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Feds confirm rail police harassed UTU members
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- For many years, the United Transportation Union has complained to carriers about improper conduct of railroad police, who have abused and harassed UTU members -- as well as rail employees represented by other organizations -- through oppressive interview tactics, illegal wiretapping, spying and other inappropriate activities.
No more are the UTU complaints merely allegations. The Department of Transportation's inspector general has validated the UTU's complaints, calling many railroad police actions against UTU members,"serious issues," "misconduct" and "heavy-handed."
In a report to the bi-partisan leadership of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has oversight of railroads, DOT Inspector General Kenneth Mead (the IG) said his office investigated numerous instances where railroad police may have engaged in "unlawful or improper conduct."
Following extensive interviews with UTU officials, carrier management and railroad police officials, the IG, recommended, "Involvement of labor union representation in the development of employee investigative procedures."
The IG also recommended that all railroads put in place "definitive guidance" for the conduct of employee investigations and a "formalized internal affairs program for investigating alleged improprieties and misconduct on the part of railroad police officers."
UTU International President Paul Thompson thanked Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), and the committee's ranking Democrat, Fritz Hollings of South Carolina, for listening carefully to UTU complaints and requesting the IG investigation of railroad police actions.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), whom Thompson termed "a long-time and very special friend of the UTU," personally worked to ensure UTU's request for the investigation was given Senate priority. The UTU was the only union seeking such an investigation.
"This was the first time a formal federal investigation of railroad police abuse against union members was launched and demonstrates once again that the UTU's bi-partisan political stance is "effective and beneficial to our members," Thompson said. "The actual report also confirms once again that when the UTU does protest to Congress, its complaints are legitimate."
In 2003 alone, said the IG, major railroads used their police on 975 separate occasions to investigate employees. The IG called this "significant" and also observed that carriers have used railroad police "for non-law-enforcement-related activities on behalf of management, such as investigating time and attendance issues, delivery of administrative notices to employees and conducting surveillance of injury claimants."
In fact, many of the investigations against carrier employees "did not reflect an appropriate, prudent application of police resources," said the IG.
The most frequent users of railroad police to investigate employees are Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern. UP ordered its railroad police to investigate employees 226 times during 2003, and NS ordered such investigations 196 times, said the IG.
Because of an absence of a formal mechanism for collecting complaints of railroad police misconduct, "there is a strong likelihood that incidents such as these have gone unreported," said the IG.
Here are some of the worst violations reported by the IG:
-- On Florida East Coast Railway, the chief of railroad police "engaged in possible illegal wiretapping or eavesdropping of employee telephone calls."
-- On Amtrak, a conductor was arrested by at least five railroad policemen and handcuffed for saying, "woof," to an Amtrak police dog. The criminal charges were dismissed by the court, with the judge terming the incident "non-criminal" and nothing more than the conductor causing the arresting officer to be "ticked off." The IG said, "We can understand how the conductor, along with the union, viewed the actions of Amtrak police as heavy-handed."
-- On Union Pacific, railroad police falsely accused a UTU member of a criminal act and subjected him to extensive interrogation before he was released with no charges being filed.
-- Also on Union Pacific, a uniformed railroad policeman was ordered personally to deliver discipline notices to an employee's home -- an act that was traumatic for the employee's family, who assumed the officer was at the door to report the employee had been injured or killed in an accident.
-- On CSX, railroad management ordered railroad police to investigate employee absenteeism.
-- On Norfolk Southern, railroad police were ordered to spy on an employee who had filed a claim under the Federal Employer's Liability Act (FELA).
"Seven of the nine railroad police departments we surveyed, to include the four largest railroads in the country, reported they did not have a policy and procedures manual providing specific procedures for investigating railroad employees," said the IG. Better oversight of railroad police "is necessary to ensure they remain objective and credible."
Thompson said the IG report will be helpful when Congress reviews federal rail safety programs and that the UTU would work to have new employee safeguards inserted in federal safety legislation. "We will also propose to the FRA that it consider adding to safety regulations new safeguards against abusive railroad police activities.
"The role of police is to protect and to serve, not to spy and harass railroad employees," Thompson said.
To read the full IG report, click on this link.
November 19, 2004
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- For many years, the United Transportation Union has complained to carriers about improper conduct of railroad police, who have abused and harassed UTU members -- as well as rail employees represented by other organizations -- through oppressive interview tactics, illegal wiretapping, spying and other inappropriate activities.
No more are the UTU complaints merely allegations. The Department of Transportation's inspector general has validated the UTU's complaints, calling many railroad police actions against UTU members,"serious issues," "misconduct" and "heavy-handed."
In a report to the bi-partisan leadership of the Senate Commerce Committee, which has oversight of railroads, DOT Inspector General Kenneth Mead (the IG) said his office investigated numerous instances where railroad police may have engaged in "unlawful or improper conduct."
Following extensive interviews with UTU officials, carrier management and railroad police officials, the IG, recommended, "Involvement of labor union representation in the development of employee investigative procedures."
The IG also recommended that all railroads put in place "definitive guidance" for the conduct of employee investigations and a "formalized internal affairs program for investigating alleged improprieties and misconduct on the part of railroad police officers."
UTU International President Paul Thompson thanked Commerce Committee Chairman John McCain (R-Ariz.), and the committee's ranking Democrat, Fritz Hollings of South Carolina, for listening carefully to UTU complaints and requesting the IG investigation of railroad police actions.
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), whom Thompson termed "a long-time and very special friend of the UTU," personally worked to ensure UTU's request for the investigation was given Senate priority. The UTU was the only union seeking such an investigation.
"This was the first time a formal federal investigation of railroad police abuse against union members was launched and demonstrates once again that the UTU's bi-partisan political stance is "effective and beneficial to our members," Thompson said. "The actual report also confirms once again that when the UTU does protest to Congress, its complaints are legitimate."
In 2003 alone, said the IG, major railroads used their police on 975 separate occasions to investigate employees. The IG called this "significant" and also observed that carriers have used railroad police "for non-law-enforcement-related activities on behalf of management, such as investigating time and attendance issues, delivery of administrative notices to employees and conducting surveillance of injury claimants."
In fact, many of the investigations against carrier employees "did not reflect an appropriate, prudent application of police resources," said the IG.
The most frequent users of railroad police to investigate employees are Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern. UP ordered its railroad police to investigate employees 226 times during 2003, and NS ordered such investigations 196 times, said the IG.
Because of an absence of a formal mechanism for collecting complaints of railroad police misconduct, "there is a strong likelihood that incidents such as these have gone unreported," said the IG.
Here are some of the worst violations reported by the IG:
-- On Florida East Coast Railway, the chief of railroad police "engaged in possible illegal wiretapping or eavesdropping of employee telephone calls."
-- On Amtrak, a conductor was arrested by at least five railroad policemen and handcuffed for saying, "woof," to an Amtrak police dog. The criminal charges were dismissed by the court, with the judge terming the incident "non-criminal" and nothing more than the conductor causing the arresting officer to be "ticked off." The IG said, "We can understand how the conductor, along with the union, viewed the actions of Amtrak police as heavy-handed."
-- On Union Pacific, railroad police falsely accused a UTU member of a criminal act and subjected him to extensive interrogation before he was released with no charges being filed.
-- Also on Union Pacific, a uniformed railroad policeman was ordered personally to deliver discipline notices to an employee's home -- an act that was traumatic for the employee's family, who assumed the officer was at the door to report the employee had been injured or killed in an accident.
-- On CSX, railroad management ordered railroad police to investigate employee absenteeism.
-- On Norfolk Southern, railroad police were ordered to spy on an employee who had filed a claim under the Federal Employer's Liability Act (FELA).
"Seven of the nine railroad police departments we surveyed, to include the four largest railroads in the country, reported they did not have a policy and procedures manual providing specific procedures for investigating railroad employees," said the IG. Better oversight of railroad police "is necessary to ensure they remain objective and credible."
Thompson said the IG report will be helpful when Congress reviews federal rail safety programs and that the UTU would work to have new employee safeguards inserted in federal safety legislation. "We will also propose to the FRA that it consider adding to safety regulations new safeguards against abusive railroad police activities.
"The role of police is to protect and to serve, not to spy and harass railroad employees," Thompson said.
To read the full IG report, click on this link.
November 19, 2004
