Not to be overlooked is the prerun inspection of the locomotive usually performed by the engineer and the fireman-helper. These inspections usually require two persons. Moreover, the fireman-helper has the task of assisting the engineer in preparing a report to the shop forces on mechanical difficulties encountered enroute. Clearly the fireman-helper has more intimate knowledge of these matters than the engineer. The straight electric engines present substantially the same problems as the diesel electronics and the duties of the fireman-helper are similar. 4. Other duties.-(a) Flagging ahead under rule 99. On all carriers the fireman-helper is required to walk (or run) ahead of the train when circumstances require. He might have to flag down approaching trains or warn trains on other tracks of shifted lading fouling adjoining tracks. (b) Train orders. The fireman-helper has the duty of reading train orders and checking them with the engineer. An order overlooked or misinterpreted can lead to a collision. (c) Flagging railroad crossings. Where the engine is proceeding without the ground crew, the fireman-helper must flag crossings. 5. The fireman-helper is necessary for relief of the engineer.-The engineer in road service must work many hours, in weather good and bad, in daytime and in darkness, winter and summer. Switching work, backing up, and setting off of cars is particularly strenuous due to the necessity of looking for signals from the ground crew and keeping arms and shoulders in an unnatural position in order to receive such signals and to maintain a vigilant lookout. Hence, it is the universal custom for the engineer and the fireman-helper to exchange places so that the engineer can secure relief. This custom not only aids the engineer but helps reduce accidents. And it gives the fireman-helper valuable experience so that he too may become an expert engineer. If the engineer becomes ill, or dies while at the controls, the fireman-helper is available to take over the controls. If such event happens while the head-end brakeman is on the ground, no one but the fireman-helper is available to stop the train if the dead-man control fails to take effect as sometimes happens. 6. The fireman-helper is needed as a future source of engineers.-For generations all engineers have come from the ranks of firemen. If we decimate their ranks there will be no natural training ground for the engineer's role. YARD SERVICE The duties of the firemen in yard service are in general substantially the same as in road service. Lookout and signal passing, however, assume somewhat more importance and correction of malfunctions perhaps somewhat less importance due to differences in road and yard conditions. 1. Lookout function.-Yard movements are characterized by nearly continuous forward and reverse movements in order to switch cars. The engineer cannot see what is happening on the left side of the locomotive, nor can he look in two directions at the same time, and when the engine proceeds around a lefthand curve the engineer cannot see anything ahead. Hence, the fireman is necessary to maintain the lookout on the left side. Yards are particularly hazardous because of the presence of numerous ground crews, car inspectors, repairmen and other rail employees, numerous switches, viaducts, bridges, overhead wires, buildings, and heavily traveled grade crossings. Close clearances are common. Yard operations are carried on night and day and under all weather conditions. Yard work also embraces switching in nearby industrial plants. To reach these plants it is frequently necessary to traverse public crossings and sometimes to proceed along public streets. Lookout must be maintained for vehicles, pedestrians, employees of the companies being serviced, and other obstructions. In industrial plants close clearances and track curvature are also common. The record contains hundreds of pages of testimony substantiating these facts. illustrated by hundreds of photographs depicting actual conditions in yard and industrial work throughout the United States. The testimony also shows that day by day firemen save the lives of other crew members and the general public and prevent or minimize damage to property. In yard operations there are only two men in the cab: the engineer and the fireman. The other three crew members customarily work on the ground or on cars. In the absence of the fireman the left side of the train would be completely unprotected. Even the carriers admit the necessity of a lookout on the left side but assert that the work can be done by a ground crew member. The impossibility of this approach is twofold. First, the carriers overlook the fact that there are situations when the train crew is fully occupied. To use a train crew member to do the fireman's work would underman the train crew, expose employees and the public to greater risk of accident, and seriously impair the efficiency of the operation. Second, it is not enough to station a member of the ground crew on the left to see danger. It is equally important to signal the information to the engineer. The fireman alone can perform this function in the cab of the locomotive. He observes from the left side and is in immediate oral or visual contact with the engineer, and if necessary will apply the emergency brake valve. Although yard engines are required to proceed slowly enough to stop short of obstructions, the engineers cannot stop for an obstruction or an opposing train movement he cannot see. It would be dangerous to the public and rail employees to operate yard engines without lookout on both sides of the engine. 2. Signal passing.-Signal passing is perhaps the most important operating function of firemen in yard service. Track curvature, close clearances, adjacent track congestion, overhead, and side obstructions frequently require that hand signals be passed on the fireman's side. The ground crew works on the fireman's side in these situations not only because it may be safer or more convenient for them, but also because there may be no other way to do the work. These facts were attested to by numerous engineers, firemen, trainmen, and yardmasters and illustrated by hundreds of photographs and several movie presentations depicting yards and industrial areas where hand signals are passed on the fireman's side. The carriers' own surveys indicate that signal passing by firemen in yard service is substantial. One of their surveys indicated that in 794 trips firemen relayed hand signals on 2,633 occasions, devoting over 271 hours out of a total of 323 hours spent on all miscellaneous service. The carriers concede there are situations where signals are passed on the fireman's side but assert that in some instances mirrors, radios, and dual-control locomotives could be used instead of firemen. This position overlooks the carriers' own safety rules which prohibit the use of mirrors and radios as communicating devices. It is also a fact that the carriers have previously tried and abandoned dual-control locomotives as unsafe and inefficient. 3. Correction of malfunctions.-The duties of the fireman in yard service with respect to periodic inspections of the locomotive, answering alarms, and correcting malfunctions is similar to road service. The carriers' 1958 and 1959-60 surveys showed that in some 1,500 tours of duty, firemen made over 2,150 routine inspections and took corrective action on more than 900 occasions or on more than 40 percent of such routine inspections. Yard engines operate continuously to insure the makeup of road and passenger trains for ontime departure or to insure delivery of cars to shippers when they want them. Absent the fireman to correct malfunctions as they occur, delay would be more frequent. A malfunctioning yard locomotive can easily tie up an entire terminal or a busy public crossing, causing substantial inconvenience to the public. While some malfunctions may be corrected by the engineer by stopping the train and then looking to the matter himself, there are many malfunctions which require two men to detect and correct. The fireman prevents or minimizes delay. Shop forces are not always available. Usually shop employees are located at points remove from the yards or where the yard engines are operating. Further, the number of shop employees in class I railroads has dropped 50 percent during the period from 1947 to 1960. 4. Relief of the engineer.-There are no dead-man control devices on yard locomotives. In the event the engineer becomes incapacitated the only protection the ground employees and the general public have is the fireman. Even if there were such devices, the record shows they do not always function. The need for temporary relief is probably greater in yard service than in road service. During prolonged hours of switching, sometimes at night against glaring lights and during inclement weather, the engineer must keep a lookout for obstructions, other yard movements, and signals from the ground crew or fireman. Often the engineer must project his body in an unnatural position out of the cab window in order to see signals. The congestion, hazards, and temporal pressures of yard and industrial switching are conducive to engineer strain and fatigue. To relieve this fatigue the fireman periodically exchanges places with the engineer. Installation of dead-man control devices, which require constant physical exertion by the engineer, would add to engineer fatigue. Removal of the fireman clearly would impose an undue workload on the engineer. 5. Training of future engineers.-What we have said above under road service regarding the position of fireman-helper as a training for the position of engineer applies equally to yard service. EXHIBIT 2 MARCH 14, 1963. Mr. J. E. WOLFE, Chairman, National Railway Labor Conference. Chairman, Eastern Carriers' Conference Committee. Chairman, Western Carriers' Conference Committee. Chairman, Southeastern Carriers' Conference Committee. GENTLEMEN: Despite your disdainful rebuffing of our sincere efforts to resume negotiations on March 13, including the unprecedented proposal of the president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen to settle the helper (fireman) question, we are writing you to reemphasize our willingness to engage in meaningful collective bargaining. For the record, our March 13 meeting was the result of our efforts, as stated in letters dated February 5 and February 15, to persuade you to return to the bargaining table. While you finally agreed to meet, you conditioned your participation upon the organizations' willingness to deal with the helper (fireman) question. The organizations agreed, on March 13, to place that matter at the top of the list of issues in dispute. In conference March 13, you reiterated the adamant position that you would not negotiate beyond the confines of the Presidental Commission report, even though you admitted that "inequities existed," within the recommendations of that report. Further, you stated the unions had not presented any new proposal on the helper (fireman) question. The organizations, through President H. E. Gilbert, met this last requirement. His proposal clearly asserted that his organization was prepared to negotiate eventual reduction, through attrition, of the roster of helpers (firemen) in certain yard and branch line service, an estimated 20 percent. President Gilbert stated settlement must also include adoption of a training program for engineers and firemen. With great dismay we watched you walk out of the conference, your third such departure, virtually in the midst of President Gilbert's statement. We had profound hope for the March 13 meeting despite your letters of February 11 and February 28 belittling our suggestion for meetings at three levels: 1. Technical data is essential to intelligent and effective agreements, hence our suggestion for meetings at the technical level to analyze and utilize the data compiled by the Department of Labor and not previously available to the parties involved. 2. The determination of issues in dispute is absolutely essential for expeditious bargaining. Your recent handling of this dispute has obscured the issues, therefore our suggestion for meetings at the bargaining level. 3. Procedures for the use of available material and for the handling of the various issues are quite obviously necessary. We suggested meetings at the "summit" level to establish such procedure. Full exposure of all of the facts surrounding your actions in these proceedings will, we believe, convey to the public and the Government the basis of our condemnation of the existing situation. Our efforts to encourage fruitful negotiations in the American spirit of "give and take" have thus far been nullified by your continued evasion and obvious reluctance to negotiate on issues which both sides agree must be settled, and which can be really settled only by conscientious negotiation across the bargaining table. To review briefly, as long ago as June 1962, our representatives submitted to you written proposals covering (a) interdivisional service; (b) self-propelled machines; (c) expenses away from home; and (d) wage structure. Each of those proposals represented modification of a previous position, especially those with respect to interdivisional service and self-propelled machines, two areas which involve demands management has been pressing over a period of years. We could not avoid noting that your termination of the June meetings came literally in the midst of our submission of the above listed proposals. It was evident that you were uneasy when confronted with such constructive proposals by the organizations and a clear effort on the part of the unions to engage in real collective bargaining. However, we thought perhaps you were motivated by a desire to jockey for strategic advantage during the increasing clamor arising from potential crises in other areas of transportation. When you accepted our invitations of February 5 and 15 to resume bargaining, we felt you were at last prepared to shoulder your responsibilities at the bargaining table even at the risk of being confronted with additional organization proposals. Unfortunately we were wrong. We think it incredible that you would prate to the public press about "collective bargaining" while you exert every effort to shift your responsibility to those outside the industry, to a busy Labor Department or an already heavily burdened Congress. We are now forced to conclude that you never wished to hear or receive valid organization proposals or to engage in collective bargaining. Clearly, you are attempting to evade your statutory and moral responsibilities. It would appear that you wish others to solve a problem you are unwilling to solve yourselves. In the event you should awaken to your obligation, our representatives remain prepared to meet with you at your call. Sincerely yours, H. E. GILBERT, President, Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen. C. LUNA, President, Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. Grand Chief Engineer, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. President, Order of Railway Conductors and Brakemen. President, Switchmen's Union of North America. EXHIBIT 3 MAY 7, 1963. Subject to retention of all firemen on the seniority rosters, adoption of a training program, and generally the conditions identified with the proposal made by Mr. Gilbert on March 13, 1963, we could enter into an agreement permitting the railroads to refrain from hiring helpers (firemen) in the future to fill the following jobs: (a) Daylight yard jobs, except where by reason of conditions such as switching passenger cars and equipment, belt line, transfer, interchange and industrial work, total time on duty exceeds 8 hours, operation of more than one yard engine in the same area during the same period, curvature of track, overhead or other obstructions, close clearances, unprotected crossing, dangers arising out of mainline movements, presence of the public or railroad employees, or nature of commodities handled, or imposition of onerous working conditions on engine or train crew, there is need for a helper (fireman) on the locomotive to relay signals or perform lookout functions. (b) Daylight branch line jobs, except where number of units in the locomotive consists exceeds one, total time on duty exceeds 8 hours, or total miles run exceeds 100, maximum speed on branch line exceeds 30 miles per hour, maximum number of cars in the train exceeds 35, or imposition of onerous working conditions on engine or train crew, continuous movement of the train or engine exceeds 2 hours without relief, there is need for a helper (fireman) on the locomotive to relay signals or perform lookout functions. The railroads will not be permitted to refrain from hiring helpers (firemen) to fill jobs on locomotives which are not equipped with deadman control. Work customarily performed by helpers (firemen) on diesel locomotives will be done by helpers (firemen) taken from the seniority ranks of helpers (firemen). EXHIBIT 4 Revised May 22, 1963. Subject to retention of all employees on the firemen's seniority roster, adoption of a training program, and generally the conditions identified with the proposal made by Mr. Gilbert on March 13, 1963, we could enter into an agreement permitting the railroads to refrain from hiring helpers (firemen) in the future to fill the following jobs: (a) Daylight yard jobs, other than those (1) Engaged in switching passenger cars and equipment; or (2) Engaged in belt line, transfer, interchange, or industrial work; or (3) Which are consistently on duty more than 8 hours; or (4) Whose operations are not confined to an area from which other engines operated without helpers (firemen) are excluded during the period the job works; or (5) On which there is need for a helper (firemen) on the locomotive to relay signals or perform lookout functions by reason of such conditions as curvature of tracks, overhead or other obstructions, close clearances, unprotected crossings, dangers arising out of mainline movements, hazard to the public or railroad employees, or imposition of onerous working conditions on the engine or train crew. (b) Daylight branch line jobs, other than those where (1) The number of units in the locomotive consist exceeds one; or (4) The maximum speed on branch line exceeds 30 miles per hour; or (5) The maximum number of cars in the train may be expected to exceed 35; or (6) The continuous movement of the train or engine exceeds 2 hours without relief; or (7) Onerous working conditions would be imposed on the members of the engine or train crew if a fireman were not used. The railroads will not be permitted to refrain from hiring helpers (firemen) to fill jobs on locomotives which are not equipped with deadman control. Work customarily performed by helpers (firemen) on diesel locomotives will be done by helpers (firemen) taken from the seniority ranks of helpers (firemen). This is intended to mean that where there is need for a man on the locomotive to perform fireman's lookout duties, communicate signals to the engineer and/or perform operational work in connection with the locomotive to expedite its operation, such man will be a fireman. EXHIBIT 5 MAY 24, 1963. We would be willing to modify the May 17, 1950, diesel agreement which modification would permit the carriers to refrain from hiring helpers (firemen) in the future on approximately 5.500 jobs. The formula for ascertaining the 5,500 jobs is as follows: It is estimated that there are approximately 20,000 yard jobs, about 10,000 of which are considered as daylight yard jobs. Of the 10,000 daylight yard jobs, 5,000 are in passenger equipment switching, belt line, transfer-interchange and industrial service. This leaves 5,000 jobs on daylight yard engines for which new firemen would not have to be hired. This assumes that the effect of other restrictions requiring the retention of firemen positions would be balanced out by carrier ingenuity in the rearrangement of assignments. There are roughly 1,500 branch line jobs, of which about 1,000 would require the hiring of firemen after the seniority rosters are exhausted. This leaves roughly 500 jobs for which new firemen would not have to be hired in branch line service, or a total of approximately 5,500 jobs in yard and branch line service. This total of 5,500 jobs is approximately 25 percent of all yard and branch line jobs. Source: Interstate Commerce Commission Statement M-300 plus inclusion of some 3,000 yard assignments on terminal and switching railroads not covered by ICC M-300's. |