In this situation the New York Dock agreement will not help anyone who was furloughed prior to the 90 day notice. NS will be able to prove that the cut backs prior to the announced closure were a planned company cost savings program as outlined in their Top 21 initiative. Thus making all the furloughs in Roanoke over the last year, and at other locations, just look like a planned work force downsizing. Unfortunately just a huge cover up.
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From the New York Dock Workers Agreement:
- Should the railroad rearrange or adjust its forces in anticipation of a transaction with the purpose or effect of depriving an employee of benefits to which he otherwise would have become entitled under this appendix, this appendix will apply to such employee.
They did layoff just prior to closing the shop?
If your job is adversely affected by anything the STB or its predecessor the ICC approved you are covered. The Conrail Acquisition was approved by the STB. The increased efficiency has cost many jobs.
Does anyone know if the 1964 Agreement still covers railroad workers? I know they still refer to the Washington Job Protection Agreement of 1936 when outlining severance pay.
who cares about you
RDC clerks don’t have a designated shop, they’re all on a Roanoke roster. They will have to pull and go from there
Take the lump sum payout and move on with no obligations! Your money will be guaranteed and never have to worry about being called back to work the track dept opening in Buffalo.
The RDC's work didn't move on like the Locomotive Shop's did. Maybe the RDC's clerks can get something?
Sounds like nobody from RLS is gonna be able to get separation benefits then?
They are gonna offer up to 85 positions for all the current Roanoke employees.
60% pay until they offer you a job, if you turn it down you’re done.
The separation allowance is based off the years of service you have. The max is for 5 years.
Has anyone been told how much the separation allowance monthly will be and for what length of time it will be received?
If Appendix M doesn’t cover furloughed employees then why wouldn’t the carrier just furlough everyone except for 1 of each craft before announcing the closure? That would avoid having to pay numerous lump sum payments if that is the case. Furloughed employees are still deprived of call back rights. Appendix M offers almost no real protection if it doesn’t cover furloughed employees.
Additionally to previous post, if you don’t transfer there are no unemployment benefits in either scenario. If you take the lump sum pay out you have to sign away your rights, therefore technically resigning and no unemployment. If you take the separation allowance you still won’t qualify for unemployment because you are being paid monthly. And no ,if you are currently furloughed still retaining rights you won’t be entitled to anything because you aren’t being deprived of work as set forth in the agreement.
I have seen this appendix M job protection play out with the car department being outsourced to TTX. It is in no ones best interest that is affected by this to take the yearly separation agreement. If a job comes up that is deemed similar you have to take it and your separation gets turned off. And just to be clear any job on the railroad is considered comparable. So if two month into your 5 year separation agreement they call you to sweep floors you have to take it and that agreement gets thrown out. If you do not wish to transfer to another location take the lump sum money and walk.
The vast majority of JLS was hired in 04 and 05. A good many hired in the mid 90s. Probably have 40 or so are still here that hired in the mid 70s. Good luck with that.
JLS folks get prepared. RLS guys will dovetail. RLS employees have minimum of 13+ years with quite a few over 20+ and a handful with 30+ years. Might start adjusting your calendar for days off and such
JLS has been hit so hard that the youngest possible employee we have is somewhere upwards of a handful of 8-10 with the majority being 10+ years.
So if your already furloughed from RLS. Already working another job outside of NS with no real plans of returning (although still retaining your call back rights) Can you take the lump sum or separation allowance as an alternative to having your callback rights transferred to Altoona? Probably a good question for the union, but I can see a lot of people getting screwed out of this.
It will depend on how the union negotiates the dovetail of the roster, if the youngest active at JLS has 4 years, and an RLS person follows their work and has 6 years, they would displace the bottom person of that craft at JLS. If the company added total employees then they would be calling back from the combined list.
Does anyone know if appendix M applies only to employees still working or does it cover employees who are furloughed also?
This is actually happening. Unfortunately it's not a rumor, they got a call from the union last night and told this morning it would be a 90 day notice. Good luck to everyone.
Is Roanoke actually closing or is it just another rumor? If it is I hate it for everyone it affects.
Yet another step in weakening the foothold organized labor has on NS operations. As the companies profits increase and they reduced labor so does the revenue backing the union via lost dues. As they say you get what you pay for. It won’t be long until service from your local will be slashed. Hope i’m wrong but yours isn’t the first industry to take this terrible turn.
Good riddance. Who’s butt is everyone gonna kiss now?