Shake-up at Amtrak In an unusually large management shake-up, the new president of Amtrak fired four top officials Friday, Dec. 15, and put a fifth in a 90-day temporary position, reports The New York Times.
[Reliable sources told UTU News that Amtrak’s chief labor negotiator, Joe Bress, is not among those fired; nor is Amtrak’s senior vice president for operations, William Crosbie. UTU News also was told that Amtrak will announce next week a change in philosophy, directing more efforts toward state-supported services.]
Amtrak said it would have an announcement on Monday that would deal with changes in personnel and corporate strategy, but a spokesman said he could not confirm the firings.
The president, Alexander K. Kummant, who took over in September, acted two months after Amtrak’s inspector general reported that its legal department had mismanaged contracts with outside lawyers.
Among those who lost their jobs in the shake-up was the railroad’s general counsel and corporate secretary, Alicia M. Serfaty, who was made a legal counsel to Mr. Kummant himself for the next three months, the current and former officials said.
The officials, who had firsthand knowledge of the situation or had been briefed on the changes, said the four others removed were the chief financial officer, David Smith; the police chief, Alfred J. Broadbent; the vice president for marketing and sales, Barbara J. Richardson; and the head of the corporate communications department, William Schulz.
[uTU News was told that two other senior officials, responsible for transportation and planning, also are out, but UTU News could not obtain independent confirmation of that.]
All those fired either did not respond to telephone messages or said they could not speak about the situation.
Amtrak’s chairman, David M. Laney, said in a brief telephone interview that the changes were a result of "a new CEO bringing a new management team, and restructuring the existing team, and working very carefully, at every step of the way, with the board."
Outside Amtrak, the developments were greeted with a degree of anxiety. Bush administration appointees, some on the board, have proposed major changes in the troubled railroad -- including stripping it of its major asset, the tracks between Washington and Boston -- and a number of Amtrak’s supporters have accused the administration of seeking to destroy it.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement on the shake-up: "We hope this dramatic reorganization indicates a new attitude at Amtrak. One that is pro-Amtrak, not one that is bent on destroying it."
David L. Gunn, whom the board fired as president in November 2005, said that changing top-level personnel was clearly within the authority of a new chief executive, but that "the problem you have in this thing is Amtrak doesn’t pay big salaries."
Another problem, Mr. Gunn said, is that the prospects for the railroad itself are uncertain. "He can’t just go out and recruit," Mr. Gunn said, "particularly with all the clouds hanging over Amtrak."
(The preceding story was published by The New York Times. Material in parenthesis was added by UTU editors.)
December 16, 2006
