Northeast Corridor strike?

[hymie!]

I got a hand-out this morning at Washington DC's Union Station saying that an Amtrak shutdown "is on its way". The flyer talks about the Board of Directors and the engineers and maintenance of way workers, who are apparantly Teamsters. Finally, the flyer encourages us to have our Congressman tell David Gunn to bargain with the union. They apparantly didn't get the news.

I was looking for a little more info. Is there really a looming Amtrak strike? I thought they were, if not barred by law from striking, at least required to announce a 60-day cooling-off period which can be extended indefinitely...

And, not knowing fully how the relationship works... if there is an Amtrak strike, how will that affect the MARC Penn and MARC Camden (CSX) commuter lines?

Thanks.

--hymie!

 

[MontanaJim]

i too saw these guys with their handouts on the way to my office on capitol hill. dont know anything more than you do.

 

[AlanB]

I was looking for a little more info. Is there really a looming Amtrak strike? I thought they were, if not barred by law from striking, at least required to announce a 60-day cooling-off period which can be extended indefinitely...

Amtrak workers are not barred from striking. I'm not even sure if the President can order a cooling off period.

And, not knowing fully how the relationship works... if there is an Amtrak strike, how will that affect the MARC Penn and MARC Camden (CSX) commuter lines?

If there is a strike, then both MARC lines will shut down. Additionally, LIRR trains will be unable to run into NY's Penn Station, several NJT lines will be shutdown and others will not be able to run into NY, instead they'll have to run to Hoboken. SEPTA will loose several lines and others will be unable to use Philly's 30th Street station. Boston's MBTA will loose service on 7 lines, Virginia's VRE line will shut down, and finally the South Shore Line in CT will stop running.

 

[MontanaJim]

so marc and these other lines use amtrak's tracks?

 

[AlanB]

so marc and these other lines use amtrak's tracks?

Yes in all cases but one, they use at least a portion of Amtrak's tracks. That one exception is in Boston where the MBTA actually owns the NEC tracks, however Amtrak is under contract with the T to provide the dispatching and I think the track maitenance.

SEPTA, NJT, MARC, and the LIRR all use portions of Amtrak tracks, along with Amtrak owned stations.

In the case of VRE and Shore Line East, Amtrak also provides the crews that run the trains in addition to running on Amtrak owned tracks.

 

[Yerry]

Okay, I Googled this and here's what I found:

On October 20, a month ago, various Amtrak unions wanted a one-day to strike to protest chronic gov't underfunding. However, for reasons I didn't research, it didn't take place.

Digging in four Google pages, I found nothing newer than October 20. Surprisingly, even this thread didn't show up.

Personal comment: I wonder about the wisdom of this; the only persons inconvenienced by a strike would have been riders, i.e., Amtrak's basic supporters.

 

[AlanB]

On October 20, a month ago, various Amtrak unions wanted a one-day to strike to protest chronic gov't underfunding. However, for reasons I didn't research, it didn't take place.

First, just to be clear, those stories you found are from 2003, not this year.

Now the reason that the strike did not occur is because a judge ruled that the strike would have been an illegal work stoppage, since they were not striking over a contract.

Digging in four Google pages, I found nothing newer than October 20.  Surprisingly, even this thread didn't show up.

This thread is too new to show up, only having been started today.

Personal comment:  I wonder about the wisdom of this; the only persons inconvenienced by a strike would have been riders, i.e., Amtrak's basic supporters.

The wisdom behind it was that the workers were trying to strike to put pressure on Amtrak to settle the contract, without calling it a strike over contract issues. They were trying to put some pressure on Congress to give Amtrak more money, so that they could get more money. I think that they also felt that the public might be more sympathetic towards their strike this way.

 

[Steve4031]

Causing a shut down on the NEC would draw attention and put pressure on lots of people. If Amtrak had appropriate funding and the government did its job, there would be no problem. I believe that the constant threat of Amtrak shutting down, and people losing jobs or having to change jobs is stressful on the workers. So I would not blame them if they went on strike.

 

[PRR 60]

Causing a shut down on the NEC would draw attention and put pressure on lots of people. If Amtrak had appropriate funding and the government did its job, there would be no problem. I believe that the constant threat of Amtrak shutting down, and people losing jobs or having to change jobs is stressful on the workers. So I would not blame them if they went on strike.

It could also add impetus to the concept of divesting the NEC from Amtrak ownership. Why should NE commuter agencies be held hostage to Amtrak labor issues. It would, in my opinion, be the last thing anyone who supports Amtrak NEC ownership would want.

 

[MDRailfan]

I know there is a commuter forum but since the talk is about the effects on commuter if an Amtrak strike occurrs, I put this question here.

Isn't the MARC on the Camden line operated over CSX tracks between Camden and Union Stations and uses CSX Crew in which case Amtrak strike should have no bearing except possibly at Union?

 

[AlanB]

I know there is a commuter forum but since the talk is about the effects on commuter if an Amtrak strike occurrs, I put this question here.
Isn't the MARC on the Camden line operated over CSX tracks between Camden and Union Stations and uses CSX Crew in which case Amtrak strike should have no bearing except possibly at Union?

You are correct, an Amtrak strike does not actually have to stop the Camden line from running. However, since it's major destination is Washington Union Station, an Amtrak strike would cause major problems at least.

All passengers would be forced transfer to the DC Metro, most likely at Greenbelt. The other issue here might be, is there a place to store the trains during the day, with the loss of the DC yards?

The Brunswick line would also encounter the same problems as the Camden line.

 

[battalion51]

If I recall correctly though, all the MARC lines do use Amtrak staffing. I could be wrong, but I do recall that.

 

[AlanB]

If I recall correctly though, all the MARC lines do use Amtrak staffing. I could be wrong, but I do recall that.

No, CSX supplies the Brunswick line for sure, and I'm almost positive that they supply the Camden line too. I know that they do all the train maintenance for the Camden line.

Amtrak only supplies corridor staffing.