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CSX to rehire car inspectors laid off in '97

Web posted May 2, 1998

By Karin Schill
Staff Writer

CSX Transportation has agreed to rehire four train inspectors Monday who were laid off from the Augusta railyard in 1997. The move should improve train safety in the city, union leaders say.

CSX's safety record has been scrutinized by the Federal Railroad Administration the past year after a rash of accidents and complaints about defective cars.

In late March, a federal report claimed the railroad company routinely put faulty locomotives in service at a repair shop in Waycross, Ga. In Augusta, members of the Brotherhood Railway Carmen union have pointed to a jump in citations by federal inspectors after CSX's decision to lay off railyard personnel in 1997.

CSX has said it decided to let the trainmen conduct the inspections along its 18,500-mile freight railroad in an effort to cut costs. The trainmen -- who ride the trains and belong to a different union -- are adequately prepared, the company said.

Lawrence Sutton, who represents the carmen union in states along the Southeastern seaboard, begs to differ.

``Let me ask you this, if you're about to fly an airplane, would you want the air hostess to conduct the inspection of that airplane?'' he said in an interview Thursday. ``They haven't been qualified or trained to do that kind of work.''

CSX did not return two calls seeking comment Thursday. Neither did the railroad administration.

In an April 29 agreement that has yet to be signed by the union, CSX says it will rehire four inspectors in Augusta, four in Charlotte, N.C., and several more in other states. Four workers will be paid a total of $44,000 in back wages.

The concession came after the carmen union filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board last fall, complaining that the railroad company violated the union contract when it let trainmen do the carmen's work.

``It was supposed to go to arbitration, but the company didn't want that so we settled,'' said Danny Cockrell, who was among carmen laid off in 1997. ``We proved that when you stand your ground, people listen to you.''

Mr. Cockrell, who is now on disability, is not among those who will return to the Augusta yard Monday. The four who will all worked there before, he said.

The railroad administration acknowledged problems with defective cars in the Augusta railyard last fall. Because federal inspectors do spot checks only occasionally, there was concern that faulty cars would slip through the cracks and cause accidents.

The CSX railyard is near downtown Augusta. Trains from the yard rumble through densely populated neighborhoods before leaving the city.