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Title: LABOR/MANAGEMENT ISSUES
Accession Number: 00748182
Record Type: Component
Availability: Find a library where document is available Abstract: This paper presents the employee perspective on the future of intercity passenger rail and specifically on the policy issues and questions that face Amtrak. It is pointed out that no country in the world subjects its passenger rail system to the unrealistic expectation that a national rail passenger system can exist without federal subsidies. Amtrak wants to run an efficient, safe, and customer orientated railroad. How does it expect to meet those objectives if it continues to blindly reduce its workforce and in the process lose a group of experienced and dedicated workers? Workers at Amtrak have fallen far behind workers at other transit and commuter rail carriers in wages. Some in Congress want Amtrak to contract out work. Since Amtrak workers are already the lowest paid in the industry, who are they going to contract out the work to while maintaining safety and efficiency standards that are essential to Amtrak's long-term survival? If we are serious about stopping the slow but steady death of our national rail passenger system, we must band together to defeat those who would permit this country to abandon its decades of commitment to Amtrak and would permit the wholesale destruction of 20,000 jobs. The Transport Workers Union and the other rail unions have endorsed a plan put forth by Representatives Bud Shuster and Jim Oberstar that would move the 4.3 motor fuel tax that currently goes to deficit reduction back into the Highway Trust Fund and use 1/2 cent of that money for Amtrak. Finance Committee Chairman Roth and others in the Senate have similar proposals which rail unions also support.
Supplemental Notes: Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
Monograph Accession #: 00748171
Language: English
Corporate Authors: Transportation Research Board 500 Fifth Street, NW Authors: Hall, SPagination: p. 35-37
Publication Date: 1998-3
Serial: Conference:
National Conference on Critical Issues for the Future of Intercity Passenger Rail
Location:
Washington, D.C. Media Type: Digital/other
TRT Terms: Identifier Terms: Subject Areas: Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Passenger Transportation; Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Public Transportation; Railroads
Files: TRIS, TRB
Created Date: Apr 14 1998 12:00AM
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