1bn in revenues a year.

The firm is paying the government £1.81bn for the two franchises, which both begin on 1 April 2006.

Posted on 02:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

BBC News: 22 December 2005

A 49-year-old father from Luton has died in a Rome hospital after being injured in a train crash in Italy. One train rammed another in Roccasecca, a town south of Rome.

Antonio Vallillo died on Thursday morning after being taken to the Rome Polyclinic for surgery, a Foreign Office spokesman confirmed.

He was injured when two trains collided at a station 80 miles south of Rome.

Among 80 casualties were Mr Vallillo's eight-year-old daughter Gabriella and wife Lidia thought to be in separate hospitals in Cassino and Rome.

Mr Vallillo, an ice cream vendor in Luton, is the first reported death from the crash, the Foreign Office spokesman said.

"Mr Vallillo died in the early hours of this morning of the injuries sustained in the crash," the spokesman said.

"Embassy officials the hospitals in Cassino and Rome and we are in touch with families in the UK and in Italy."

Posted on 02:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Times of India Online: December 22, 2005

MUNABAO (Rajasthan): Work is on in full swing at this remote and dusty railway station in Barmer district of Rajasthan, to meet the deadline for resumption of the historic rail link between India and Pakistan.

MUNABAO (Rajasthan): Work is on in full swing at this remote and dusty railway station in Barmer district of Rajasthan, to meet the deadline for resumption of the historic rail link between India and Pakistan.

As the trains start chugging out once again from this station to Karachi as a Confidence Building Measure (CBM) agreed to by India and Pakistan two years ago, it could help in putting on track a peace process which has often derailed for one reason or the other.

Known as the last railway station of western India and one that was almost forgotten for 40 years after the 1965 war against Pakistan, Munabao is gearing up fast to be a crucial junction for the train that will begin from Jodhpur in Rajasthan and would go all the way up to Karachi.

"This (Munabao) station is once again going to be a very important link to Pakistan and joint efforts are on by the Indian and Pakistan Railways and governments to ensure that the services begin in January as planned," said Rajendra Kumar, Inspector General, BSF, Gujarat.

For railway and security officials it has been a herculean task to construct a state-of-the-art railway station in such a remote part of the country. Giving an example of the troubles faced, a rail official said the closest hardware store was more than three hours away and any mistake meant a long trip back.

Residents of Munabao and surrounding villages are eagerly looking forward to the resumption of the rail link. Many of them have memories of travelling on the route 40 years ago and several others are yearning to see their loved ones on either side of the border.

There are others who are hopeful that the train service will usher in some trade at a later stage but also fear that some 'unwanted elements' could slip in and create disturbance in the country and pose a security threat.

BSF officials are handling the entire project with a sense of camaraderie but are aware that the slightest wink by security staff could give a chance to arms and narcotics smugglers once the train resumes. "This is an important link for the two countries but we will not be taking any chance and security will be very alert," an intelligence official said.

Posted on 11:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

CBC News: 22 Dec 2005

The federal labour minister is calling on Via Rail and its conductors and engineers to resolve their differences and avoid a possible strike during the busy holiday season. The strike could begin on Christmas Eve.

On Wednesday, Labour Minister Joe Fontana asked the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service to help secure a deal.

Fontana's office said in a press release its prime concern was avoiding a "disruptive work stoppage during the holiday travel season."

Some 350 Via Rail engineers and conductors have been without a contract since Dec. 1.

The engineers and conductors are affiliated with a division of Teamsters Canada and on Monday they gave their union a strike mandate.

On Tuesday, the union issued a press release saying they had a "very strong mandate" but that there was hope a deal could be reached.

"The negotiation committee remains optimistic that an agreement can be reached without work stoppage," Gilles Halle, the president of the VIA Rail and Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, said in a statement.

Fontana's office expects the union to begin striking if no deal is reached by Dec. 24.

Posted on 11:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The New York Times: December 22, 2005
By JANNY SCOTT and SEWELL CHAN

As New York City plunged into Day 2 of the transit strike, the stakes for those on the picket line, businesses and riders spiraled upward yesterday: Gov. George E. Pataki said that there would be no negotiations until the strikers return to work; a judge raised the possibility of sending union leaders to jail; businesses languished and weary New Yorkers grappled with the harsh realities of life without buses or subways.

The war of rhetoric surrounding the strike entered a louder and more contentious phase, with the head of the transit union demanding that thorny pension issues be removed from the table before the strikers returned to work. But Governor Pataki joined Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg in saying that the transit workers must end the strike before negotiations could resume, contradicting the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's earlier position that it would talk anytime. The authority took the highly unusual step of running television advertisements urging individual workers to return to their jobs.

Even so, there was evidence of a willingness to compromise, at least behind the scenes, as both sides met separately with state mediators - the first possible step toward taking the dispute to arbitration. And late last night, members of the union's executive board were summoned to headquarters for an emergency meeting at 1 a.m. Then, a short time later, it was postponed indefinitely.

In State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, Justice Theodore T. Jones ordered the top three union leaders to appear today to face charges of criminal contempt and possibly be jailed under the law that prohibits strikes by public employees.

For his part, Roger Toussaint, president of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, bitterly attacked the mayor and the governor for what he called the use of "insulting and offensive language," apparently referring to the mayor's characterization of the strike by the city's 33,700 subway and bus workers as "thuggish" and "selfish."

In a speech that belied the union's tenuous position - it is already being fined $1 million a day - Mr. Toussaint seemed to cast the conflict in a social-justice context. In describing the struggle of his largely minority union, he invoked the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, saying: "There is a higher calling than the law. That is justice and equality."

Despite Mr. Toussaint's vow not to return to the table until the pension demand was dropped, he and his top lawyers were meeting with state mediators for hours at a time. State mediation could either yield a solution to the differences, or force the two sides to binding arbitration. While Mr. Toussaint reiterated his opposition to binding arbitration, he did not rule it out.

And while Governor Pataki vowed that there would be no negotiations as long as workers were striking, Peter S. Kalikow, the chairman of the authority, was in the Grand Hyatt hotel last night, suggesting he was still willing to meet with Mr. Toussaint. Though he issued a statement highly critical of Mr. Toussaint's words, it included language hinting the authority still wanted to talk.

Mayor Bloomberg recited a litany of misery brought on by the strike: business was down 40 percent in some restaurants and 60 percent in some stores; home health aides were unable to reach their patients; people were delaying chemotherapy and radiation; the New York Blood Center declared a state of emergency; attendance at museums and theaters was down; the holiday crowds on Fifth Avenue had thinned.

After the first day of chaos, there were signs that systems were being fine-tuned and people were adapting. Some suburban trains took to skipping stops to get into Manhattan faster. Police checkpoints ran more smoothly.

Still, the evening rush was as chaotic as Tuesday night's, with long lines almost everywhere.

More cars entered Manhattan. About 36,000 cars entered between 5 and 10 a.m., up 18 percent over Tuesday, said Kay Sarlin, a spokeswoman for the City Department of Transportation. The Staten Island ferry had more passengers than usual; commuters thronged ferry terminals at the Brooklyn Army Terminal and at Hunters Point in Long Island City. The city reopened Fifth and Madison Avenues, which had been closed to all but emergency vehicles on the first day. There were scattered reports of price gouging by taxi and livery car drivers, the mayor said.

The burden of the strike fell unevenly upon New Yorkers of different classes.

For many living in Manhattan, the strike remained an inconvenience, not a hardship. Some, like Dave Halman, a 35-year-old Wall Street banker, worked from home the first day. Yesterday, he was out on West 96th Street waiting for a company shuttle. "It's fine," he said. "We went through the blackout, 9/11 and now most people are taking this in stride."

But for many more, the impact was harsher. Stan Decker said he had walked nearly seven miles from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn to Jamaica, Queens. "They're hurting the ordinary people, they're not hurting the big shots," Mr. Decker, 59, said of the union. A union member himself, he complained, "Everybody's paying for health insurance. Why should they be different? When they overdo it like this, they hurt unions because if gives people a bad impression."

In its television advertisement, broadcast on the local cable channel NY1 News, the president of New York City Transit, Lawrence G. Reuter, said that "many hundreds of employees have already reported to work and we commend them." He urged employees to report to designated locations, listed on the agency's Web site, to avoid "severe legal and financial consequences."

On picket lines outside a bus depot in Midtown Manhattan and outside a transit plant, on West 53rd Street, some striking workers hinted they were having second thoughts. They said they live paycheck to paycheck, burdened with mortgages, many with children and ailing relatives to care for. Some said they had begun to wonder if they would be the ones to lose the most.

Mayor Bloomberg, too, raised the question of whom the strike is hurting.

"Roger Toussaint and the board have sought to portray the strike as a fight for working people," he said at a news conference. "That argument doesn't hold any water. Working people are the ones that are being hurt. Busboys are getting hurt, garment industry workers are getting hurt, owners of mom-and-pop businesses are being hurt."

The transit strike, the first in a quarter century, began at 3 a.m. Tuesday after negotiations between the union and the transit authority broke down over the authority's last-minute demand that all new transit workers contribute 6 percent of their wages toward their pensions - up from the 2 percent that current workers pay.

The authority has said it needs to rein in its soaring pension costs. Mr. Toussaint has argued that, under state law, it is illegal for the authority to insist on including a pension demand as part of a settlement.

At a news conference, Mr. Pataki said: "There aren't going to be any talks while you're out there walking. Come back to work. And then the M.T.A., I'm sure, will be willing to engage in negotiations. But not while you're engaged in an illegal strike."

Asked about the union's demand that pensions be taken off the table, the governor said, "I don't care what the union says, until they come back to work."

The governor's staff would not elaborate on his words, nor say whether they represented a change in the state's stance. Mr. Kalikow, who was appointed by the governor, said in his statement that the authority was ready to negotiate, but warned ominously that time was running out.

"The M.T.A. has remained in the hotel since the strike commenced, ready to negotiate," Mr. Kalikow said. He added: "It is becoming clear that we are rapidly approaching the point at which further waiting would be futile."

Justice Jones ordered the union leaders to appear in court to face contempt charges and possibly jail. He also agreed to consider a request by the city for a temporary restraining order, which could lead to strikers being assessed additional fines. Justice Jones brought up the possibility of jail for top union officials during proceedings in which James B. Henly, the lead state lawyer in the case, was seeking fines against Mr. Toussaint and two other officials of Local 100 - Ed Watt, the secretary-treasurer and Darlyne A. Lawson, the recording secretary.

The union's lawyer, Arthur Z. Schwartz, argued that the judge could not rule on the state's request for fines against the three officials because they were in mediation, and not present in court. Although he had not been asked by the state, the authority or the city to jail any union officials, Justice Jones said "one or more of these people could possibly be sent to jail" and agreed that they needed to be present.

Mr. Toussaint, at his news conference, reiterated the union's argument that the authority had forced the union to strike by illegally insisting on pension changes. Under the state's Taylor Law, one side cannot make pensions a condition of a settlement. But in 1994 and in 1999, both sides agreed on pension changes.

"We are prepared to resume negotiations, right away, right this minute," he said. "If the pension issue were taken off the table, that would form the basis for us to ask our members - to ask our executive board - to ask our members to go back to work."

A dozen union leaders spoke in support of the transit workers. Randi Weingarten, the president of the United Federation of Teachers and the chairwoman of the Municipal Labor Committee, said that when the city wanted changes in the pension system, it traditionally sat down with many city unions instead of picking one to try to force through changes.

Other union leaders called for changes in the Taylor Law, arguing that it unfairly allows for large penalties against unions and workers while doing little to punish cities that drag out contract negotiations for years.

Gene Russianoff, of the Straphangers Campaign, a riders' advocacy organization that is part of the New York Public Interest Research Group, said that he was encouraged by Mr. Toussaint's statement.

"It seemed to point a possible way out of the terrible tragedy that we are all going through," Mr. Russianoff said in a statement. "Why have the thorny issue of pensions pressed amid the heat and passion of a strike?" He said, "A forum of all the stakeholders to debate the issue of pension reform makes sense, rather than singling out one union that happens to be on the political outs with the mayor and governor."

Reporting for this article was contributed by Michael Cooper, Janon Fisher, Steven Greenhouse, Thomas J. Lueck, Jesse McKinley, Colin Moynihan, Fernanda Santos and Shadi Rahimi.

Posted on 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The New York Times: December 22, 2005
By DIANE CARDWELL

The standoff between the Transport Workers Union and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, tense and perilous, was already taking a harsh physical and economic toll on New Yorkers.

But now, as representatives of a mostly nonwhite work force trade recriminations publicly with white leaders in government and at the transportation authority, the potentially volatile issue of race, with all its emotional consequences, is bubbling to the surface.

The examples are both blatant and subtle, some open to interpretation, some openly hostile. Regarding the latter sort, the union - representing workers who are largely minority - shut down a Web log where the public could comment on the strike after it became so clogged with messages comparing the workers to monkeys and calling them "you people." (Seventy percent of the employees of New York City Transit are black, Latino or Asian-American.)

And what may have begun inadvertently, when Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said on Tuesday that union leaders had "thuggishly turned their backs on New York City," took on a life of its own yesterday as minority leaders and union members attacked the mayor's conduct as objectionable, or worse. "There has been some offensive and insulting language used," said Roger Toussaint, the union leader. "This is regrettable and it is certainly unbecoming for the mayor of the city of New York to be using this type of language."

But others were more extreme in their response. Leroy Bright, 56, a black bus operator who is also a union organizer, saw racial coding in Mr. Bloomberg's choice of words. "The word thug is usually attributed to people of color whenever something negative takes place," he said, adding that the language was "unnecessarily hostile."

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who called an evening news conference to blast Mr. Bloomberg, said in an interview: "How did we become thugs? Because we strike over a pension?"

"I do not think the language would have been used in a union that was not as heavily populated by people of color," he added. "And whether he intentionally did it or not, he offended a lot of people of color and he ought to address that, and come to the bargaining table."

Earlier in the day, the Rev. Herbert D. Daughtry, a Brooklyn pastor, joined elected officials at a City Hall news conference and compared Mr. Bloomberg to Eugene (Bull) Connor, the Alabama police chief who used police dogs and fire hoses on civil rights protesters in the 1960's.

Ed Skyler, a spokesman for Mr. Bloomberg, dismissed those comments, saying, "It's despicable for anyone to inject race into this situation." He noted that when police and fire union members were trailing the mayor during contract negotiations, Mr. Skyler had accused them of "acting like thugs," to little comment.

But for all the accusations and counter-accusations, clues of a simmering racial tension have hovered over the contract negotiations between the union and the transit authority all along.

Mr. Toussaint, for instance, continued yesterday to cast the strike as part of a broader movement for social justice and invoked the civil rights movement, as he often does in his calls to respect the dignity of his workers. "Had Rosa Parks answered the call of the law instead of the higher call of justice, many of us who are driving buses today would instead be at the back of the bus," he said.

Mr. Toussaint added that he was the one who pointed out that the authority did not honor the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The authority, in its offer on Monday night, agreed to create such a holiday, an action estimated to cost $9 million a year. Indeed, the politics of the strike are in some ways embedded in the broader demographic changes in the city. Mr. Toussaint, who is originally from Trinidad, leads a union, now dominated by blacks, Latinos and Asian-Americans, whose members were once mostly of European descent.

"Clearly race is a subtext of much of what has happened in city politics, in the ethnic succession within unions and city agencies," said Douglas A. Muzzio, a professor at the Baruch School of Public Affairs, who said he saw nothing inherently racial in the use of the term thuggish.

Among members of the Transport Workers Union, however, there is a real and bitter sense that city leaders speak of them differently from members of other unions, like those of police officers and firefighters, whose memberships are whiter.

For instance, George McAnanama, a semi-retired union leader and former transit worker said transit employees have received less praise for their contributions during city emergencies like the 2001 terror attack and the 2003 blackout. "Whenever there's praise given out we're always the stepchild if we're mentioned at all," he said.

Now, that sense of injustice has more fully emerged among workers on strike and is being championed by elected officials from the City Council to Congress. Mr. Sharpton made the civil rights connection explicit, noting that when Dr. King was assassinated in 1968, he was in Memphis to support a sanitation workers' strike, a strike also held to be illegal.

Sewell Chan and Mike McIntire contributed reporting for this article.

Posted on 10:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Newsday: December 22, 2005
BY ANDREW STETTNER

If TWU workers don't get a fair pact, it'll put the New York area's shrinking 'middle class' in peril.

Andrew Stettner is the policy analyst at the National Employment Law Project, a nonprofit research and advocacy group in Manhattan.

Here is Mayor Michael Bloomberg's take on the Transport Workers Union strike: "You've got people making $50,000 and $60,000 a year keeping the people who are making $20,000 and $30,000 a year from being able to earn a living. That's just not acceptable."

Like most of the media coverage that has focused on the inconveniences of stranded straphangers, the mayor has missed the true meaning of the strike: the future of the middle class in New York City and communities across the region.

The problem is that a family cannot really live on $30,000 in the metropolitan area, with housing and other costs skyrocketing in the five boroughs and on Long Island. For example, according to a detailed analysis prepared by the United Way, a family of one child and one adult needs earnings of $42,000 just to cover basic needs in Queens, while a family of four requires $58,000 a year.

New York's economy is growing strongly, butunevenly, with high-paying and low-paying jobs increasing while the middle class loses ground. From 2000 to 2004, U.S. Census data show, the middle class in New York City shrank at a rate four times greater than in the rest of the nation, a trend occurring on Long Island as well, but at a slower pace.

That's what makes jobs like those at New York City Transit - paying between $47,000 and $55,000 with good benefits - so vital to the region's health. At these wages, working families don't have to depend on publicly funded support like Medicaid or Child Health Plus that are dependent on an already stretched tax base. Transit jobs give Caribbean and Latino families the kind of opportunities that made Irish-Americans and other European newcomers a mainstay of the region's middle class. Low-wage workers generally support better paying jobs because they provide an attainable ladder to the middle class.

Do transit workers deserve these wages and a fair increase? Transit workers perform thankless, dangerous tasks. Bus drivers face hostile customers and murderous traffic. Subway workers toil in dark, century-old and vermin-infested tunnels. A misstep can mean the difference between life and death for riders or the worker. Basic needs most of us take for granted - like going to the bathroom - are often a luxury for transit workers.

Not only is their pay justified, but transit workers are exactly the kind of workers who should be able to hold on to a middle class way of life in the 21st century.

Knowledge-driven, high-wage, service-sector economies like that of the New York City region depend on a web of mass transit. The recovery of the subway from a period of being decrepit and crime-ridden has helped propel the rebound of the region's economy. Because of a surge in population and public transit use, the MTA has a nearly $1-billion surplus this year. The MTA can afford to sustain a living wage for the workers it needs to operate the system.

The union says the MTA's final three-year salary proposal was 3 percent, 4 percent and 3.5 percent.
Inflation is running at 3.5 percent in Northeastern urban areas, so this salary increase would leave workers treading water. In exchange for a zero percent real raise, the TWU has been asked to accept cuts in retirement security and health care. It's the kind of offer that is not an offer at all.

If the MTA gets its way, we can expect a slide in living standards for a whole range of public-sector workers, as the TWU pact would be used as a model for other municipal contracts. And we can expect a race to the bottom in service areas like health care and building services that have a chance to pay decent wages to working people in a globalized age. If the New York City region's 21st century economy is to keep its middle class, we need the transit workers strike to end with a fair contract.

Posted on 10:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

New York Press: December 21-27, 2005 
By Azi Paybarah

How things got so fucked.
Ask transit advocate Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign how we got our first transit strike in a quarter of a century.

"It seems to me it was harder three years ago when [Transit Workers Union local 100 leader] Roger Touissant was new and fiscal times were tough. My sense is that neither [MTA chairman Peter] Kalikow or Toussaint wanted a strike this time, and, you know, factors ended up and there is one now."

So what exactly are those mysterious "factors" that got New Yawkers sharing cabs and car-pooling, and left only Rangers fans, Long Islanders and Hudson News employees manning Penn Station?

First is the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The public authority is run by a 17-member board, all of whom are nominated by the governor and immune from public pressure as such. So perhaps it's no surprise that the Authority had a habit of keeping two sets of books and of spontaneously pulling conveniently-timed surpluses and deficits out of thin air. How loose are they with their numbers? Put it this way: When they announced a few moths ago that they'd found an $833 million surplus, a review by the state comptroller revealed they were shorting themselves by nearly $100 million. What better time for the MTA to pull out free money than right before a contract fight, right? Hey, union, we found this money, but we can?t give any to you or we?ll go broke.

This is the same agency that set things up so that the union?s contract expired just before Christmas, when it?s perfect walking weather.

Then there is the TWU, which is after its cut of that free money. Founded by a tough-talking old Irish Republican Army member in 1934, the TWU has an old-school get money mentality that brings back the days when major unions would do anything for a raise. And not only does the TWU want a raise, but they want to keep starting salaries up (motormen make twice as much to start with as cops, for instance), lower retirement ages and not chip in any more for health care co-pays that are far below what most people in the private sector pay.

"Mike Bloomberg should shut up," the ever-diplomatic Toussaint said earlier this month when told of the mayor's insistence that his union not strike. Tuesday, they did strike, of course the first transit strike since spring of 1980, when the system shut down for 11 days. At least it was warm then.

Toussaint, who came to Brooklyn from Trinidad because the post-colonial country still had what he called an "atmosphere of harassment and retaliation," started out cleaning subways for the MTA in 1984. Around that time he started 'On Track,' a newsletter to air workers' beefs. A decade later, he ran for a union post on the New Directions slate and won his first such gig, heading the 1,800-member Track Division. One year later, the union elected its first black president, former bus driver and deacon Willie James.

Toussaint continued beating the drum of worker complaints, now with union backing, winning him anything but love and adoration from the MTA. When James went up against Rudy Giuliani in 1996, he made some initial noise about a strike or slowdown, but was warned that not only would the Taylor Law be enforced, but, as the mayor also pointed out in a radio address, "In addition to that, all of the expenses and all of the damages that the City incurs will have to be paid by the union, and the union will lose its right to set off dues in order to collect the dues from its members." James got the message back off or be crushed. He negotiated a contract where his members got a barely noticeable raise and agreed to let welfare recipients do union work without actually joining the union. Despite Toussaint?s effort, the rank-and-file members narrowly approved the contract. Then, after the contract was a done deal, the MTA discovered a $125 million surplus. The following year, in a three-way election, James finished dead last and Toussaint walked away with 60 percent of the union vote.

In 2002, it was Toussaint's turn to negotiate with the state's most corrupt authority. With threats of a strike that sent newly elected mayor Bloomberg rushing out to buy a $660 bike, Toussaint won a four to five percent increase for union members, far below the rate of inflation. The union also agreed to a 50 percent increase in worker?s medical co-payments. And the one-time $1,000 check to union members turned into a $500 check after taxes you can?t even buy a good bike for that.

The left-over frustration from the 2002  contract was further flamed when the MTA announced its nearly billion-dollar surplus and a discounted holiday fare for riders in advance of their contract talks with the union. Hoping not to be the next Willie James, and dogged by union veeps who often opposed his politics and platform, Toussaint muttered about a strike early and often until it was the only thing left on the negotiating table.

That leaves the odd couple. Governor George Pataki was so concerned about the original deadline for negotiations that he ran out of town just before the deadline, popping up at a New Hampshire fundraiser. The negotiating back in Gotham was left to Peter Kalikow, the noted real estate developer who was appointed MTA Chairman. The trenchcoat and fedora-loving chairman wants to offer union members, more of a turtle cap and Sean John crowd, single-digit pay increases, lower starting salaries, higher contributions to their pensions and a longer tenure before actually tapping into those pensions.

His domestic partner, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, has been left holding the contingency plans and walking across the Brooklyn Bridge with the foot commuters caught in the middle of all those ?factors?.

When Kalikow and Touissant broke off talks Monday night at the swanky Grand Hyatt hotel, the only thing left at the table was the impression that nobody was budging.

"'I was told [the MTA] put the offer on the table, the union rejected it and told us they were going to the union hall. Okay, thank you all very much," said MTA spokesman Tom Kelly an hour before the deadline. At 3 a.m. the strike was official. Fifteen minutes later, in the swiftest move of his administration, Pataki released a statement, saying he hoped everyone can "work together to overcome the unnecessary crisis that has been set upon us by this illegal strike." Leadership.

"We did not want a strike; the MTA, the governor and the mayor did," Toussaint said in a statement.

City Comptroller Bill Thompson said the strike will cost the city $1.6 billion for the first week, just slightly more than what the MTA banked away in that surplus they announced.

Also, the striking members may lose two-days pay per day they strike, thanks to the state?s Taylor Law, inspired after the first transit strike in 1966 (led by TWU founder Mike ?the judge can drop dead? Quill).

Those stiff penalties became part of the bargaining during the 1985 transit strike, which ended when Mayor Ed Koch agreed to not actually enforce the law or try collecting the millions in fines the union owed.

So that the city doesn?t miss out on the chance to recoup some money, it asked a judge to levy $1 million a day against the union for the duration of the strike.

This year, Bloomberg is trying to live up to that 1996 promise, but, will probably have to act a bit more like its 1985 (anyone wanna watch Breakfast Club when this is all over?).

With all this fining, it?s hard to imagine anybody having any money left to actually pay for a new contract.

Posted on 04:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Reuters: Dec 21, 2005
By Chris Reese and Claudia Parsons

NEW YORK, Dec 21 (Reuters) - The leaders of the union behind New York's crippling mass transit strike could face jail, a judge warned on Wednesday as commuters were forced to improvise for a second day to get to work.

The day after a court slapped $1 million a day in fines on the striking union, a judge ordered TWU Local 100 leader Roger Toussaint and other top officials to appear in court on Thursday, warning that jail was a "distinct possibility."

Toussaint apologized to New Yorkers for the inconvenience but said the strike was provoked. He also said the union was talking to mediators and would consider returning to work if transit authorities withdrew a contentious pension proposal.

The bus and subway strike by some 34,000 transit workers is New York's first for 25 years.

State law prohibits public sector employees from striking, and the judge is considering imposing fines on workers.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg denounced the "illegal and selfish" strike, but said jailing union heads would risk making them martyrs and that he would prefer heavier fines.

Public opinion was divided in response to the strike, but feelings were high. One bar ran a newspaper ad saying it would charge Transit Workers Union members $1 extra per drink to compensate for the loss of business, adding: "Bah Humbug!"

Two local tabloids showed little sympathy for the strikers. "Mad As Hell" the Daily News screamed on its front page. The New York Post had this message for strikers: "You Rats."

Bloomberg and Gov. George Pataki both said on Wednesday workers must end the strike before negotiations can resume, insisting an illegal strike will not profit the union.

In its final offer before talks collapsed, the MTA raised its wage offer and withdrew a proposal to raise the retirement age for new hires to 62 from 55. But it also presented a new proposal to make new hires contribute 6 percent of salary to pension funds, a demand that the union rejected out of hand.

"If the pension demands ... come off the table, that would go a long way to us resuming the negotiations and resolving the strike issue," Toussaint said at a news conference.

BEGGING, BIKING AND SKATING

The main preoccupation for many of the 7 million New York area commuters who rely on buses and subways was getting around.

"I am a fifth grade teacher, and I need to get to my class!" read one posting on www.craigslist.com seeking a ride.

"Anyone driving from the Met to Brooklyn tonight?" read another message from somebody hoping not to waste their tickets to the Metropolitan Opera on Wednesday evening.

Todd X, 36, said his shop, Bicycle Habitat, stayed open three hours late on Tuesday to cope with the extra work.

"We're getting a lot of flat tires, mostly on decrepit pieces of garbage that people unearth from the basement at the last possible moment," he said.

Rudi Hiebert, a 42-year old medical researcher, said the lack of subways was a good excuse for him to brave the cold and get back on his in-line skates, unused for over a year.

"I need the exercise," he said after crossing Manhattan Bridge from Brooklyn. "It's a beautiful day -- I think I might keep skating to work even when the strike is over."

Officials have said the strike will cost the city $400 million on day one and $300 million a day until Friday.

With temperatures below freezing despite bright sunshine, commuters walked long distances to work, or hailed cabs if they could find them. Bloomberg said there had been some reports of price gouging by taxis and authorities were investigating.

John Levine, 29, said he had started work at 4:00 a.m. to beat the traffic on his route delivering beer. "People still need their beer, just like normal," he said.

Posted on 11:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Financial Times: Dec. 21, 2005
By Christopher Grimes in New York

New York on Wednesday sought additional fines against the striking transit workers' union in hopes of ending the two-day transport stoppage that has already hurt local businesses and left 7m daily commuters struggling to get to work.

The Transport Workers' Union faces $1m fines for every day of the strike, and individual members face mounting losses in their wages. An attorney for New York City on Wednesday asked for additional $25,000-a-day fines.

Combined, these fines could leave the 34,000-member union seriously crippled, said Randy Mastro, who negotiated with various city unions while deputy mayor of Rudolph Giuliani's administration. The state could seek to end the practice of having union dues deducted automatically from workers' pay cheques, further draining its power.

"The union finds itself in very desperate situation, with withering criticism on all sides," he said.

"They're being fined $1m a day, so the union will have been bankrupted by Thursday."

The two sides were due to meet again on Wednesday afternoon, just as commuters were facing another uncertain trek home. There were no signs of unrest in New York on Wednesday, the second bitterly cold day of the strike.

It is difficult to tell whether the increasing fines and public unhappiness with the strike has had any kind of weakening effect on the TWU's resolve.

The union, led by Roger Toussaint, has a history of contentious labour fights ? including an 11-day strike in 1980 and a 12-day strike in 1966.

Mr Toussaint would be pleased with an outcome similar to the 1966 strike resolution, which handed salary increases and new pension benefits to the members. But city and state officials have long viewed those negotiations as the textbook example of how not to handle a transit strike.

George Pataki, who as New York's governor oversees the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, has plenty of incentives to play hard with the union. Mr Pataki, a Republican, is exploring a presidential run in 2008, and has been criticised by some members of the party for not taking a tougher line on the state's public unions.

Even some who sympathise with the city's labour unions expressed concern that the strike could damage the movement. Andrew White, director of the Centre for New York Affairs at the New School, said the strike could create a divide between union workers and non-union low-wage workers.

Low-wage earners could lose their jobs as a result of the strike, which could foster resentment against the unions, he said. "If I were to place bets, I would say the transit workers' union comes out of this in bad shape," Mr White said.

Posted on 11:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Associated Press: 12.21.2005
By DAVID B. CARUSO

The city and state stepped up their pressure on striking transit workers Wednesday in hopes of forcing them back to work, and a judge said sending union leaders to jail was a "distinct possibility."

State Supreme Court Justice Theodore Jones, who is hearing several legal issues related to the strike, directed attorneys from the Transport Workers Union to bring president Roger Toussaint and other top officials before the court Thursday to answer to a criminal contempt charge. He said he may sentence the union leaders to jail for refusing to end the strike, calling such a scenario a "distinct possibility."

Union lawyer Arthur Schwartz said Toussaint and the other officials are in negotiations with mediators and that hauling them into court could halt the talks.

The possibility of jail time for union leaders was one of several developments Wednesday as millions of New Yorkers trudged to work in another bone-chilling commute without subways and buses.

Michael A. Cardozo, New York City's corporation counsel, asked the judge to issue an order directing union members to return to work. If the order is granted, Cardozo said, the city could ask for $25,000-a-day fines per worker - a punishment that goes beyond the docked-pay penalty that workers already are experiencing for the illegal strike.

"We're doing everything possible to make the union obey the law," he said, adding that union members need to "realize the economic consequences of their actions."

The fines would be at the discretion of the judge, and most likely would range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars.

Meanwhile, New Yorkers were out before sunrise, hoping to avoid the long lines and crushing crowds that formed at commuter rail stations during rush hour Tuesday. Outside Penn Station, several taxis had lined up by 7 a.m. to pick up passengers hoping to beat the rush. A trip across Manhattan took about 90 minutes.

"A nightmare, disorganized, especially going home," Aleksandra Radakovic said Wednesday morning in describing her commute.

The White House also spoke out on the strike Wednesday, saying federal mediators have offered to help end the dispute. "It is unfortunate. We hope that the two sides can resolve their differences so that the people in New York can get to where they need to go," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

On Tuesday, Jones imposed a huge fine against the Transport Workers Union - $1 million for each day of the strike; Schwartz said the fine could deplete the union's treasury in the matter of days. The union vowed to immediately appeal.

In addition, the Transport Workers Union's 33,000 members already face the loss of two days pay for every day they are on strike. That means a prolonged strike could quickly eat up any increased pay they would get with a new contract.

On Wednesday, Jones issued another ruling against organized labor. He ordered that two unions representing a fraction of the transit workers be fined $50,000 per day for one of the unions and $75,000 per day for the second union. Together the unions, which are part of the amalgamated Transit Workers Union, represent about 3,000 workers of the MTA union.

Some of the strikers got an early start Wednesday, donning union placards and returning to their picket lines. Bill McRae, a bus driver since 1985, said he thought negotiations should have continued - but he still backed the walkout.

"The union executives called for a strike, and we have to do what we have to do," McRae said on Manhattan's West Side.

Transit officials said about 1,000 transit workers came to work Tuesday, and that they were put to work cleaning and doing paperwork.

As they did on the first day of the strike, throngs of pedestrians, including Mayor Michael Bloomberg, on Wednesday braced themselves against the 24-degree weather and crossed the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan. Volunteers awaited them, offering hot chocolate.

Bloomberg urged transit workers to end the strike.

"All the transit workers have to do is listen to their international (union) that's urged them to go back to work, listen to the judge who ordered them back to work, and look at their families and their own economic interests," he said. "They should go back to work. Nobody's above the law, and everyone should obey the law."

The International TWU, the union's parent, had urged the local not to go on strike. Its president, Michael O'Brien, reiterated Tuesday that the striking workers were legally obligated to resume working. The only way to a contract, he said, is "not by strike but continued negotiation."

Police say there have been no strike-related crimes, injuries or arrests with the exception of two minor incidents.

On Tuesday night, a cab driver was arrested on the Upper East Side for allegedly assaulting a woman in his cab after they got into an argument over the fare. She sustained minor injuries. And earlier Tuesday, a police officer was accidentally bumped by a flatbed truck at a checkpoint in Queens.

"The city is functioning, and functioning well considering the severe circumstances," Bloomberg said before ripping into the union.

The TWU "shamefully decided they don't care about the people they work for, and they have no respect for the law," the mayor said.

Isaac Flores, who works at a law firm in midtown, was part of a complicated, four-person car pool to get to work Wednesday morning. "They're too spoiled," Flores said of the transit workers. "They want to retire at age 55. They're making more money than a cop."

Flores traveled in a car pool with Myra Sanoguet, who saw a group of pickets in upper Manhattan as their car drove past.

"We were thinking about running them over just now," Sanoguet said.

In its last offer before negotiations broke down, the MTA had proposed increasing employee contributions to the pension plan from 2 percent to 6 percent. Union officials said that such a change would be impossible for the union to accept.

"Were it not for the pension piece, we would not be out on strike," Toussaint said in an interview with NY1. "All it needs to do is take its pension proposal off the table."

The union said the latest MTA offer included annual raises of 3 percent, 4 percent and 3.5 percent; the previous proposal included 3 percent raises each year.

The MTA asked the Public Employment Relations Board to formally declare an impasse, the first step toward forcing binding arbitration of the contract, said James Edgar, the board's executive director.

The strike was expected to cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars per day.

Posted on 09:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

RMT: 21 December 2005

MORE THAN 300 RMT guards on Virgin Cross Country are to strike on January 1 after voting by more than two to one for action in a dispute over the erosion of Sunday pay rates.

"Virgin Cross Country are attempting to claw back some of the cost of introducing the 35-hour week by undermining rates for working on Sundays," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"Our 35-hour week agreement was supposed to have brought us a shorter working week without loss of pay, but the value of Sunday enhancements has been slashed by nearly six per cent.

"The result is that our members are being expected to give up their Sundays for a smaller premium - and that makes a mockery of the agreement we reached with the company.

"It is not as if we are talking about a huge sum of money - our claim amounts to less than £6 a shift.

"To add insult to injury the company has begun treating Sunday rosters as if they are compulsory, despite our agreement that Sundays remain outside the normal working week.

"We have tried to negotiate a settlement with the company but Virgin Cross Country has simply refused to offer any improvements and we are left with no choice but to strike on Sunday January 1.

"The company can settle this dispute by restoring the full value of Sunday pay rates, but if they do not they face the prospect of our members stopping work every Sunday," Bob Crow said.

Posted on 04:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

RMT: 21 December 2005

DECEMBER 21: MORE THAN 500 RMT conductors at Central Trains are to strike on December 27 and January 2 after the company failed for nearly two years to negotiate compensation for working on the Christmas and New Year bank holidays.

RMT members voted by a margin of four to one to strike after the company stonewalled since February 2004 and then failed to offer more than the right to take the same holiday at a later date.

"This really is straight out of the Scrooge school of industrial relations," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"The company is effectively offering no compensation at all for members who give up bank holidays to operate train services over the Christmas period.

"I am sure that members of the public who use train services over Christmas would expect those who run them to be given fair compensation for giving up time that most people enjoy with their families.

"We have been ready to negotiate for two years, whether it be for additional time off or a pay premium, but the company has stuck its head in the sand and refused to budge, and that has made a lot of people very angry.

"The company knows that it can avoid strike action by getting round the table with us to negotiate appropriate and fair compensation to the people who give up their Christmas to serve others," Bob Crow said.

Posted on 04:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Transport Workers Union - Local 100 (TWU): 21 Dec 2005
On Strike for Fair Wages, Hard-Earned Benefits, Respect and Dignity

Call Them to Stop It
For generations, a job in New York's subways and buses was the first step on the road to the American dream. The MTA is telling us Not Any More.That's what this strike is all about.

We know how hard things are for New Yorkers. It's hard to get around New York when the trains and buses aren't rolling. It's hard for us and our families too.

We are losing wages, and the Mayor wants every transit worker to pay fines of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Easy for a billionaire. But we're working people like you.

So why is the strike still on? Ask the MTA and Governor Pataki. They are the ones who shut down New York's lifeline. They came in at the last minute with a take-it-or-leave-it 10 year 4% pay cut for all future hires.

They risked your livelihood and the whole NYC economy over a proposal that top legislators in both parties say is illegal. (Times, Dec. 20)

It's up to the Governor and the MTA to get things rolling.  Call them. Tell them to Stop it.  We need real leadership to get the buses and trains  rolling  again.

MTA - 212-878-7274
Governor Pataki - 518-474-7516

Posted on 04:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

New York Daily News: December 21, 2005

Willie Casiano and his fellow union members tried to keep warm over a trash-can fire yesterday morning while they walked the picket line outside the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's sprawling train-overhaul shop at 207th St. in Inwood.

Down at City Hall, Mayor Bloomberg was blasting the members of Transport Workers Union Local 100 as greedy, as thugs and criminals for daring to walk off the job for a decent contract, for creating massive inconvenience to subway and bus riders.

There is, of course, never a good time for any strike.

The timing was especially tough for Casiano, who landed his mechanic's job at the MTA after the 1980 transit strike.

On Monday, his doctor broke the news that the cancer in Casiano's spine had spread to his lung. He's already endured months of grueling chemotherapy. Now he faces applying to the MTA for disability.

What happened to this sick worker and to so many other employees at the MTA is as much the reason for this strike as a wage increase, pension or health care benefit.

"Ever since I started missing work for chemo treatments, my supervisor's been accusing me of chronic sick-leave abuse," Casiano said.

Nelson Rivera, shop chairman for the 300 mechanics and car cleaners at 207th St., says Casiano is not the only worker penalized for illness. Another mechanic with 30 years on the job recently had a heart operation.

"When the guy came back to work, the MTA demoted him to security guard instead of giving him light duties," Rivera said. "Since then, he's been disciplined twice and is now facing a possible dismissal in 30 days."

Local 100 President Roger Toussaint has repeatedly complained that the MTA issued a phenomenal 15,000 disciplinary actions against his members last year.

When so many workers are being punished and harassed daily by management, something is deeply wrong with the people at the top of that agency.

"We've been fed up with the MTA and wanted a strike for years," Rivera said. "But until Roger got elected, no union leader dared to stand up to management."

All across this city, workers who have no pensions and who must pay huge premiums for health insurance hear about transit workers fighting to preserve pensions at 55 and employer-paid health insurance. They fall prey to the Bloomberg line of "greedy workers."

Have the rest of us been beaten down, exploited and abused for so long by our own employers that we will allow transit workers who dare to defend their standard of living to be painted as thugs?

To hear Bloomberg talk, the Taylor Law came down with the Ten Commandments - and wasn't a modern concoction by politicians to curb the power and influence of our city's municipal unions.

The mayor apparently wants Toussaint and the TWU to accept a two-tier pension system. Then he can get all the municipal unions to follow suit and accept a weak new pension tier in their next contracts.

Even then-Mayor Ed Koch, who presided over the 1980 strike, later admitted in his autobiography how worried he was that then-Gov. Hugh Carey and Richard Ravitch, the MTA chairman at the time, would set a pattern in their contract with the TWU that other city workers would want.

But Koch at least had the courage to act like a leader, not a bully. He went to the talks being conducted and urged round-the-clock negotiations.

Bloomberg and Gov. Pataki stay far away from the talks, but behind the scenes they order their messenger, Peter Kalikow, not to give any more ground to Toussaint and the workers.

Tragically, there was no need for this strike. Not with a $1 billion surplus at the MTA. The agency's arrogant managers figured they could keep abusing their workers forever. They figured wrong.

For Casiano and his fellow transit workers, no matter what happens, no matter how much they end up paying in fines, the MTA and the leaders of this city will never treat them the same way again.

Posted on 04:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

RMT: 21 December 2005

THE THREAT of Christmas strikes by 250 RMT members at London's Docklands Light Railway has receded after the company tabled a "massively improved" pay offer.

The union's executive will tomorrow consider the new offer, which includes a two-stage no-strings pay package worth 5.25 per cent, a major advance in travel concessions and a New Year's bonus of £100, with a recommendation that the deal is accepted.

The result of the DLR ballot for strike action, called after the company reduced an earlier offer of 3.4 per cent to 3.25 per cent, is also expected tomorrow.

A dispute with Metronet over sub-contracting and jobs, which had also threatened massive disruption to Tube travel over the festive period, has already been settled, while the result of a strike ballot of 4,000 Tube station staff over staffing cuts the  union believes are unsafe, is also due tomorrow.

If accepted, the new DLR offer will give staff a 3.5 per cent increase from January 1, with a further increase of 1.75 per cent in July. Staff not already getting travel concessions will be reimbursed 25 per cent of their season ticket costs from January, rising to 50 per cent in 2007 and 75 per cent in 2008. The offer would also give DLR staff full pay immediately upon satisfactory completion of training, rather than the current full year on reduced rates.

"This massively improved offer was won by our DLR members making it crystal clear that they would not accept the company's earlier shrinking pay offer," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"That determination has yielded an offer that is just about the best tabled this year and, after consulting our reps, I will be recommending that the RMT executive accept it.

"Winning an offer of three quarters of travel season-ticket costs within three years for those who do not already get travel concessions is also a major step in the right direction which other employers should take note of.

"We have already settled a major dispute with Metronet and have taken a massive step towards settling with DLR - let us hope that London Underground will now get around the table in the same spirit and negotiate seriously over station staffing levels," Bob Crow said.

Posted on 03:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

BBC News: 21 December 2005

Thousands of commuters faced long morning rush-hour delays after faulty equipment caused severe disruption on the London Underground (LU).

Radios not working in drivers' cabs meant the Circle Line was suspended anti-clockwise.

The problem also led to the part suspension of the Hammersmith & City Line while there were severe delays on the District Line.

An LU spokeswoman said malfunctioning radios led to the faults in rush hour.

The problems came a day before the Rail Maritime and Transport (RMT) union was due to announce the result of a strike ballot in a dispute with London Underground (LU) over the working week and staff levels.

RMT members are expected to vote for strike action and the RMT could announce a strike will be held on New Year's Eve, when Tube services would normally run all night.

The RMT said that staff who had been heroes during the July 7 London bombings could face the sack, but LU insisted there were no plans to cut jobs.

Meanwhile, the threat of Christmas strikes by 250 RMT members at London's Docklands Light Railway receded today after management tabled what the union described as a "massively improved" pay offer.

Posted on 03:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Local London: 21 Dec' 2005
By Martina Smith

Thousands of Tube workers are voting on whether to strike over claims that staff cuts would leave stations, including those targeted by the July 7 blasts, "dangerously understaffed".

But London Underground said staff would only be moved around, not cut.

The Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union said front-line station staff is to be cut "in droves". On Thursday it will finish balloting 4,000 station workers for strike action.

"There have been widespread calls for more uniformed staff after the recent bomb attacks, but LUL has responded by cutting visible station staff in every singe zone one station," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said.

Basic grade station assistants at the three sites attacked on July 7, Kings Cross, Liverpool Street and Edgware Road, would be cut by 75%, 70% and 30%, he claimed. Waterloo would lose 60%, and Green Park, Baker Street and London Bridge about half.

However, London mayor Ken Livingstone strongly denied the allegations. "There is no reduction in staffing," he said at his weekly press conference.

Workers would just be moved out of ticket offices onto platforms to be more visible, he added.

Some staff would also be moved from central London to the outer zones to "provide reassurance".

LUL said the restructuring is part of a deal agreed with the RMT a year ago to reduce the work week from 37.5 hours to 35 hours. The union then hailed the deal as "groundbreaking" and its members backed it 30-1 in a vote.

Because of the success of the Oyster smartcard, used by 2.9 million passengers, LUL sells one million less paper tickets a week. "This means passengers are queuing for tickets less," an LUL spokesman said.

Ticket office staff would now be used elsewhere to implement the shorter work week, he added. "There are no staff cuts across the Tube network as a whole."

Staff at any individual station would also not be cut "by anything like the numbers the RMT claim", he said. "Indeed, at some stations such as Paddington, Camden Town and London Bridge, we are actually increasing the number of staff.

"We very much hope that this dispute can be resolved without the need for strike action and are continuing to talk to the RMT."

DLR strike threat averted
Meanwhile the threat of another RMT strike, by 250 Dockland's Light Railway (DLR) workers, has receded.

The company made a "massively improved" pay offer, which includes a 5.25% raise in two stages, travel concessions and a New Year's bonus of £100, the union said.

It has started to ballot members for strike action after the DLR reduced a previous pay offer from 3.4% to 3.25%.

Although the ballot will still conclude tomorrow, union bosses will recommend that members accept the new deal.

Posted on 03:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Bristol Evening Post: December 21, 2005
via: Keep Our NHS Public

An MP claims one in three acute hospital beds in north Bristol and South Gloucestershire will be axed under plans to replace the existing Southmead and Frenchay hospitals.

Steve Webb, who represents Northavon, says that under plans drawn up by local NHS trusts, the new superhospital at Southmead will have just 802 acute beds.

There will be another 145 acute beds for specialities, such as obstetrics and gynaecology, which will not form part of the new hospital development.

A further 84 "community" beds will be provided at Frenchay and 32 at Southmead, making a total of 1,063 beds.

But North Bristol NHS Trust, which runs both hospitals, says the loss of beds will be smaller.

Mr Webb, the Liberal Democrat spokesman on health, said he had obtained data from the Department of Health, which showed that as recently as 2003/4, North Bristol NHS Trust had 1,513 acute and general medical beds.

He said that represented a cut in bed numbers of about 30 per cent, despite projections of a rapid increase in the population of the Bristol and South Gloucestershire areas over the coming decades.

The MP said: "Whatever you think about the best site for the proposed superhospital, local people will all agree that slashing bed numbers by a third is totally unacceptable.

"I already hear from people who work in local hospitals that they often struggle to cope with existing bed numbers.

"How trust bosses expect to be able to serve a rapidly growing population with one-third fewer NHS beds defies belief."

Mr Webb said the figures were included in outline business case documents being considered today by the board of South Gloucestershire Primary Care Trust.

They were being presented on behalf of the North Bristol Trust for approval.

Martin Morse, medical director of the North Bristol Trust, said there were currently 1,320 beds across Southmead and Frenchay hospitals. When the new hospital and community facilities are built, the number will fall to 1,230 - a reduction of less than seven per cent.

But he said: "Some of these services will be provided by other trusts. For example, children's inpatient beds will move to the Bristol Children's Hospital as part of plans to improve care for the most sick and injured children in the region.

"The issue is not simply how many beds there will be but how the NHS best meets the needs of patients both now and in the future.

"In Bristol, South Gloucestershire and North Somerset we are changing how healthcare is provided in line with national developments.

"We are providing more and more care in community settings, which means fewer acute hospital beds are needed."

Posted on 03:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

AFX News Limited: 12.20.2005

GENEVA (AFX) - The Australian investment firm Babcock & Brown has agreed to buy a combined road-rail transalpine freight service from Swiss rail company Regionalverkehr Mittelland (RM), the two companies announced.

Babcock chief executive for Europe, Tim Hall, said the firm was aiming for a long-term venture, planning more investment in the Crossrail intermodal service with terminals in the German city of Duisburg, Wilen in Switzerland and Domodossola in northern Italy.

Posted on 08:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

EuroNews: 21 December 2005

A total of four investigations have been launched in Italy to find out why two trains smashed into each other at a station south of Rome.

Up to 50 people were injured, 12 of them are said to be in a serious condition. Some passengers were trapped in the wreckage. One eyewitness described seeing blood everywhere.

"Let's say that considering the situation we were lucky because neither train was stationary, so it wasn't like hitting a wall," said Railway Police Commissioner Alberto Verna.

The train from Rome to Campobasso hit the regional Rome to Cassino service in Roccasecca station, around 80 kilometres from the capital.

The accident has rekindled a debate about rail safety in Italy. Last January a crash killed 17 people in the north of the country, the worst accident in nearly 25 years. Some railway workers complained that the rail network lacked investment, especially on secondary lines.

Posted on 08:11 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Associated Press: 12.20.2005
By MARIA SANMINIATELLI

A passenger train rammed into another at a station south of Rome on Tuesday, injuring about 50 people - some critically - and temporarily trapping others in the wreckage, officials said.

A train traveling from Rome to Cassino stopped at the station in Roccasecca, about 80 miles south of the capital, said Luigi Irdi, a Trenitalia spokesman. Another train, headed from Rome to Campobasso on the same track, slammed into the first train from behind at 3:20 p.m., he said.

A witness said she saw a passenger car slip on top of another.

"There was a loud impact, and this train climbed over the other train," said Paola Molle, a 19-year-old student from Roccasecca who was parking her car nearby at the time.

"The people in the top car stuck their heads out the window and were looking down," Molle said in a telephone interview. "They looked calm to me. Then people started getting out of the train and lying down on the ground."

The cause of the collision was under investigation.

Among two people seriously hurt in the crash was an 8-year-old girl with life-threatening injuries, Irdi said. She had been traveling with her parents and brother, who had less serious injuries.

An unknown number of people had been trapped under the twisted metal of the wreckage, but all were freed by Tuesday night, officials said.

It was the second train crash in Europe in two days. On Monday, a commuter train collided with an oncoming passenger train in southern Poland, injuring at least seven people.

Though most train accidents in Italy are minor, the country has occasionally had deadly crashes. The most recent was in January, when a passenger train and a freight train collided head-on in northern Italy, killing 17 people.

Intesaconsumatori, a grouping of consumer organizations in Italy, released a statement later Tuesday calling for an upgrade of the country's rail network, which it said was plagued by "obsolete" structures that facilitated accidents. It also said industry leaders should resign.

Posted on 08:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The New York Times: December 21, 2005
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE

On the final day of intense negotiations, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, it turns out, greatly altered what it had called its final offer, to address many of the objections of the transit workers' union.

The authority improved its earlier wage proposals, dropped its demand for concessions on health benefits and stopped calling for an increase in the retirement age, to 62 from 55.

But then, just hours before the strike deadline, the authority's chairman, Peter S. Kalikow, put forward a surprise demand that stunned the union. Seeking to rein in the authority's soaring pension costs, he asked that all new transit workers contribute 6 percent of their wages toward their pensions, up from the 2 percent that current workers pay. The union balked, and then shut down the nation's largest transit system for the first time in a quarter-century.

Yet for all the rage and bluster that followed, this war was declared over a pension proposal that would have saved the transit authority less than $20 million over the next three years.

It seemed a small figure, considering that the city says that every day of the strike will cost its businesses hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenues. But the authority contends that it must act now to prevent a "tidal wave" of pension outlays if costs are not brought under control.

Roger Toussaint, the president of the union, Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, said the pension proposal, made Monday night just before the 12:01 a.m. strike deadline, would effectively cut the wages of new workers by 4 percent.

"They're trying to beat down wages for our new workers," Mr. Toussaint said yesterday.

In the days immediately before the strike deadline, the union kept hammering the point that the authority's pension demands would save little over the life of a three-year contract.

Indeed, not just Mr. Toussaint but some other New Yorkers are questioning whether it was worthwhile for the authority to go to war over the issue when the authority's pension demands would apparently save less over the next three years than what the New York City Police Department will spend on extra overtime during the first two days of the strike.

"What they'd be saving on pensions is a pittance," Mr. Toussaint said.

Robert Linn, a former New York City labor commissioner, questioned the transportation authority's decision - with the backing of the mayor and governor - to go to the mat over pensions with a union that can exact huge pain on the city in a year when the authority was enjoying a $1 billion surplus.

"They might have picked a union that was more willing to consider the subject," Mr. Linn said. "It not just the considerable economic power of this union, it's also the timing," just before Christmas. "It's tremendously problematic."

Gary J. Dellaverson, the authority's director of labor relations, said he and the authority's other negotiators had tried to be flexible in making the pension offer.

"We tried to remold our position, to be reflective of their issues and still be consistent with our finances and our bargaining goals - what we considered a good faith effort to close the deal," he said.

Labor negotiations resemble high-stakes poker, and it was not until a few hours before the strike deadline that the authority 's chairman, Mr. Kalikow, showed his hand, making an offer far different from what he had previously said was his final offer.

With the transit workers' union demanding raises above inflation, Mr. Kalikow raised his wage offer so that raises would average 3.5 percent a year for three years, up from 3 percent in his previous offer. Responding to the union's demand that he not raise the retirement age, Mr. Kalikow also dropped his proposal that future transit workers not qualify for a full pension until age 62, up from 55 for current workers.

But then he put his new demand on the table, that new workers contribute 6 percent of their wages to finance their pensions - a demand that clashed with Mr. Toussaint's oft-repeated refusal to sell out the "unborn," meaning new workers.

Mr. Dellaverson declined to spell out how much that proposal would save each year. "Pension changes always have small effects at the beginning and grow over time," he said.

John J. Murphy, a pension expert and former executive director of the New York City Employees' Retirement System, said he computed that the authority's pension proposal would have a modest saving at first: $2.25 million in the first year, $4.8 million in the second year and $7.8 million in the third year.

But he said the plan would achieve significant savings, more than $160 million in the first 10 years, with some officials estimating that it would save more than $80 million a year after 20 years.

Mr. Dellaverson said it was important for the authority to try to control its pension outlays even in a year when it had a surplus. The authority's pension outlays for the transit workers have soared to $453 million this year, triple the amount in 2002.

"If you know a tidal wave is coming and you can still play around in the surf because it's not here yet, anyone would think that's foolishness," Mr. Dellaverson said.

That wave, he suggested, is a continued rise in pension costs and the authority's forecast of a $1 billion deficit in 2009.

Mr. Dellaverson said the week of negotiations at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Midtown were unusual because the union made hardly any firm counteroffers. "The longer you wait to start to address the problem," he said, "the more dramatic the changes must be to address them."

He said the union made no new offer countering the authority's pension offers. The union, he said, asked for an 8 percent raise a year, without ever specifying how many years of 8 percent raises it wanted.

He said that just before negotiations broke off on Monday, "We made another offer, even though the union had never countered our earlier offer," he said. "From a tactical standpoint, it's unusual in my little business."

Several union officials said Mr. Toussaint was often reluctant to make a new proposal - for instance, lowering a wage demand - because the clamorous dissidents in the union might seize on such a move to accuse him of selling out.

E. J. McMahon, a budgetary expert at the Manhattan Institute who favors reducing government pension costs, said there were wise and unwise aspects to the authority's focus on pensions in the bargaining.

"On one hand, the transit workers are the hardest union to bring this up with," he said. "On the other hand, this has really put a spotlight on the pension issue."

Posted on 07:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

AP New York: December 21, 2005
By DAVID B. CARUSO

NEW YORK -- The New York City transit strike entered its second day Wednesday as lawyers for the city and state looked to the courts to dole out more punishment against union leaders, and commuters piled into cabs and walked the streets in the blistering cold.

With talks still stalled, a judge imposed a huge fine Tuesday against the Transport Workers Union - $1 million for each day of the strike - and lawyers were due back in court Wednesday.

State Supreme Court Justice Theodore Jones has yet to rule on whether a second union, the Amalgamated Transit Union, will also be fined. The union has two chapters in New York that have joined the strike with the TWU.

Also undecided is whether the individual officers of the two unions will be fined for supporting the strike. Officials, including TWU Local 100 head Roger Toussaint, could be fined up to $1,000 apiece for urging union members to break the law.

"This is a very, very sad day in the history of labor relations for New York City," Jones said in imposing the fine Tuesday.

The union vowed to immediately appeal, calling his ruling excessive.

The Transport Workers Union's 33,000 members already face the loss of two days pay for every day they are on strike.

The courtroom drama followed a day where the strike proved more aggravation than Armageddon. The morning rush hour did not produce a feared gridlock in midtown Manhattan, partly because of severe traffic restrictions.

But by the evening rush hour, the crowds were thick at both Penn Station and Grand Central Terminal as commuters waited for trains on the two suburban rail lines, where the number of riders had soared earlier in the day. The Long Island Rail Road, operating out of Penn Station, carried 50,000 more passengers above its usual 100,000.

A crowd 10 people wide and two city blocks long waited to board Metro North trains bound for the Bronx and points north at Grand Central Station. At Penn Station, hundreds of people waited outside while Long Island Rail Road officials let commuters enter at staggered times.

"It's pandemonium outside," said publicist Dana Berkowitz, waiting to return home to Old Bethpage. "I feel like I'm in the mosh pit of a Metallica concert."

Other commuters boarded water taxis down the Hudson River, some jumped into car pools, many just stayed home. As they did after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and the 2003 blackout, New Yorkers managed to get on with life.

"Hey, can I get a ride?" Jay Plastino asked a neighbor near his home in the northern tip of Manhattan. Plastino, who was headed to his midtown job, was angry at the union: "This is a big city. Don't they realize that?"

Aside from a police officer being accidentally bumped by a flatbed truck at a checkpoint in Queens, there were no reports of strike-related injuries, accidents or crimes.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, with the temperature at 24 degrees and the winds swirling, led an army of Brooklynites across the Brooklyn Bridge and into Manhattan early Tuesday. The mayor, who walked across from the city's emergency operations bunker, was followed by commuters on scooters, roller skates and bicycles.

Throughout midtown and lower Manhattan, workers queued up in the cold to await company-run buses that replaced the idled city subways and buses, or generously shared yellow cabs that became the most popular vehicles in town. There was a flat $10 fee for cab riders.

"The city is functioning, and functioning well considering the severe circumstances," Bloomberg said before ripping into the union.

The TWU "shamefully decided they don't care about the people they work for, and they have no respect for the law," said Bloomberg, his tone particularly strident. "Their leadership thuggishly turned its back" on New York, he said.

It was costing Jack Akameiza, 66, a day's pay. He was trying to get from Manhattan to Coney Island - typically the last stop on the D train from his home in the Bronx. He made it as far as Grand Central Terminal, where he was trying to find a car pool.

"I cannot go to work," he said. "I cannot take care of my family."

Transit workers reserved their anger for the MTA.

"Everybody treats us like crap all the time. We're tired of being treated like we're the garbage of the city," said Angel Ortiz, 32, standing on the Bronx-Manhattan border with hundreds of other striking transit workers underneath an elevated rail line that ran no trains.

Although no negotiations were set, union lawyer Walter Meginniss Jr. _ after testifying at a the court hearing on sanctions _ then left Brooklyn to meet with three mediators in Manhattan.

In its last offer before negotiations broke down, the MTA had proposed increasing employee contributions to the pension plan from 2 percent to 6 percent, said Meginniss. He added that such a change would be "impossible" for the union to accept.

"Were it not for the pension piece, we would not be out on strike," union president Roger Toussaint said in an interview with NY1. "All it needs to do is take its pension proposal off the table."

The union said the latest MTA offer included annual raises of 3 percent, 4 percent and 3.5 percent; the previous proposal included 3 percent raises each year.

The International TWU, the union's parent, had urged the local not to go on strike. Its president, Michael O'Brien, reiterated Tuesday that the striking workers were legally obligated to resume working. The only way to a contract, he said, is "not by strike but continued negotiation."

The MTA also asked the Public Employment Relations Board to formally declare an impasse, the first step toward forcing binding arbitration of the contract, said James Edgar, the board's executive director.

The first day of the strike was expected to cost the city $400 million in revenue, with an additional loss of $300 million per day afterward, according to the city comptroller's office. A weeklong strike would cost the city about $1.6 billion, and Bloomberg said that hundreds of stores and restaurants were affected by the walkout _ particularly in lower Manhattan.

The nation's largest mass transit system counts each fare as a rider, giving it more than 7 million riders each day _ although many customers take a daily round trip.

Posted on 07:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Guardian Unlimited: December 20, 2005
By LARRY McSHANE - AP

NEW YORK (AP) - Commuters trudged through the freezing cold, rode bicycles and shared cabs Tuesday as New York's bus and subway workers went on strike for the first time in more than 25 years and stranded millions of riders at the height of the Christmas rush. A judge slapped the union with a $1 million-a-day fine.

State Justice Theodore Jones leveled the sanction against the Transport Workers Union for violating a state law that bars public employees from going on strike. The city and state had asked Jones to hit the union with a "very potent fine.''

"This is a very, very sad day in the history of labor relations for New York City,'' the judge said in imposing the fine.

The union said it would immediately appeal, calling the penalty excessive.

The strike came just five days before Christmas, at a time when the city is especially busy with shoppers and tourists.

The heavy penalty could force the union off the picket lines and back on the job. Under the law, the union's 33,000 members will also lose two days' pay for every day they are on strike, and they could also be thrown in jail.

The courtroom drama came midway through a day in which the strike fell far short of the all-out chaos that many had feared. With special traffic rules in place, the morning rush came and went without monumental gridlock. Manhattan streets were unusually quiet; some commuters just stayed home.

The nation's biggest mass-transit system ground to a halt after 3 a.m., when the TWU called the strike after a late round of negotiations with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority broke down. The subways and buses provide more than 7 million rides per day.

New Yorkers car-pooled, shared taxis, rode bicycles, roller-skated or walked in the freezing cold. Early morning temperatures were in the 20s. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who said the strike would cost the city as much as $400 million a day, joined the throngs of people crossing the Brooklyn Bridge by foot.

"Hey, can I get a ride?'' Jay Plastino asked a neighbor near his home in the northern tip of Manhattan. Plastino, who was headed to his midtown job, was angry at the union: "This is a big city. Don't they realize that?''

Gov. George Pataki said the union acted illegally and "will suffer the consequences.'' But union attorney Arthur Schwartz accused the MTA of provoking the strike.

No negotiations were scheduled between the two sides, although a union lawyer planned to meet with three mediators.

It was the city's first transit strike since an 11-day walkout in 1980. The effect this time, however, was tempered by the advent of personal computers, which enabled many commuters to stay home and work via the Internet.

Others boarded water taxis along the Hudson River, or jumped into carpools. Many lined up in the cold to await private buses arranged by their employers, or shared yellow cabs with perfect strangers. There was a flat $10 fee for cab riders.

"The city is functioning, and functioning well considering the severe circumstances,'' the mayor said. The TWU "shamefully decided they don't care about the people they work for, and they have no respect for the law. Their leadership thuggishly turned its back on the New York City. This strike is costing us.''

Jack Akameiza, 66, was trying to figure out a way to get from Manhattan to Coney Island. "I cannot go to work,'' he said. "I cannot take care of my family.''

Some commuters were upset at the union, others with management. Some, as they made their way to work, blamed both sides.

"It's two arrogant groups not caring that 7 million people are inconvenienced,'' said Kenny Herbert, 45, of Brooklyn, who took the train to work Monday night but needed a water taxi across the East River to get home.

The International TWU, the union's parent, had urged the local not to strike.

The first day of the strike was expected to cost the city $400 million in revenue, with an additional loss of $300 million per day afterward, according to the city comptroller's office. Countless stores and restaurants were affected.

The mayor put into effect a sweeping emergency plan, including a requirement that cars entering Manhattan below 96th Street have at least four occupants.

The union said the latest MTA offer included annual raises of 3 percent, 4 percent and 3.5 percent. Pensions were another major sticking point in the talks, particularly involving new employees.

Union local president Roger Toussaint said the union wanted a better offer from the MTA, especially when the agency has a $1 billion surplus this year.

The contract expired Friday at midnight, but the two sides had continued talking through the weekend.

Posted on 12:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Slate: Dec. 20, 2005
By Daniel Engber

And what do Taft, Hartley, Condon, and Wadlin have to do with it?

Pounding the pavement

Thirty-three thousand New York City transit workers went on strike Tuesday morning after union and management officials failed to agree on a new contract. State law prohibits public employees from going on strike; later on Tuesday, a judge ruled that the union must pay a $1 million fine for every day they skip work. When did strikes become illegal?

At least 60 years ago. The federal government had to make work stoppages legal before it made them illegal: Several laws that were passed in the 1930s gave workers the right to join unions and go on strike. The Wagner Act of 1935 also created the National Labor Relations Board to help oversee employee disputes in private industry. (The new rules didn't apply to civil servants or to those who worked for airlines, railroad companies, or certain other industries.) But the end of World War II led to an upsurge in labor unrest, and millions of workers across the country went on strike. In 1947, Congress amended (and restricted) the earlier law with the Taft-Hartley Act. Now unions had to give warning for impending strikes, and the president was given explicit permission to intervene in some situations. (For example, you can't go on strike just because an employer won't assign work to your union.)

The New York State legislature quickly followed suit. The Condon-Wadlin Act (also of 1947) made it illegal for state employees to go on strike; anyone who walked off the job would be fired. (If they got their jobs back, they wouldn't get a raise for three years.) The harsh penalties were difficult to enforce, however, and they didn't always deter the union bosses. Starting on New Year's Day 1966, the New York City transit union shut down the subways and buses for 12 days. Though the workers had clearly broken the law, they were never penalized. (To help resolve the dispute, state legislators voted to forgive them.)

New York lawmakers changed the rules the following year. The Taylor Law reaffirmed the ban on public-sector strikes, but with smaller (and more enforceable) penalties. According to the Taylor Law, an employee can be charged with a crime if he tries to "cause, instigate, encourage or condone a strike," or if he avoids work without permission. (The law also gave public employees the right to unionize and created a system of arbitration for labor disputes.) Transit workers who walked out for 11 days in 1980 had to pay individual fines; their union was told to fork over more than a million dollars.

The Empire State isn't the only one that bans government work stoppages. According to the United Federation of Teachers, public employees are allowed to strike in only nine states. In some states, the right applies to some jobs but not others. In Illinois, any government worker except a firefigher or police officer can go on strike.

Posted on 12:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

RMT Midlands Region: DECEMBER 2005

The Latest News for RMT Members within Central Trains
SUPPORT THE RMT - VOTE YES IN THE STRIKE BALLOT

Following the receipt of a last minute proposal from CTL, your Company Council representatives sought a special meeting off all the local representatives to gauge the views of the membership. We believed that this was a clear indication of our continued attempts to reach a negotiated settlement.

However, as seems to be the case with management these days, even this was thrown back in our faces.

Despite having plenty of time to organise release and considering the importance of the issue, managements attempts to facilitate constructive discussion was half hearted to say the least. Nearly 50% of the depots were not represented and it was apparent that some of the excuses given for declining release were totally unreasonable. At Birmingham New Street. The reps were told that their jobs couldn't be covered!! Now we may be a little sceptical but that would be an all time first for CTL's largest depot.

The same story was true at Shrewsbury, Leamington, Norwich and the list goes on.

The truth is that if management had the will to resolve this issue then they would have found the way.

Those reps that could attend all expressed the view that it was interesting to note that in their letter to all conductors they refer to a "proposal" it wasn't even a serious offer of settlement. They have had since last year to resolve this and have now come up with too little too late. They were also furious at managements failure to release their colleagues.

CTL have attempted to place the blame on the failure to reach a settlement on the union but if anyone cares to examine the minutes of the quarterly Conductors Company Council minutes they will see that we raised this issue in the summer, again in September and at the December meetings. This is on top of the warning we gave last year. It's not as if central weren't aware when Christmas is this year, it generally falls on the same date every year!!!!!

The simple truth is that the only way you can secure any sort of response from central these days, is to resort to industrial action and it is imperative that members support the unions call and vote yes in the current ballot.

Ballot papers have been sent to members homes and anyone not in receipt should immediately
contact HO on 0800-376-3706.

Download pdf file here.

Posted on 03:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Birmingham Mail: Dec 20 2005
By Ben Hurst

RAIL passengers face transport chaos over the festive season with drivers and conductors in revolt against Central Trains bosses.

Last Sunday, the cross-city network was at a standstill with no Central Trains running into New Street and Snow Hill because there were not enough volunteer drivers to operate services.

Now the Birmingham Mail has learned that the company is at loggerheads with both drivers' union Aslef and the RMT, representing conductors.

And two one-day strikes, which would cripple the network, are looming on December 27 and January 2, with the RMT balloting 580 conductors to walk-out.

Drivers are already annoyed at working practices which could mean fewer staff working on key routes.

This dispute led to virtually no drivers volunteering for duty last Sunday, as such shifts are voluntary and not part of contracted working hours. This problem is likely to hit travellers again on New Year's Day with a reduced Sunday service, as Central is not offering extra pay for drivers.

Meanwhile, conductors also want more cash for working bank holidays, as they currently only get a day off in lieu. It's the same row as last Christmas, when strikes hit services.

Mick Whelan, from Aslef, said: "We gave the company four weeks for talks. We have no control over Sunday working and it is up to the drivers if they volunteer."

Dave Jones, from the RMT said: "We told Central Trains in the spring, summer and in September that they should talk to us about this problem. They started negotiations in December.

"In any other job if you work a bank holiday like Christmas Day, or New Year's Day you get extra incentives. Our conductors just get a day off in lieu."

A spokesman for Central Trains said: "It is a complex issue with Aslef about guarantees of work around New Street with the franchise change coming up.

"It's disappointing that the RMT is balloting for strike action, and negotiations are ongoing."

Posted on 02:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

New York Daily News: December 20, 2005
Juan Gonzalez

The designated strike captains of Transport Workers Union Local 100 streamed quietly into their headquarters on Manhattan's West Side beginning around noon yesterday.

Angela Trusty shows her allegiances yesterday while picketing along with other union members at Jamaica Buses site on Guy R. Brewer Blvd. in Queens

There, in a sixth-floor conference room bustling with TWU staffers, each captain picked up batches of picket signs, flyers and final orders, then headed for one of the 40 MTA depots around the city that union leaders had marked for total shutdown at 12:01 this morning.

The preparations for the first city transit strike in 25 years were so detailed that they dispelled any doubt that union President Roger Toussaint was serious about a possible walkout - even if the TWU and its leaders risked massive fines and jail under the Taylor Law.

"We have an entire secret leadership in place of nonofficers to carry on the strike if Roger and others are not around," one union leader told me.

The plans even included an alternate command center in case a court order prevented union leaders from operating out of their headquarters.

In the weeks leading up to last Thursday's contract expiration, Toussaint arranged a $5million bank loan to pay for a possible walkout, secured additional money from Local 100's parent union to finance an advertising campaign and persuaded several city unions to reassign some of their paid staff to support his efforts.

Given that few leaders of the union were even around in 1980 during the last transit strike, the level of organization by the TWU has been truly amazing.

While Gov. Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg repeatedly warned the union not to even consider a strike, and while many experts predicted a crushing defeat for the union if its members walked out, Toussaint proved to be a more skillful tactician than anyone imagined.

He outflanked the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, for example, by widening the conflict to include other unions in the transit system - those at Metro-North and at the private bus lines - that had gone without a contract for years.

By delaying a systemwide strike for four days and allowing more time for negotiations, Toussaint kept the city on edge. He drew greater press attention to the issues of the strike. And he appeared to be a rational and patient labor leader.

During those four days, Toussaint also managed to rally the city's entire labor movement to his side by depicting the TWU's contract as a possible trendsetter for all other public unions.

At a rally last night outside Pataki's office only hours before the new midnight deadline, Patrick Lynch, head of the Patrolmen's Benevolent Association, reminded every union member what was at stake.

In a fiery speech, Lynch talked about his own father, a former transit worker who had walked the picket lines in both the 1966 and 1980 strikes and who raised a large family into the middle class on his MTA salary.

"My father was not a criminal in 1966. He was not a criminal in 1980," Lynch said. Then he pointed to the uniformed cops on the other side of the barricade.

"Their hearts are on this side with you," he bellowed as the crowd erupted in cheers.

Then Toussaint came on stage. You saw in his eyes and you heard in his voice the look and the sound of a leader who had no fear.

"If Rosa Parks had obeyed the law, many of us who drive the buses today would still be sitting in the back of the bus," he said as the crowd went wild.

And at that moment, in the frigid cold of Third Ave., it was clear that Pataki, Bloomberg and the bureaucrats of the MTA had made a huge mistake.

Posted on 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

RMT: 20 December 2005

CUTS IN station staff numbers planned by London Underground will leave stations dangerously understaffed and ticket offices closed as passengers face a £3 minimum "walk-on" cash fare, the Tube's biggest union warns commuters today.

RMT is balloting 4,000 station staff members for strike action over Tube bosses' back-door attempts to cut hundreds of safety critical station staff under spurious cover of the recent 35-hour week deal. The ballot closes on Thursday (December 22).

But as cash fares are set to rise to a minimum £3 for a single stop to force uptake of the deeply unpopular OysterCard system, RMT points out that LUL wants to close eleven booking offices altogether and slash opening times of the rest by up to 70 per cent.

Frontline station staff, who are the first to respond in an emergency and whose actions saved lives on July 7, are set to be axed in droves.

"There have been widespread calls for more uniformed staff after the recent bomb attacks, but LUL has responded by cutting visible station staff in every singe Zone One station," RMT general secretary Bob Crow said today.

"Green Park, Baker Street and London Bridge stations will see the basic grade of station assistant reduced by as much as 50 per cent. Waterloo will lose 60 per cent. Kings Cross, Liverpool Street and Edgware Road, the three sites attacked on July 7, will lose 75 per cent, 70 per cent and 30 per cent.

"Platform staff at terminus stations, who not only ensure safe detraining but who are also invaluable in spotting unattended items, are also to be massively reduced or removed altogether

"Most other operational grades in central London will also be affected, with supervisory and booking office positions hardest hit. If these cuts go ahead and you are unlucky enough to find yourself without a ticket you'll have little chance of getting one and could face a £6 for a return journey of two stops.

"We have made it clear that we will not accept any dilution of safety standards, either for our members or Tube users, and we hope that the traveling public will support our efforts to maintain safety standards and keep their booking offices open," Bob Crow said.

Posted on 10:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

TWU Local 100: December 15, 2005

TWU Local 100 System Shut-Down Plans
SAFETY FIRST: Shut the Trains and Buses Down / Get the Picket Lines Up

If the MTA forces Local 100 out on strike, we will continue to put safety first. As always, local 100 members will meet our responsibility for the safety of our riders for the safety of all transit workers for the safe maintenance of the equipment we will use when the strike ends.

Local 100 members shall make sure that the entire mass transit system is shut down safely and efficiently at the beginning of the strike. Then Local 100 members shall make sure that the system stays shut down for the duration of the strike.

Local 100 members must document the safe shutdown to prevent any possible management sabotage and any attempts to blame transit workers for management misconduct or carelessness.

Safe Shutdown Procedures

If the Local 100 Executive Board declares a strike, all Local 100 members who do not have specific assignments from the Union will stop work at 12:01 AM on the appointed strike date. Please see the Strike Assignments memo for more instructions.

MaBSTOA and TA Surface BUS OPERATORS AND MAINTAINENCE

All buses scheduled to leave the depot after 12:01 a.m. are to remain in the house.
All buses shall return to the depot after completing the nearest trip ? whether this shall be immediately before or after 12:01 A.M.
Passengers on the last trip must be taken to their destinations.
No Passenger will be left stranded on a bus.
Buses will return to the depot, DARK, on the return trip.
All buses are to be secured at the depot against weather and vandalism.
NO BUS IS TO BE ABANDONED ON THE STREET AFTER THE STRIKE BEGINS.
SHIFTERS are to remain at work until all buses have been secured.
ALL RECEIPTS are to be turned in to the depot by the Operator before leaving the depot.
Keep careful records. Document everything.
SAFETY CREWS for fire watch and heat will remain on duty as designated by the Strike Committee.

LEADERSHIP
The Chairman of each depot plus one (1) Steward from Maintenance will be in charge of the depot.
One (1) Steward from Operators and one (1) Steward from Maintenance will be in charge of the picket lines on each watch.

STATIONS
Chain and lock each STATION TURNSTILE at 12:01 a.m. STAIRWAY GATES and HIGH GATES shall remain open to allow passengers to leave the system.
Prepare BOOTH BANK, KEYS, BLOCK TICKETS, and all BOOTH PROPERTY and have it ready to be bagged when Supervision arrives. Witness Supervision DROP THESE BAGS. GET A RECEIPT for all you turn-in.
REMAIN ON DUTY UNTIL PROPERLY RELIEVED BY A SUPERVISOR.
The T.A. will be warned not to send additional reserves of tokens.
COLLECTING AGENTS will Report to picket headquarters at their place of work on their regularly assigned tours of duty.
Lock up all tools and equipment, all toilets, and elevator cars.

CAR MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT (CED)
ROAD CAR INSPECTORS on the job at 12:01 a.m. shall remain at work until the last car under their jurisdiction is safely secured. They should ride the last train into the terminal.
ROAD CAR INSPECTORS at home terminals shall remain at work until all trains have been safely secured. Secure all trains in the open from weather and vandalism.
SAFETY CREWS for the maintenance of heat and plant shall be designated.
OVERHAUL AND MAINTENANCE SHOPS ? ALL TITLES: Secure all tools, equipment and trains. Then all members report for picket duty outside of your location.

LEADERSHIP
The Chairperson at each location is in charge of the location.
Three Stewards and/or members shall be designated in charge on each tour. Picket lines shall be established at all entrances for personnel and trucks.

MAINTENANCE OF WAY (MOW)
ALL SIGNAL MAINTAINERS on the job at 12:01 a.m. will remain at work until the last train has passed their location. Signals should then be thrown on RED. A Signal Safety Crew will be designated.
One (1) member in each quarters will be designated to be in charge.
Members not otherwise assigned will report to the nearest strike headquarters.
Members will not perform emergency services.
POWER DEPARTMENT
A team of three (3) members will be in charge in each borough ? one on each watch. They will be located at Central Locations.
EMERGENCY LIGHTING is to BE LEFT ON and power for drainage and ventilation in tunnels is to be maintained.
Unassigned personnel will report to nearest strike headquarters for assignment.

RAPID TRANSIT OPERATIONS (RTO)
All scheduled runs up to 12:01 a.m. will be operated. All runs scheduled to leave a home terminal or other terminal up to and including 12:01 a.m. shall COMPLETE THE TRIP and then return to the home terminal DARK where the trains shall be laid up.
All trains are to be secured properly in the yards and lay-up tracks before the crews go out on strike.
SWITCHMEN AND TOWER OPERATORS scheduled to report at 12:00 a.m. (midnight), will do so and continue to cover their assignments until the last train under their jurisdiction has been safely laid up.
In the event supervision attempts to re-route trains, crews will refuse to operate except on their regular schedule.
TOWER OPERATORS should set all signals on red before leaving.

LEADERSHIP
ONE TRAIN OPERATOR AND ONE CONDUCTOR shall be placed in full charge of each terminal; and
ONE TRAIN OPERATOR AND ONE CONDUCTOR shall be in charge on each tour. Their responsibilities include maintaining proper picket lines.

posted by TWU Local 100 @ 4:00 AM

Posted on 10:27 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

TWU Local 100: Dec. 20

With a one billion dollar surplus contract between the MTA and Transport Workers Union Local 100 should have been a no brainier. Sadly that has not been the case.

TWU_Local100_Tous_Williams.jpeg (10k file)
Roger Toussaint, president of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, center, accompanied by Darlyne Lawson, left, Recording Secretary, Ed Watt, right, Secretary Treasurer, and other union officials announces a strike after failing to reach a deal with the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority Tuesday, Dec. 20, 2005, at the union

Our contract expired midnight on Thursday. In an attempt to save Mass Transit an in deference to our riders, we postponed our deadline and attempted to continue talking to the MTA.

From the beginning, the MTA approached these negotiations in bad faith, demanding arbitration before even trying to resolve the contract. Hours before contract expiration, the MTA got rid of its one billion dollar surplus -- a surplus which we believe continues to be understated by some one hundred million dollars.

The MTA knew that reducing health and pension standards at the authority would be unacceptable to our union. They knew there was no good economic reason for their hard line on this issue - not with a billion dollar surplus. They went ahead anyway, supported by the Bloomberg administration which wants to overrun Municipal Labor Unions and all City workers with down pressed wages and gutted health benefits and pension plans.

This has been combined with continued attempts by the MTA, joined by the Governor and the Mayor, to intimidate and threaten our members and their families.

This is a fight over whether hard work will be rewarded with a decent retirement -- over the erosion or eventual elimination of health benefit coverage for working people. And it is a fight over dignity and respect on the job. A concept that is very alien to the MTA. Transit workers are tired at being under appreciated and disrespected.

The Local 100 Executive Board has voted overwhelmingly to extend strike action to all MTA properties effective immediately.

All Local 100 representatives and shop stewards are directed to report to their assigned strike locations picket lines or facility nearest you immediately.

To our riders, we ask for your understanding forbearance. We stood with you to keep token booths open, to keep conductors on the train and oppose fare hikes. We now ask that you stand with us. We did not want a strike. Evidently the MTA, governor and the Mayor did.

We call on all good will New Yorkers, the Labor Community, and all working people to recognize that our fight is their fight, and to rally in our support with solidarity activities and events. And to show the MTA that TWU does not stand alone.

-Roger Toussaint, President, TWU Local 100

Posted on 09:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Bloomberg: Dec. 20

New York City's transit system shut down today for the first time in 25 years as the Metropolitan Transportation Authority failed to reach a new contract with 32,000 bus and subway workers.

The move, echoing a 1980 strike that halted the U.S.'s largest transit system for 11 days, triggered Mayor Michael Bloomberg's emergency plans to keep the city moving. Vehicles entering the busiest part of Manhattan this morning are required to carry at least four people, and taxi drivers are allowed to fill their cabs with passengers going to different destinations.

Members of Transport Workers Union Local 100, who stranded about 50,000 riders in a walkout at two bus lines serving Queens yesterday, struck the rest of the city's bus and subway system, which carries 7 million riders a day. The strike came four days after the union's contract expired Dec. 16.

"We did not want a strike, but apparently the MTA, the governor and mayor did,'' Roger Toussaint, Local 100's president, said in calling the strike about 3 a.m. local time. No date was set for a resumption of talks.

The walkout exposes the union and its members to millions of dollars in penalties under a state law that prohibits strikes by public employees. Strikers risk losing two days' pay for every day of work missed, and the city has filed suit against the union seeking about $22 million a day in damages for lost tax revenue and police overtime in case of a strike.

"Every effect that the law allows will be brought to bear on all striking members,'' MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow said in a news conference after the strike was declared.

Left Talks

The strike decision, by the union local's executive board, came after Toussaint left face-to-face talks with Kalikow about an hour before a midnight deadline for reaching an agreement.

"The MTA put a fair offer on the negotiating table,'' MTA spokesman Tom Kelly said late last night at the Grand Hyatt hotel near Grand Central Terminal, where talks were being held. "The MTA remains ready to continue negotiations.''

The MTA offered the union a three-year contract with raises of 3 percent, 4 percent and 3.5 percent through 2008, according to WCBS-AM radio, citing unidentified people involved in the negotiations. The transit agency also agreed to retain the union's full-pension eligibility age at 55, on condition new hires contribute 6 percent of their annual earnings for 10 years to help finance future pensions, the station said.

Shutdown

The union's last three-year contract with the MTA expired Dec. 16. The union, on its Web site yesterday, directed members to lock subway turnstiles in the event a strike was called. Subway operators with trains running at the time of the strike were to complete their trips. Any passengers aboard buses when the strike was called were to be taken to their destinations, the union said. ``No passenger will be left stranded on a bus,'' according to the Web site.

Under the city's strike plan, police will prohibit vehicles carrying fewer than four people -- including private autos, limousines and car services -- from entering Manhattan south of 96th Street between 5 a.m. and 11 a.m. Commercial deliveries will be banned during those hours, the mayor said.

Taxi drivers will be permitted to fill their cabs with passengers going to different destinations, and charge each as much as $10 to ride within certain multiblock zones, and $5 more for destinations beyond the pick-up zone.

Traffic

Streets around the financial district will be closed, including Nassau Street from Wall Street to Spruce Street; Rector Street from West Street to Broadway; and Vesey Street from Church Street to Park Row.

Several major north-south thoroughfares will be closed to automobiles, including Fifth and Madison Avenues, between East 23rd and 96th Streets, as well as east-west routes including 26th, 29th, 49th, and 50th Streets.

Carpool staging areas will be set up at Shea Stadium in Queens, near a Long Island Rail Road stop; Yankee Stadium in the Bronx, near a Metro-North Railroad stop, and in parking lots adjacent to the Staten Island Ferry, according to the plan.

The mayor is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.

Posted on 09:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The New York Times: December 20, 2005
By STEVEN GREENHOUSE and SEWELL CHAN

The transit workers' union ordered a strike this morning, shutting down New York City's subway and bus system after contract talks with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority broke down - - a disruption that will prevent people from going to work, cause millions of dollars in economic damage and seriously upend the life of the city in the week before Christmas.

Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, which represents 33,700 subway and bus workers, announced its first strike in 25 years after feverish last-minute negotiations faltered over the transportation authority's demands for concessions on pension and health benefits for future employees.

The state's Taylor Law bars strikes by public employees and carries penalties of two days' pay for each day on strike, but the transit union decided it was worth risking the substantial fines to continue the fight for what it regards as an acceptable contract.

The union's executive board voted 28 to 10, with 5 members abstaining, to start the strike, but Michael T. O'Brien, the president of the Transport Workers Union of America, Local 100's parent union, warned the board that he could not support a strike because he believed the authority's most recent offer represented real progress.

Roger Toussaint, president of Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union, rejected that argument, and at a 3 a.m. news conference tried to portray the strike as part of a broader effort for social justice and workplace rights.

"New Yorkers, this is a fight over whether hard work will be rewarded with a decent retirement," he said. "This is a fight over the erosion, or the eventual elimination, of health-benefits coverage for working people in New York. This is a fight over dignity and respect on the job, a concept that is very alien to the M.T.A."

He appealed for public support, acknowledging the tremendous inconvenience to millions of commuters and tourists. "To our riders, we ask for your understanding and forbearance. We stood with you to keep token booths open, to keep conductors on the trains, to oppose fare hikes," he said. "We now ask that you stand with us. We did not want a strike, but evidently the M.T.A., the governor and the mayor did."

Peter S. Kalikow, the transportation authority's chairman, called the strike illegal and said, "These are bullying tactics. We will not accept them. Every effect that the law allows will be used on all striking members."

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, speaking shortly after Mr. Kalikow, promised legal action against the union and urged New Yorkers to show their determination "by walking, cycling and car pooling to get to work."

The vote by the union board came after a 12-hour round of intense negotiations between the two pivotal figures in the talks - Mr. Kalikow and Mr. Toussaint - who bargained face-to-face yesterday for the first time since Friday.

But with just an hour to go before the deadline, Tom Kelly, an authority spokesman, said that efforts to settle the dispute had faltered after the union turned down what he called "a fair offer."

"Unfortunately, that offer has been rejected by the Transport Workers Union, and they have advised us that they were going - that they are going - to leave the building, and going to the union hall," Mr. Kelly said. "The M.T.A. remains ready to continue negotiations." Union officials would not discuss the developments as they headed into their private strategy session.

The developments capped a day in which the transit union stepped up the pressure by beginning a strike yesterday morning against two Queens bus lines, stranding about 57,000 passengers in what the union portrayed as a prelude to a strike that would shut down the nation's largest transit system.

The union first threatened to shut down the whole system on Friday, but pushed back the deadline to today, seemingly to increase its leverage by warning of a walkout the week before Christmas, one of the busiest weeks for retailers. The state's Taylor Law prohibits strikes by public employees and carries penalties of two days' pay for each day on strike.

As a result of all the threats and deadlines, many New Yorkers for the second straight week felt wildly off balance, straining to figure out how their children would get to school and how they would get to work or to doctors' appointments.

Some New Yorkers backed the transit workers, some saw them as greedy lawbreakers, and some said that both sides in the negotiations deserved the public's disdain.

Warning that a strike would be illegal, Gov. George E. Pataki and Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg stepped up their campaign to pressure the union, with the mayor saying that a strike would be "reprehensible."

"The city and state and courts - everybody is going to enforce the law, and anybody that thinks that they can just go break the law is sadly mistaken," Mr. Bloomberg said. "There can be no winners in a strike - it's not going to force the M.T.A. to make a settlement. If anything, it's going to probably dig them in."

At rallies outside the governor's office and in Queens alongside the striking bus workers, Mr. Toussaint and many union members trumpeted their defiance, insisting that it was more important to obtain what they viewed as a just contract than to obey the law barring strikes.

"Unless there is substantial movement by the authority, trains and buses will come to a halt as of midnight tonight," he said at a rally for the bus workers in East Elmhurst, Queens.

With anger in his voice, he added, "We maintain, as we have in the past week, that threats are not going to produce a contract and are not going to work against us." Later, at a rally outside the governor's office in Manhattan, he sought to justify a walkout by saying, "There's a calling that is higher than the law, and that's the calling of justice."

City officials have prepared an emergency plan that would increase ferry service, allow taxis to pick up multiple fares, close several streets to traffic except for buses and emergency vehicles, and prohibit cars with fewer than four passengers from entering Manhattan below 96th Street during the morning rush. The city is also deploying hundreds of police officers to secure subway entrances in the event of a walkout.

The transportation authority's 11th-hour offer included a 3 percent raise in the first year, 4 percent in the second year and 3.5 percent in the third year of a new contract, representatives on both sides said. Before yesterday, it was offering 3 percent a year for three straight years.

The authority dropped its demand to raise the retirement age for a full pension to 62 for new employees, up from 55 for current employees. But the authority proposed that all future transit workers pay 6 percent of their wages toward their pensions, up from the 2 percent that current workers pay.

The transportation authority asserts that it needs to bring its soaring pension costs under control to stave off future deficits. But union leaders vow that they will not sell out future transit workers by saddling them with lesser benefits.

Earlier yesterday, Mr. Toussaint hinted at some movement in the talks at the Grand Hyatt hotel, saying that the union would reduce its wage demands to 6 percent a year, from 8 percent a year, if the authority promised to reduce the number of disciplinary actions brought against transit workers. The authority has offered raises of 3 percent a year for three years.

The union began its strike against two Queens bus lines, Jamaica Buses Inc. and Triboro Coach Corporation, in the hope of pressuring the authority to reach an overall settlement. The walkout angered many Queens commuters and caused many to squeeze into vans and taxis.

The 707 workers at the two bus companies have been without a contract for 33 months. The authority is taking control of those two companies and five others, and union officials assert that the strike against the companies is not prohibited because the authority has not taken full control of them.

The Public Employment Relations Board, a state body that oversees labor relations for government employees, did not issue a decision yesterday in response to a complaint that the union filed on Sunday, asserting that the authority had violated state law by including its pension demands as part of what it said was its final offer. The union has asked the labor board to seek an injunction ordering the authority to drop its pension demand.

At 9:15 p.m. yesterday, the board's executive director, James R. Edgar, said the board had not yet received the authority's legal papers replying to the union.

Many New Yorkers said a strike would disrupt their lives. Doreen Simon, 55, who lives in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, and works as a housekeeper in Riverdale, the Bronx, said, "I'm going to stay home. What can I do? I can't take a cab to the Bronx. It's going to hurt."

The union has repeatedly urged Mr. Pataki to join the talks, trying to put the onus on him if there is a walkout. But the governor, like the mayor, says that the professionals at the authority should handle the talks.

Workers at the Metro-North Railroad and Long Island Rail Road are not expected to strike in support of transit workers. Anthony J. Bottalico, the chairman of the union that represents Metro-North engineers, conductors and rail-traffic controllers, said none of his members planned to strike.

However, two other unions, which represent Metro-North ticket collectors and track workers, have vowed to show solidarity with Local 100 by refusing to cross picket lines, and they could conceivably delay, though not disrupt, regular train service.

Posted on 09:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

DfT: 20th December 2005

THE DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT today announced that 5 parties have pre-qualified as bidders for the South Western Franchise.

They are:

* Arriva Trains South West Limited (Arriva plc)
* First South Western Limited (FirstGroup plc)
* Great South Western Railway Company Limited (a joint venture between GNER Holdings Limited and MTR Corporation Limited of Hong Kong)
* Trafalgar Trains Limited (National Express Group plc)
* Stagecoach South Western Trains Limited (Stagecoach Group plc)

DfT will now invite the five parties to submit detailed bids, with the franchise expected to be awarded in Autumn 2006.

DfT issued an OJEU notice on 22 September 2005 inviting Expressions of Interest in the franchise by 11 November 2005. An Invitation to Tender will be issued to the pre-qualified bidders at the end of March 2006.

The successful company will run passenger rail services on the franchise from 04 February 2007. The franchise is for a period of 10 years, the last three of which will be conditional upon preset performance criteria being met.

Notes to editors

1. The South Western franchise combines two existing franchises; South West Trains and Island Line. It includes services from London Waterloo to Woking, Basingstoke, Southampton, Portsmouth, Exeter and Reading. Bournemouth, Weymouth, Guildford, Salisbury, Brighton, Bristol, Paignton and Plymouth are also served, with the Island Line operating between Ryde and Shanklin on the Isle of Wight.

2. The current franchisee of both South West Trains and the Island Line is Stagecoach plc. Both franchises are due to expire on the 04 February 2007.

Posted on 08:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

BBC News: 19 December 2005

Airline-style seatbelts on trains could cause more injuries to passengers than they prevent, rail experts have said. The Ufton Nervet crash prompted a father's campaign for belts.

The Rail Safety and Standards Board has recommended against installing the belts, but said it was still running tests on car-style seatbelts.

It analysed crashes where passengers were thrown from carriages, concluding tougher windows would improve safety.

The research has been criticised by survivors of recent crashes, but welcomed by passenger groups.

'Safety advantages'

The Rail Safety and Standards Board's (RSSB) policy and strategic initiatives director, Aidan Nelson, said its research had been "very thorough".

"Because [passengers] can't move or be pushed out of the way, they are more likely to be injured" - Tom Symonds, BBC correspondent

"The conclusions are that lap belts would, in the majority of situations, increase passenger injuries in a crash situation.

"But fitting glass to an optimised specification, where window replacement is justified, will bring additional safety advantages."

John Cartledge, safety adviser for the Rail Passengers Council, welcomed the continued research into seatbelt effectiveness.

But he warned there were no easy solutions, saying the research "demonstrates the dangers of making simplistic comparisons between different modes of transport".

BBC transport correspondent Tom Symonds said the board had decided that holding passengers in their seats left them vulnerable when the structure of a train carriage collapses.

"Because they can't move or be pushed out of the way, they are more likely to be injured," he said.

'People were burning'

Ladbroke Grove crash survivor Colin Paton said he believed tougher glass would make it harder to rescue people trapped inside a train and labelled the plans "crazy".

Mr Paton, 60, was the guard on a Great Western Train on 5 October, 1999, when it was struck by a Thames Train that had gone through a red signal.

Thirty-one people died in the crash near Paddington Station, west London.

"[Strengthening windows] would be like putting the people in an oven" - Colin Paton, Ladbroke Grove survivor

He told the Press Association news agency: "On the day of our crash, I was outside my train trying to break in the Thames train that crashed into us.

"There was no guard on the train, the driver was dead and people were burning inside and I couldn't break into the train.

"If they strengthen the windows it would be crazy, it would be like putting the people in an oven."

An RSSB spokeswoman said the recommendation called for laminate glass windows - which have been fitted in all new trains since 1993 - to be put into all new and refurbished rolling stock.

She insisted it was only a recommendation and the final decision was up to the train companies.

Calls for belts in trains have been led by families bereaved after several recent rail accidents.

Peter Webster, whose 14-year-old daughter Emily died when a train hit a car on a level crossing in Ufton Nervet in Berkshire last year, has petitioned 10 Downing Street on the issue.

Posted on 01:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Daily Post: Dec 19 2005 

BRITAIN'S biggest rail union wants double tracks reinstated between Wrexham and Chester.

With industry and commerce in Wrexham thriving the union believes the 1980s decision to downgrade to a single line was a "miscalculation".

Now the RMT's Wrexham branch has launched a campaign to have the second line put back.

Branch secretary David Bithell said Wrexham members supported a resolution at Friday's meeting.

He claimed the decision taken by British Rail in May 1985, in conjunction with Clwyd County Council and the Welsh office, was a miscalculation given the economic situation now existing in Wrexham.

He said: "We have on one hand Arriva Trains Wales giving their commitment for better rail links to South Wales and improved frequency of rail travel - on the other hand we don't have the track to run on.

"This is, without question, the 'weakest link'.

"We are organising this campaign locally and nationally to ensure that infrastructure is in place to support future public transport demands.

"We intend to lobby all our Assembly members and members of parliament in support of our campaign.

"Wrexham Assembly Member John Marek, who was present at the meeting, supported the resolution and will raise the issue within the Welsh Assembly."

In May 1985 the Chester to Wrexham railway line was single-tracked in conjunction with a new signalling system and the then new A483 Gresford-Pulford bypass which included new bridges.

The Welsh Office paid British Rail more than £300,000 towards the scheme which cost around £780,000.

Posted on 12:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Port2Port: Dec 19, 2005

Meir Sheetrit Transportation Minister presented last week at a conference of transportation ministers for the Mediterranean area at Marrakesh, Morocco, Israel's latest plans for a rail link stretching between Haifa and the city of Irbid, Jordan.

The proposed railway line will include a branch line to the West Bank city of Jenin.
 
The plan, if approved, would be financed by the European Union, which expressed interest in investing over 300 million euro in joint transportation infrastructure projects among Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority.
 
The line is expected to pass through King Hussein Bridge and Jenin city in the West Bank and will be a new road for the access of the Jordanian goods to the European markets. It is understood that the Haifa-Irbid railway link would offer industry and trade a better and more attractive land link to the Haifa port, than the present road haulage.
 
The minister emphasized that once the railway line would be in operation less lorries wouldbe required to move the increasing amount of cargo moving between Jordan and the port of Haifa.
 
Sheetrit argued that Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority share a common goal of growth and noted that "the infrastructure for transport is important for the development of the economy and therefore I am all hope that we will be able by the supportof the Europeans to implement the line which will be the first of its kind between Jordan and Israel and extends between the two cities of Haifa and Irbid."
 
The proposed railway would be an extension of Israel's valley track and will revive the Ottoman line which ran from Haifa to Beit She'an. The original track continued on to Damascus and Amman and was part of the famous 1,320-kilometre Hejaz railway built between 1900-1908 between the current Syrian capital and Medina in what is now Saudi Arabia.
 
Sheetrit had also expressed his hope to get the European support for the provision of international finance to enable rail connection between Gaza Strip and the port of Ashdod. Sheetrit told the participants that the project had already been planned thus little time required to begin work on the project.

Posted on 08:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Reuters: 19 Dec 2005
By Shapi Shacinda

LUSAKA - The Tazara railway was one of China's biggest aid projects during the Third World solidarity campaigns of the 1970s as Beijing proved it was ready to help Africa throw off the shackles of colonialism.

Thirty 30 years later, the 1,860 km (1,160 mile) rail link between Tanzania's port of Dar es Salaam and Zambia's Copperbelt region is busier than ever -- part of China's fast-expanding web of economic interests across Africa's mineral-rich heart.

Wagon-loads of Chinese products, ranging from home electronics to textiles, travel via the Tazara line to Zambia's capital Lusaka and smaller markets beyond, bringing cheap goods to consumers often written off as too poor or too isolated to be of interest to major Western exporters.

In the other direction, copper, cobalt and other minerals are moved for shipment back to China -- keeping the Asian giant's economy humming.

"When it was proposed, the West saw the Tazara project as uneconomical, but China was looking for friends at the time," said Chileshe Mulenga, head of the Institute for Economic and Social Research, a Lusaka think-tank.

"Today they are gaining economically from Tazara."

Built with an interest-free Chinese loan of $500 million between 1970 and 1976, the Tazara railway was at the time one of the most ambitious of China's overseas engineering projects, which also included sports stadiums, roads and dams.

Envisioned as a way to help the black-ruled states of central and Southern Africa bypass the ports of white-ruled apartheid South Africa, the railway became a Chinese showpiece with its major railway stations built in the heavy concrete style favoured by Chinese communist planners.

While the project paid diplomatic dividends -- Zambia and Tanzania, unlike some other African countries, never wavered in their support of Beijing over its rich rivals in Taiwan -- it was not the immediate economic watershed some had hoped.

THE LITTLE RAILWAY THAT COULD

But in recent years Tazara's importance has increased particularly as it emerged as the main overland shipping line for the 20-member Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the continent's largest trading bloc.

Tazara data seen by Reuters indicate that the railway can carry 5 million tonnes of cargo each year, although sometimes creaky infrastructure has kept actual shipments lower.

Tazara's management says the railway will be more important as stability returns to Africa's Great Lakes region centred on the vast and resource rich Democratic Republic of Congo.

Officials say the railway's influence already stretches as far north as Burundi and Rwanda, which are using it to import goods via Kasama in northern Zambia.

"Imports can be moved by rail from Dar es Salaam to Kasama, Zambia, where they will be transshipped and moved by trucks to Mpulungu port (on Lake Tanganyika), destined to Great Lakes countries," a railway statement said.

Chinese companies, particularly in the mining sector, are also benefiting as they seek efficient ways to deliver raw commodities to the home market as well as to bring in the heavy equipment needed to more fully exploit their African mining concessions.

"We use the Tazara to transport mining equipment. It is cheaper compared with the road haulage and our plans are to start using it for carrying copper cathode," said Xu Ruiyong, administrative manager at Chinese-owned Chambish Mining Plc, which produces copper.

Chambishi currently produces copper concentrate. The concentrate is sold locally, but plans to start producing finished copper in 2006 will see Chambishi use the Tazara more often for exports, particularly to China.

While Tazara is now jointly owned by the Zambian and Tanzanian governments, China in 2004 gave the two countries a new $10 million loan to finance improvements to the rail track.

Plans are now under way to either partially privatise the railway or sell management rights to a foreign firm.

Data indicates that Tazara, which operates passenger and cargo trains, has carried 40 million passengers since inception and 30 million tonnes of cargo -- numbers which China's increasing African interests are pushing ever higher.

China's embassy in Lusaka said Beijing provides assistance to Tazara to purchase spare parts, rails, locomotives, telecommunication equipment, rescue cranes, training of staff, machinery and other equipment.

"It is our sincere wish that this great UHURU (independence) railway will continue to grow healthily," the embassy said in a written statement.

Posted on 08:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Office of Rail Regulation: 15 December 2005
ORR/46/05

The Office of Rail Regulation today published its initial assessment of the prospects for Network Rail's funding for the five years starting in April 2009 (Control Period 4), and also consulted on the future financial framework for setting Network Rail's allowed revenue.

The assessment suggests, on the basis of Network Rail's current business plan assumptions of future levels of rail traffic, that Network Rail's revenue requirement could be in the range £17 - 20 billion for the five years 2009 - 2014 (£3.4 - £4.0 billion a year), compared with £22.7 billion allowed in the current control period (2004-2009). 

Underpinning this assessment is an analysis by ORR of the work that Network Rail will need to undertake to maintain the serviceability and performance of the rail network, possible trends in the costs of that work, and assumptions about the required return on Network Rail's capital.  The expenditure assessment take account of advice from ORR's consultants that there is scope for continued unit cost reductions of between 2 and 8% a year over CP4.  

Chris Bolt, ORR Chairman, said:

"The Railways Act 2005 set out a new framework for the industry. Ministers, including for Scotland the Scottish Ministers, are now required to give ORR a clear specification of the high level outputs they expect the railway to deliver and the funding they are prepared to make available. The purpose of this document is to provide an input to decisions by Ministers on their output specification and the scale of public funding for rail.

"Given the expected growth in demand, it will be particularly challenging for Network Rail and its partners to develop plans which both maintain and improve safety and operational performance and accommodate the increase in the costs of financing Network Rail's balance sheet, without adding to pressures on funding. This will require relentless pursuit of improved efficiency, while not compromising long-term sustainability of the network.  So we are also seeking views on the issues which will need to be further developed by Network Rail before it publishes its medium term plan in June 2006."

Issues which ORR expects Network Rail to address in developing this plan include:

* its understanding of asset knowledge and cost causation;
* passenger and freight demand growth;
* further disaggregation of information on activity and expenditure; and
* its own view of possible future efficiency improvements.

Analysis of these issues will continue through 2006, leading to publication by Ministers of their specification of outputs and funding in mid-2007.  As today's document makes clear, final decisions on Network Rail's allowed revenue for CP4, which ORR expects to reach in Autumn 2008, could be outside the range illustrated if the output specification differs significantly from the assumptions in Network Rail's current business plan.

The document also consults on key strategic issues concerning the financial framework for Network Rail in CP4, in particular to provide effective incentives for Network Rail to continue to deliver efficiency savings and improvements in performance, including safety performance.

Chris Bolt continued:

"Significant further efficiency gains by Network Rail may only be achievable if, working with its customers and suppliers, it is encouraged to take up more demanding challenges and adopt innovative approaches, and is rewarded for doing so. The alternative is likely to be a company which is less able to respond to the pressures of increased demand and to succeed in the relentless pursuit of improved efficiency while not compromising long-term sustainability of the network."

Notes for editors:

1. ORR's Initial Assessment of Network Rail's CP4 Revenue Requirement and Consultation on the Financial Framework is published today, and is available from the ORR website (Related links) Responses to the consultation are requested by 31 March 2006.

2. Assessing Network Rail's scope for efficiency gains over CP4 and beyond: a preliminary study, LEK Consulting (International) Ltd and Oxera Consulting Ltd, December 2005. This report is available on the ORR website (Related links)

3. The 2008 Periodic Review started in August 2005 with the publication of the first consultation document "Periodic Review 2008: First Consultation Document" (please see Related links) Final Conclusions are planned for publication in October 2008.

4. The current control period (Control Period 3), runs from April 2004 until March 2009.

5. To set Network Rail's access charges, ORR must establish the efficient level of expenditure to deliver the required network outputs and the return it is permitted to earn on its regulatory asset base. From these ORR derives Network Rail's gross revenue requirement and nets off stations charges, property income and freight and open access passenger charges. This net revenue requirement forms the basis of access charges to franchised passenger train operators. Generally these operators benefit from an indemnity from Government, so ultimately any reduction or increase in charges flows back to Government's budget.

6.  Following Network Rail's 2006 submission to the review, ORR will review it and publish a further assessment, prior to issuing a formal commencement notice for the review. The Railways Act 2005 then requires the Secretary of State for Transport (for England and Wales) and Scottish Ministers (for Scotland) to present to ORR information on the high level outputs (HLOS) they want the railway to provide, and a statement of funds available. ORR must then determine the outputs that Network Rail must deliver to achieve the HLOS, the cost of delivering them in the most efficient way, and the implications for the charges payable by train operators to Network Rail for using the railway network. If, at the end of ORR?s review, there is a mismatch between the outputs the Secretary of State or Scottish Ministers are seeking and the funding available, the Act gives to ORR the task of determining which rail outputs should be delivered.

Press enquiries

ORR Press Office ? 020 7282 2007/2141
Out of office hours ? pager 07659 127 303

Posted on 10:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The New Vision: 19th December, 2005
By Reuben Olita in Nairobi, Charles Etukuri & agencies

COURTS in Kenya and Uganda have halted the transfer of the 104-year-old Kenyan-Uganda Railways to a South African-led consortium pending the completion of lawsuits challenging it filed by railway employees and pensioners who stand to lose their jobs and benefits.

The railway concession was supposed to be handed over to Sheltam Consortium, a South Africa-based Company on December 31, following the award on October 14, a 25-year concession for companies to the Rift Valley Railways Consortium (RVRC) led by South Africa?s Sheltam Rail Company, which had warned of impending losses in jobs and benefits.

The consortium plans to invest $322m (268m Euros) into rolling stock, maintenance and other sectors. In Kenya, concessioning of the Kenya Railways Corporations? Ksh36b asset base was stopped by the Nairobi High Court on Friday.

Justice Jackson Ojwang stopped the concessioning pending the determination of a suit filed by 6,000 pensioners seeking payment of Ksh17b. Ojwang said the pensioners had shown that they have a case and the fate of their pensions and other dues owed by KR need to be determined before new investors move in.

The judge ordered that there should be no signing of any pact between KR and Rift Valley Railways Consortium (RVRC) about the handing over of the country?s largest parastatal.

He dismissed with costs an application by KR?s lawyer Dr Albert Mumma, who had urged the court to strike out the entire suit by the 6,000 pensioners on grounds that the court lacked jurisdiction to determine the serious legal issues raised therein.

Posted on 10:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Times: December 19, 2005
By Angela Jameson, Industrial Correspondent

FRESH doubts are surfacing over whether Crossrail, the £11 billion rail link between Heathrow and East London, can survive after it emerged that the Bill that would set it in motion is still facing 350 objections.

The Select Committee considering the rail link, which will consider petitions from January, could take more than a year to examine witnesses, amid signs that the Government is losing enthusiasm for the plan. There are also concerns that the Department for Transport is taking a hard line with objectors and seems to be unwilling to negotiate.

Robbie Owen, of Bircham Dyson Bell, the solicitors that represent 99 of the objectors, said: "The Select Committee has had its first sitting, yet very few petitions have been withdrawn. This does not bode well for those who want to see Crossrail built."

A senior rail industry source said that there was scepticism about whether the Government was giving its full backing.

Last week Crossrail was granted £100 million by the Department for Transport, but there had been expectations that a higher sum would have been given.

Gordon Brown is thought to be keeping the project alive, at least until he is in No 10, in the hope of winning favour with London MPs, whose support he will need to be elected as leader of the Labour Party.

Posted on 09:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

BBC News: 16 December 2005

A rail firm has cancelled every train in the West Midlands on Sunday as too few of its drivers want to work.

Central Trains has called off all its services out of Birmingham stations. But Virgin and Chiltern services through the region are not affected.

Drivers are not contracted to work on Sundays, with services covered by staff working voluntary overtime.

Central will run most East Midlands services, except Birmingham to Stansted Airport via Leicester and Cambridge.

The shutdown in the West Midlands extends along lines to Lichfield, Walsall, Redditch, Coventry, Rugby, Northampton, Cardiff, Worcester, Hereford, Rugeley, Wolverhampton, Stratford-upon-Avon, Leamington Spa and Stourbridge.

A few late night trains from Leicester to Nottingham and Birmingham are also affected.

Passengers are advised to use buses.

'Not enough drivers'

The drivers' rotas only run from Monday to Saturday but such a small number of volunteers have offered to the work this Sunday that the firm said it cannot run any trains.

Rachel Webster, from Central Trains, said: "We have not got enough drivers from our West Midlands-based depots to run any level of service.

"Rather than promise to deliver something we know we almost certainly won't be able to deliver fully on Sunday, we have taken the decision to not run any services in the West Midlands."

Other National Express-owned operators have been hit by staff not offering to work on Sundays. Central, Silverlink and Midland Mainline services were hit by a lack of Sunday staff last Christmas.

Posted on 07:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Scotland on Sunday: 18 Dec 2005
DOUGLAS FRIEDLI

CITY analysts have warned that transport operator FirstGroup's success in winning £1bn worth of railway franchises last week may not be good news for shareholders.

Merrill Lynch, the merchant bank, dropped its buy recommendation on First after the group headed by Moir Lockhead won two key franchises, enough to make it the UK's biggest rail operator from next year.

Analysts are concerned that the Aberdeen group has limited its growth opportunities for the future, and that rail franchises come with low profit margins and little margin for error.

Rui Lopes, an analyst at Merrill Lynch, said: "We think FirstGroup will struggle to win any of the remaining re-franchises until the end of 2007. There are also risks from expiring fuel [price] hedges and expansion into continental Europe."

Damian Brewer, an analyst at JP Morgan, said investors were placing too much value on railway franchises. He said: "Rail contracts have been a mixed blessing historically. Generally thin starting margins suggest little room for manoeuvre on profits when the unexpected happens. Rail history since privatisation suggests that the sector is not immune from adverse factors, including economic slowdown, rail network problems and terrorism."

First won the Thameslink/Great Northern franchise around London, as predicted by Scotland on Sunday, despite tough competition from Stagecoach and National Express which was the incumbent on part of the route. It also retained the expanded Greater Western franchise between London, Bristol and Wales, most of which it already runs as Great Western. The franchises will add around £1bn to First's revenues.

HSBC last week cut its recommendation on FirstGroup to neutral because it saw no "new catalyst" for growth. UBS raised its target price to 407p from 380p, compared to 387.5p on Friday, but reiterated its neutral stance on the shares after dropping its buy recommendation a few weeks ago.

Transit, the transport industry journal, warned on Friday: "If just one of First's franchise bids proves over-ambitious, it won't get bailed out by the government while it is making profits elsewhere."

First now has a 21% share of the UK rail market, and industry sources say it will find it hard to win more work without incurring an inquiry from the Competition Commission, as happened when it took over the ScotRail franchise last year.

Some industry sources believe Lockhead, who is 60, is aggressively building up FirstGroup's share of the railway market to leave his mark on the transport industry. He started the firm as a bus operator in Aberdeen but most of its UK revenues now come from railways.

A FirstGroup spokeswoman said it had not taken any serious risks with the new franchises. "The risk profile has changed. The upside and the downside are shared with the government, so the new franchises are substantially de-risked."

Posted on 07:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of people who campaign for internationally recognized human rights.

AI's Secretary General Irene Khan meets Afghan refugees in Pakistan on International Human Rights Day 2001 © J.L.Bulcao (Amnesty International / Gamma)

AI's vision is of a world in which every person enjoys all of the human rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards.

In pursuit of this vision, AI's mission is to undertake research and action focused on preventing and ending grave abuses of the rights to physical and mental integrity, freedom of conscience and expression, and freedom from discrimination, within the context of its work to promote all human rights.

AI is independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion. It does not support or oppose any government or political system, nor does it support or oppose the views of the victims whose rights it seeks to protect. It is concerned solely with the impartial protection of human rights.

AI has a varied network of members and supporters around the world. At the latest count, there were more than 1.8 million members, supporters and subscribers in over 150 countries and territories in every region of the world. Although they come from many different backgrounds and have widely different political and religious beliefs, they are united by a determination to work for a world where everyone enjoys human rights.

AI is a democratic, self-governing movement. Major policy decisions are taken by an International Council made up of representatives from all national sections.

AI's national sections and local volunteer groups are primarily responsible for funding the movement. No funds are sought or accepted from governments for AI?s work investigating and campaigning against human rights violations.

Join Amnesty International today

Make a donation

Appeals for action

Posted on 11:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

BBC News: 17 December 2005

Rail services to the South West could be frozen for 40 years if government plans are approved. Rail travel in the region is increasing by more than 5% each year.

The warning comes from the regional assembly and refers to new legislation to protect rail improvements in London.

The Crossrail project is expected to affect journeys into Reading and Paddington for about six years while construction is under way.

But the assembly claims new plans will leave little scope for expansion of South West services until 2045.

The need to work with the London project has been agreed by the First group which has just won the new greater western rail franchise that covers services in Devon and Cornwall.

The assembly says the bill must include capacity for growth outside the capital especially because South West rail travel is currently increasing between 5% and 10% each year.

Posted on 09:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Newsday: December 18, 2005

A chill rain fell in the predawn outside the Manhattan headquarters of Transport Workers Union Local 100.

Inside, exhausted and dejected union members and staff, some teary-eyed, shuffled through the dimly lit corridors where labor banners and blown-up photos of Local 100 President Roger Toussaint and elected officials hung from the walls. Friday morning, the place had the feel of a wake.

"It's an emotional letdown when the process fails," said a labor leader who was in the building. "You have the great unknown about what this really means."

It means a historic fight against pension and health-care rollbacks for public-sector employees will be decided in these negotiations. It means the specter of a citywide transit shutdown during the holiday season remains a real possibility.

Looking tired and angry, Toussaint on Friday morning stared down the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and - by extension - both the city and state of New York. Later, after unsuccessful talks with MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow and others, the Trinidad-born former track worker returned to the union hall and stared down dissidents within his local who demanded a citywide bus and subway strike.

"Toussaint's strategy, taking direct action via a bus strike in Queens just now, shows his members that he is prepared to take an initial militant step while leveraging the situation and continuing to negotiate," said Lee Adler, who teaches public-sector labor law at Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

A major issue in the talks is the MTA's proposal that new employees reach age 62 before being able to collect a pension equal to half their salary after 25 years on the job. Currently, most transit workers qualify for half-pensions at age 55, after 25 years of service. The MTA says pension costs have more than tripled since the union's 2002 contract. Labor leaders say pension and health care rollbacks for transit workers could mean the same for other public-sector workers, including cops, firefighters and teachers.

"There's a lot at stake, I think, for groups beyond TWU," said Joshua Freeman, a labor historian at the City University of New York Graduate Center who has written a book about Local 100.

In his view, an MTA victory would pave the way to a wholesale restructuring of pension benefits for state and city employees.

"I'd be even more worried if I belonged to DC 37 or another public-employee union - the idea that you could actually make a pretty radical change in the structure of pension benefits so that the next generations of workers will have inferior benefits," Freeman said. District Council 37 is the city's largest municipal union.

Adler said Gov. George Pataki, the ultimate boss of the MTA, and Mayor Michael Bloomberg - who have both vowed harsh financial penalties for union leaders and members in the event of a strike - have become players in the drama.

"The situation for Mr. Toussaint is very serious," he said. "The mayor and the governor have substantial political interest in the outcome of this controversy. They appear unfriendly to the union."

Some labor leaders suggested that the MTA, feeling the pressure from the city and state, went into the talks expecting a walkout.

"Either the MTA is not taking the threat seriously or the MTA wants to bring about a strike," said the president of another transport union, which represents thousands of MTA employees. "They want to permanently alter labor relations for everybody in the city and state for the next 25 years."

Pensions and health care are issues that resonate with transit workers and their families, as with most working people.

"Why else would you work in the subway tunnels for 30 years if you didn't think you were going to get something?" said Susan McAnanama, of Staten Island, whose husband, George, retired after spending three decades as a subway track worker. "I'd like to see Kalikow go in the tunnels for more than 15 minutes."

Adler said Toussaint's strategy, for now, makes perfect sense.

"It seems mindful of the interests of the city's citizens, staying focused on his leadership responsibilities to his members and saying to the governor, the mayor and the MTA that he is still ready to make a fair deal."

Said the labor leader who was at TWU Local 100's headquarters that bleak Friday morning, "I think the governor has about 48 hours to settle this. If he doesn't, it's the nuclear option."

Email: ray.sanchez@newsday.com

Posted on 09:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

New York Daily News: December 17, 2005

The chances of a crippling transit strike are now bigger than ever - and anyone who doesn't think so is badly underestimating the union's resolve.

"The MTA is trying to provoke a strike," Ed Watt, Secretary Treasurer of the Transport Workers Union, said last night. "But they're making a serious miscalculation if they think they can divide our members."

Both the union and the MTA management made surprise moves yesterday.

First, union President Roger Toussaint declared a limited strike to start Monday morning at two private MTA bus lines whose workers have been without a contract for three years.

Since those workers are not covered by the state's Taylor Law, the action was a clever way for Toussaint to put pressure on the MTA for an overall settlement without risking heavy fines for the union.

That strike will spread to all the city subways and buses at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday if no contract is reached.

A few hours after the union's announcement, MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow warned that the MTA's offer of a 9% wage increase over three years was final. Kalikow threatened to declare an impasse if the union didn't accept it.

So the reply to Toussaint's offer to keep negotiating until Monday was: Don't expect to get anything more in further negotiations, even if the MTA has a $1 billion surplus.

According to several participants in Thursday night's talks, Kalikow told union leaders he was under pressure from both Mayor Bloomberg and Gov. Pataki not to budge.

If Bloomberg and Pataki think TWU leaders will accept any deal, that union officials won't risk jail time or millions of dollars in fines in a walkout, they are underestimating Toussaint and the anger and bitterness among his rank and file.

Many TWU members are fed up with what they call the "plantation" mentality of MTA management. And most of them weren't around during the last transit strike in 1980, when the union suffered a disastrous defeat.

Toussaint, a militant leader in the mold of the legendary Mike Quill, looks instead for inspiration to the 1966 transit strike. That's when Quill defied the courts and the city leaders in a successful strike and even won amnesty for his members.

As for the rest of the city's labor leaders, many are beginning to believe that what happens to the TWU, one of the city's strongest unions, could shape labor relations in this town for years to come.

That's why the city's Central Labor Council is organizing a massive rally of support for the TWU on Monday afternoon in front of Pataki's Manhattan office.

Anyone who has ever been in a bitter strike knows that once the battle is joined no one can predict where it will end or how widespread the damage will be.

With the clock ticking down again, the governor had better take some time off from running for President and pay more attention to this looming crisis in his MTA.

Posted on 08:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

New York Daily News: December 17, 2005
STAFF AND NEWS SERVICE REPORTS

Negotiators for the Transit Workers Union and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority returned to the bargaining table Saturday, but by early afternoon the sides had stopped talking with no agreement on a contract that would avoid a strike.

There was no indication on when, or if, the talks might resume. The sides began meeting at about 10:30 a.m., but shortly after 2 p.m., two union officials said the talks had ended. They declined to characterize the negotiations, other than to say there was no progress.

MTA spokesman Tom Kelly described the stoppage as a "recess."

The two sides failed to agree on a new contract before the expiration of the union's contract early Friday, but the trains kept running as the union set a strike deadline for 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

The new deadline gives negotiators at least a few more days to reach agreement, but MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow insisted Friday that the authority's last offer was its best.

"There is no more," he said.

The offer called for a 9 percent wage increase, phased in over three years. The union demanded annual 8 percent raises for three years. Currently, train operators, station agents and cleaners earn an annual base salary of between $47,000 and $55,000.

Transit workers are prohibited by state law from striking the buses and subways, at the risk of heavy fines and lawsuits.

Union head Roger Toussaint announced a selective strike to begin Monday against two private bus lines in Queens that are in the process of being taken over by the MTA, but are not yet covered by the law outlawing strikes by public transit employees.

The two lines have about 50,000 riders and 750 workers.

A citywide bus and subway strike would be New York's first since an 11-day walkout in 1980.

Earlier story: MTA and union not talking

By PETE DONOHUE and DAVID SALTONSTALL
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

New Yorkers dodged a crippling transit strike yesterday, but the chaos may only be delayed until next week as union and MTA officials angrily broke off talks.

After a long night of bargaining, Transport Workers Union Local 100 leaders rejected what the MTA called its "final" offer - then voted to stage a mini-strike of two private bus lines in Queens at 12:01 a.m. Monday.

A citywide strike affecting all buses and subways could begin at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday - a threat that seemed more likely given the public stances of each side.

MTA chairman Peter Kalikow insisted the package represented the agency's "final offer," at least in terms of its cash value to workers.

"We are at our limit, absent some tinkering around the edges," Kalikow told reporters. "We are ready to talk to them if they want to."

Although no formal talks had been scheduled for today, top negotiators for both sides agreed late last night to reopen discussions at the Grand Hyatt New York hotel.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority negotiator Gary Dellaverson said that if an agreement is not reached soon, the agency was prepared to request an impasse - a formal judgment that would have to be accepted by the state's Public Employment Relations Board.

If the board agreed there is an impasse, that could lead to binding arbitration overseen by an outside panel - a process that often takes months. As of late yesterday, the board said no formal request to declare an impasse had been received.

"We tried to bargain with the MTA," TWU Local 100 President Roger Toussaint said after the union agreed to extend the strike deadline. "We negotiated well past our contract deadline because we wanted to get a deal done."

The contract talks ground to a halt around 4:30 a.m. after the union rejected the MTA's latest bid, which offered annual pay raises of 3% over three years.

The 9.3% wage package clearly reflected some movement by the MTA, which had originally sought to keep raises at 5% over two years, with higher pay tied to reducing sick time or expanding duties for some workers - requirements that are now gone.

The union had been asking for 24% over three years. Currently, train operators, station agents and cleaners earn $47,000 to $55,000 a year before overtime.

Union sources said the MTA's pay package was rejected during a raucous meeting where the local's executive board voted 25 to 14 to keep the clock ticking on negotiations and push off any strike until Monday.

A minority of dissidents wanted to strike right away, while others were upset that two private bus companies in Queens - Jamaica Buses and Triboro Coach - were told to strike alone.

"There was a lot of screaming," said one union insider.

The TWU clearly chose the two bus companies for a reason, however. Because they are private companies, their employees are not subject to the same heavy fines as MTA workers under the state's Taylor Law.

The law, first enacted in 1967, makes it illegal for public employees to strike and can dock workers up to three days' pay for every day of a walkout.

The lack of a resolution left New York's 7 million daily straphangers stranded between emotional stops - glad that subways and buses were running yesterday, but increasingly bitter about having to live with more uncertainty.

"Forget about just today," said an angry Luis Mirra, 44, a youth counselor on the No. 6 train in the Bronx. "If they decide to do this next week or next month and so on, what are the people of New York supposed to do?"

Mayor Bloomberg, who spent the night sleeping on a cot in the city's emergency bunker in Brooklyn, urged the two sides to keep talking - while suggesting that the MTA had given away the store.

"I think it is more generous than the MTA can afford," Bloomberg said on his weekly radio show. Under the MTA offer, current TWU members would not have to pay anything more toward their pension costs and nothing toward their health care costs.

New hires would have to pay 3% of wages toward pension costs and 1% toward health care - far below what most public and private workers pay.

The major sticking point for the union, however, has been the MTA's insistence that the retirement age for new hires be raised from 55 to 62.

Toussaint is said to be deeply concerned that if the TWU caves on the age issue, other city and state unions may soon be forced to do the same.

Gov. Pataki urged union members to consider what he called the MTA's "very fair offer," while sternly reminding them that any strike would be illegal.

"If you strike," he warned workers, "there will be very real consequences."

With Jego R. Armstrong, Madison J. Gray and Rich Schapiro

The MTA's 'final offer'

Basics: Three-year deal with annual raises of 3%.

Benefits: Unchanged for current workers.

New hires would see the following changes:

Pension costs: New workers would pay 3% of wages (current workers pay 2%) to their pensions; retirement age would rise to 62 from 55.

Health care costs: New hires pay 1% of wages for health insurance. Current workers do not pay anything.

401(k) plan: New workers would be eligible to contribute to a 401(k) plan, with the MTA matching first 1% of pretax contributions.

Posted on 08:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Thisislocallondon: 17 Dec' 05
By Local London Reporter

Docklands Light Railway (DLR) workers are voting on strike action over pay. The RMT says 95 per cent of staff are members of the union.

Members of the RMT rail union employed on the network are said to be furious that their pay has slipped behind London Underground workers with similar duties and responsibilities. They say DLR bosses added insult to injury by reducing an insufficient' pay offer of 3.4 per cent to 3.25 per cent and refusing further negotiations.

Serco Docklands Limited (SDL), operator of the DLR, rejects the claims and says it is still in negotiations with the union to agree salary terms for 2006.

The Guardian understands the RMT will seek to cause maximum disruption by scheduling a potential walkout to coincide with the Boat Show at the ExCel Centre, which runs for nine days from January 6.

RMT general secretary Bob Crow said: "DLR pay has fallen so far behind that it would take a 29 per cent pay increase to bring pay of a DLR passenger service assistant in line with that of a Tube train operator.

"We made it clear to DLR that the serious shortfall in pay must be addressed with a substantial increase in all rates, but its response to date has been nothing short of contemptuous.

"Our members have played a key part in the growth and success of DLR and it is high time their pay reflected that contribution.

"I am confident our members will return a massive vote for action and it is now down to the company to return to the negotiating table and hammer out a realistic deal or face the prospect of effective strike action."

A spokeswoman for SDL said: "The first salary offer was stated on September 5 at the rate of inflation plus 0.5 per cent.

"This offer remains open.

"An alternative offer was presented on November 29 of a fixed 3.25 per cent increase, with the option of a second year at 3.25 per cent. SDL will seek to continue talks with the RMT at the next meeting on December 14, to resolve this issue as soon as possible."

The RMT claims its members constitute about 95 per cent of DLR staff, but SDL says only 60 per cent of staff are being balloted.

DLR operates throughout Newham and opened a new line, running from Canning Town to King George V station at North Woolwich via London City Airport, on December 6.

Posted on 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

For further information contact: Bridgwater Trades Council

Campaigners from anti-nuclear and peace groups from all over Somerset met in Bridgwater on 13th December to launch a county-wide campaign to alert local people to Tony Blair?s plans to replace the Trident nuclear weapons system.

Before there has even been a debate in Parliament, work has started at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston in Berkshire to recruit hundreds of nuclear scientists, and build the facilities to produce the new generation of nuclear warheads.

Political support for the new nuclear weapons is currently centred on a narrow circle of New Labour fanatics surrounding Tony Blair and his Defence Minister John Reid. But opposition is widespread and growing rapidly. Even such a prominent Tory as Michael Portillo has called for the estimated £25 billion nuclear renewal costs to be spent on health and education services.

In Somerset, campaigners are determined to put the principled moral arguments before the economic ones: the possession and threatened use of nuclear weapons is immoral, and useless against terrorist attacks.

New British nuclear weapons break non-proliferation agreements, and only encourage other nations, like Iran, to develop nuclear weapons of their own. If John Reid says that we need them to deter any possible enemies, why shouldn?t Iran say the same?

The ?Cold War? is long over, and Britain COULD give an international and moral lead in negotiating large- scale reductions in nuclear warheads world-wide - and that should include Israel. South Africa have already destroyed theirs, so it can be done!

The Somerset Campaign Against Trident Renewal is producing its first leaflet to give out on the streets of Somerset towns early in 2006, alongside a petition asking for a debate in Parliament leading to a decision NOT to proceed with the ?NEW Nukes? Other plans include pickets of Devonport, Aldermaston and Faslane in Scotland, and, in spring, a Somerset ?wide demonstration and rally.

Contact: Dave Chapple or Glen Burrows, 1 Blake Place, Bridgwater, TA6 5AU.
Tel 01278 450562. email: dave@davechapple3.wanadoo.co.uk

Posted on 07:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Hexham Courant: 16/12/2005

'We must fight tooth and nail for services'

THE committee of the Tyne Valley Rail Users? Group was disappointed to read Roy Bell?s letter (Courant Letters, December 9).

The group is convinced that all station closures and service reduction must be fought tooth and nail if we are to have any chance of preventing them.

The review of Northern Rail services is being carried out in secret.The Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport has written that the Government anticipates ?development of detailed options early next year with consultation as necessary when decisions are made?.

Note the wording. They will consult, but not before, decisions are made.

All stations west of Hexham appear to be under threat in this review, and some stations east of Hexham are at risk.

We are well aware that many of the financial problems plaguing the railway result directly from the flawed privatisation, which resulted in a fragmented and ruinously expensive structure. Most of the problems inherent in this financial structure have been maintained by the present Government's refusal to stem the haemorrhaging of money.

Current Government policy seems to be to chip away at stopping services. This will inevitably lead to increased traffic congestion and carbon emissions at a time when it claims to want to reduce them.

Any substitution of rail services by buses, as proposed, will result in increased journey times and further congestion.

The closure of any of these rural stations will save little or no money in the overall scheme of things.

What these communities need are more trains on a sensible, usable, stopping pattern, not fewer trains or no trains at all.

Roy is right to say that a Government committed to public transport will change matters, but if we sit back and do nothing then we risk the station closures and service reductions that the Government appear to be planning.

PETER JOHNSON,

Hon. Treasurer and Membership Secretary,
Tyne Valley Rail Users Group

Posted on 01:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Village Voice: December 16, 2005
By Tom Robbins

Transport Workers Union officials voted to strike this morning - but limited their initial walkout to two private bus lines which serve southeast Queens.

Those lines are due to come under the umbrella of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority but workers there, who have been without a contract for three years, do not face the crippling state Taylor Laws and accompanying heavy fines.

A somber TWU Local 100 president Roger Toussaint held a 7:15 A.M. press conference at union headquarters on the West Side where he announced that his executive board had voted for the partial walk out. He said the bus lines work stoppage would be the first in "a series of strikes" that would later "extend to the rest of the MTA."

A union spokesman said that wider strike would stay on hold until Monday night and Toussaint left open the door for further talks with the agency.

"We are prepared to bargain and to work. But the MTA cannot continue to negotiate through threats. They can come to the table and bargain in good faith," he said.

Toussaint blamed MTA chairman Peter Kalikow for belatedly joining the talks at, literally, the 11th hour.

"Chairman Kalikow came to the table just one hour before the deadline. One hour for 34,000 workers," Toussaint said.

MTA spokesmen said that agency bargainers had offered a nine percent wage increase over a three-year contract, up from their prior offer of six percent over two years.

Toussaint said that the MTA was still demanding that new employees pay for some of their health benefits, and accept a hike in the retirement age for new employees.

"They would put a lock and key on their access to the middle class," said Toussaint.

Posted on 01:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

CNN: December 16, 2005

Union strike series to begin with private bus lines later Friday, then spread to buses, subways.

NEW YORK - New York City was poised to be hit by a transit strike as the union representing bus and subway workers announced early Friday they had not been able to reach agreement with management after all-night talks.

Roger Toussaint, president of the Transport Workers Union Local 100, which represents about 34,000 workers, announced just after 7 a.m. ET that the union would start a strike against private bus lines operated under the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, starting Friday evening, and that the strike would then be extended to other "MTA properties."

A spokesman for the MTA was not immediately available for comment about the strike threat.

Toussaint, speaking at union headquarters, did not give details when city buses and subways could stop running. He said the union was prepared to continue bargaining, but he criticized MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow, whom he said did not join talks until an hour before the contract expired at 12:01 a.m. Friday.

A strike by the TWU is illegal, and the city has won an injunction against a strike, which it estimates could cost the city's economy $400 million a day. The city buses and subway carry about 7 million riders on a typical work day.

A strike could disrupt operations at many Wall Street firms, many of which are making contingency plans to get their employees to and from work.

From Toussaint's comments, the two sides still appeared to be far apart on basic economic issues, including wages, health care benefits and pensions.

The first two privately owned bus lines that will apparently be affected by the strike are the Triboro and Jamaica bus lines, which serve commuters in sections of the boroughs of Brookyn and Queens. They have 490 drivers and 217 drivers, respectively, and Toussiant said they have been without a contract for three years.

A strike would be the first since an 11-day strike in April 1980 that cost the city an estimated $1 billion.

On Thursday Kalikow urged the union to submit to independent arbitration if the negotiations fail but Toussaint said on Thursday his recommendation to union members "will definitely not be arbitration."

Major issues include wage increases, health-care benefits and pension provisions, which the union believes is affordable, pointing to a reported $1 billion surplus held by the MTA, based largely on increased value of its real estate holdings.

But Kalikow said Thursday: "The MTA's long-term financial outlook, like every business and government in this country, is seriously clouded by the extraordinary growth of pensions and health-care costs."

Under the city's contingency plans, cars would have to carry at least four people to be allowed through bridges and tunnels feeding midtown and lower Manhattan between the hours of 5 a.m. and 11 a.m. It is not immediately clear if those plans will take effect if only the private bus lines are on strike Monday morning.

Staging areas would enable automobile drivers to find the necessary passengers to get into the city, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced earlier in the week. The city's fleet of would be allowed to take multiple fares with a cap of $10 per passenger for trips within designated zones, while public schools would open two hours later than usual to accommodate the 600,000 students who use city transportation.

Under the state's Taylor Law that bans municipal strikes, employees can be fined two days' pay for every day on strike.

The city also filed a lawsuit to fine the union $1 million and each striker $25,000 on the first day of a strike to recover any damages the city suffers.

Posted on 01:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Associated Press: 12.16.2005

New York City's transit union called a selective strike Friday, after a night of bargaining failed to produce a deal involving 33,000 subway and bus workers.

The strike could eventually extend to the subway system, the union said, but the timing of such a move was unclear.

"We tried to bargain with the MTA," said Roger Toussaint, president of Transport Workers Union Local 100. "We negotiated well past our contract deadline because we wanted to get a deal done and we still do."

Workers had threatened to walk off the job if no deal was reached by 12:01 a.m. but negotiations continued until 4:30 a.m. A strike could paralyze the transit system - used by 7 million people each day - at the height of the holiday season. It would also leave commuters to walk, bike, car pool or work from home.

City officials were poised to put contingency plans in effect if workers did walk off the job. Preparing for potential rush hour chaos, Mayor Michael Bloomberg went to an emergency command center overnight. In the event of a strike, commuters were urged to car pool, bicycle, walk to work or even work from home.

"We are hoping for the best and preparing for the worst," Bloomberg said.

Companies also were making contingency plans. Some told employees to telecommute; others arranged for vans and ferries to get their workers to the office.

Transit workers are barred by state law from striking. The workers could lose two days' pay for every day on strike, and the city is seeking much larger damages against the union and its individual members.

Thursday, Metropolitan Transportation Authority chairman Peter Kalikow suggested that an arbitrator might be the best person to help reach a deal - a statement that infuriated the union.

The MTA and the union's 33,000 members were at odds on such issues as wages, health care and pension contributions.

The MTA proposed 6 percent raises spread over 27 months. The union, contending workers should get a share of the MTA's $1 billion surplus, asked for an increase about four times that.

The workers want 8 percent annual raises over three years and contend they should get a share of the MTA's $1 billion surplus. And after the transit bombings in Madrid and London, they also want more terrorism training.

Train operators, station agents and cleaners earn between $47,000 and $55,000 a year before overtime.

The last transit strike was in 1980, when subways and buses sat motionless for 11 days. Tens of thousands of people rode bicycles, walked or embraced other modes of transportation, such as private helicopters and roller skates.

Bruce Gilmore, of Queens, said he can't afford a prolonged strike. He only makes $10 an hour, he said, and it would cost him $15 each way to take a cab and a commuter train.

"It's a fair chunk of change," Gilmore said. "If I have to do that for a lengthy strike, there goes Christmas."

Posted on 01:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Science Daily: Dec. 16 (UPI)

NEW YORK - New York subways and buses ran on schedule Friday although city and union talks broke off with no resolution to a possible strike.

The transit workers' union and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority halted their negotiations early Friday morning with no solution to their differences in sight, the New York Times said.

Neither side would say whether they had made significant progress.

The authority reportedly was willing to increase its wage offer -- two 3 percent raises over 27 months -- but was insisting that in return the union agree to concessions on pensions, health insurance or productivity.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg issued an executive order Thursday night, declaring a state of emergency in the event of a transit strike.

He has announced a far-reaching emergency plan to increase ferry service, allow taxis to pick up multiple fares, and close much of Manhattan to cars during the morning rush unless they have at least four passengers.

Posted on 01:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

New York Daily News: December 16, 2005
BY ADAM LISBERG and BILL HUTCHINSON
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS

The city's biggest labor leaders stood in solidarity last night with the head of the Transport Workers Union, characterizing its labor battle with the MTA as "a fight for every worker in New York."

The labor press conference, held an hour before the TWU's contract was to expire at midnight, was more than just a show of force: The leaders said that if striking transit workers were hit with fines under the Taylor Law, their union brethren could help shoulder the burden.

The labor leaders, introduced one at a time by TWU Local 100 President Roger Toussaint, contended t