[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 145 (Friday, October 7, 1994)]
[House]
[Page H]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: October 7, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
              RAILTEX TAKEOVER OF CENTRAL VERMONT RAILROAD

  (Mr. SANDERS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. SANDERS. Mr. Speaker, my understanding is that the Railtex Corp. 
intends to file a petition today before the ICC in order to purchase 
the Central Vermont Railway.
  First, Senator Leahy and I will be requesting the ICC to hold a 
hearing in St. Albans, VT, so that the workers, community, and local 
and State officials will be able to comment on that transaction. 
Second, we will be exploring the possibility of formally intervening in 
the process.
  Mr. Speaker, Railtex has made its plans every clear. It intends to 
lay off all 175 employees, hire 78 of them back at lowered wages and, 
in the process, break the unions that currently represent the Central 
Vermont workers. It intends to avoid the labor protection currently 
guaranteed by law to railroad workers by requesting a 10901 exemption--
claiming that this company, Railtex, which owns 23 railroads, is not 
really a railroad and should not have to obey existing law.
  This country is becoming poorer and poorer every day, and one of the 
reasons is that corporations like Railtex treat their workers like 
disposable garbage. People who have worked for the Central Vermont for 
10, 20, or 30 years are now being tossed out on the street, despite the 
service they have rendered to the company.
  Mr. Speaker, if Railtex cannot provide the labor protection that 
current law guarantees, this transaction should be denied by the ICC. I 
intend to do all that I can to make that happen.

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