This entry honors the memory of Roger M. Lenfest, Jr., a courageous rail labor leader who has left us too soon. Roger’s railroad career spanned 40 years, most recently as a United Transportation Union General Chairman representing conductors on various carriers. But Roger’s defining moment as a union rep came in 1985, when he was
Another Judge Rules FRSA Not Derailed By CBA Appeals
By Charlie Goetsch on
Here’s the latest judicial decision rejecting the bogus "election of remedies" defense railroads continue to raise in Federal Rail Safety Act cases. This one is especially sweet in that it allows a worker to continue her frontal attack against Norfolk Southern Railway’s notorious practice of firing employees who report on duty injuries.
The facts are…
How To Disqualify Unsafe Rail Managers
By Charlie Goetsch on
Are you fed up with rail managers who habitually ignore safety rules and regulations, and then blame the workers who get hurt as a result of management’s unsafe practices? Now you can do something about it. Here’s how to disqualify such managers from ever working in the railroad industry again.
There is a little known…
RLA Arbitration Awards Do Not Bar FRSA Complaints
By Charlie Goetsch on
Posted in Federal Rail Safety Act
Add this to the growing chorus of judicial voices shouting down the bogus "election of remedies" defense raised by railroads. In a cogent decision, Judge Berlin confirms that Federal Rail Safety Act complaints are independent of Railway Labor Act disciplinary proceedings and cannot be derailed by a RLA award reinstating an employee with back pay.
Here are the facts.
FRSA’s Power of Preliminary Reinstatement
By Charlie Goetsch on
The Union Pacific Railroad is about to learn the hard way that arrogance is not a defense to the Federal Rail Safety Act.
The FRSA gives OSHA the power to order the “preliminary reinstatement” of an employee with full back pay. The reinstatement goes into immediate effect even if the railroad objects…
Norfolk Southern Hit With FRSA Damages
By Charlie Goetsch on
OSHA has blown the whistle on Norfolk Southern Railway Company’s practice of disciplining injured workers based on bogus “falsification” charges. From now on, Norfolk Southern’s “falsification” strategy will cost it dearly.
In order to discourage the reporting of injuries, Norfolk Southern routinely charges injured employees with “falsifying” the injury. That is what happened to Conductor…
Railroads Barred From Basing Discipline On FRSA Complaints
By Charlie Goetsch on
Posted in Federal Rail Safety Act
OSHA’s Whistleblower Office has slammed Metro North Railroad with punitive damages for using a Federal Rail Safety Act complaint as a basis for disciplining a worker. After a laborer at Metro North’s New Haven Shop filed a FRSA complaint, the Railroad charged the worker with “Conduct unbecoming a Metro-North employee in that you filed a…
BNSF Railway Hit With FRSA Punitive Damages
Here is a classic example of how the Federal Rail Safety Act is correcting rail management’s reflexive "blame the injured worker" mentality. The Railroad failed to provide the proper tool to do the task in question. So the worker used whatever was at hand to complete the task, just as many other workers had done…
FRSA Also Protects Co-Workers
By Charlie Goetsch on
The act of filing a Federal Rail Safety Act complaint with OSHA is itself a protected activity that cannot in any way be used against the employee. But co-workers are protected as well. Any co-worker who talks to an OSHA Whistleblower investigator or who cooperates with the OSHA FRSA investigation gains protection going forward from…
Another Sign The FRSA Is Changing Railroad Culture
By Charlie Goetsch on
Refreshing words from FRA Administrator Joe Szabo here at the National Mediation Board’s Passenger Railroad Conference in Philadelphia. Joe complimented Amtrak President Boardman for disconnecting manager compensation from injury statistics. Joe noted that while this will result in an increase in reported injuries, it will provide the FRA with the type of accurate information necessary…