[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 109 (Friday, June 30, 1995)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1372]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                       AMTRAK NEEDS LABOR REFORM

                                 ______


                            HON. BUD SHUSTER

                            of pennsylvania

                    in the house of representatives

                          Friday, June 30, 1995
  Mr. SHUSTER. Mr. Speaker, I commend to my colleagues the following 
editorial, which appeared in the Altoona Mirror, a newspaper in my 9th 
Congressional District of Pennsylvania. Concise and to the point, the 
piece describes why, without significant and immediate labor reforms, 
Amtrak may well find itself without any Federal funding this year. This 
editorial is a solid enunciation of the issue and I commend it to my 
colleagues and anyone else interested in the future of Amtrak.
                       Amtrak Needs Labor Reforms

       The freedom to make good business decisions, not government 
     subsidies, offers Amtrak the best chance at long-term 
     survival.
       Despite Sen. Arlen Specter's words of support for Amtrak in 
     Altoona, the nation's passenger railroad could derail without 
     the reforms being supported by U.S. Rep. Bud Shuster. Those 
     reforms would reduce Amtrak's overgenerous severance package 
     and allow the railroad to contract out for non-food services, 
     such as equipment repair.
       Amtrak has an absurd severance package under which workers 
     are eligible for each year they work, up to a total of six 
     years, if they are laid off or moved more than 30 miles from 
     their current job assignment.
       This means Amtrak wants to abandon an unprofitable line, it 
     may wind up paying employees for six years even though they 
     are not working.
       A bill backed by Shuster would reduce the maximum severance 
     package to six months.
       The other major reform would allow Amtrak to contract out 
     work, other than food service. Currently the passenger 
     railroad is prohibited by hiring outside contractors if it 
     would affect a member of the bargaining unit.
       Amtrak's repair facilities need to be upgraded at a cost of 
     hundreds of millions of dollars. The General Accounting 
     Office estimates $260 million is needed for Amtrak's primary 
     maintenance shops in Beach Grove, IN.
       This is money that Amtrak doesn't have and the Federal 
     government does not need to spend. The nation's freight 
     railroads, such as Conrail, have the capacity to do some of 
     Amtrak's repairs on a contract basis.
       Why should American taxpayers be forced to fork over $260 
     million to complete a major upgrade at just one of Amtrak's 
     repair facilities when private companies should do their 
     work?
       Unfortunately, not everyone sees the need for immediate 
     changes.
       Shuster last week stopped discussion on the reform 
     legislation after 38 members of the committee moved to give 
     Amtrak and its unions 270 days to negotiate new contract 
     provisions.
       This would just continue to drag Amtrak's problems out. If 
     Amtrak and its unions can not reach an agreement in 270 days, 
     then President Clinton would appoint a Presidential Emergency 
     Board, which would have 60 days to review the matter. Then 
     the dispute would go to `Clinton. He can take whatever time 
     is needed, possibly years, before making a decision.
       Amtrak may not have that long. The passenger railroad's 
     federal funding is $993 million for the current fiscal year. 
     The House Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation has 
     cut the amount to $728 million for the next year and made the 
     money contingent on passage of legislation offering 
     significant labor reforms.
       Without changes, Amtrak could find itself without any 
     federal money, which would virtually kill the passenger rail 
     service and undermine the unemployment and retirement systems 
     for all railroad employees. This could be disastrous.
       We agree that the United States needs a passenger railroad, 
     but the only way to guarantee that is to free Amtrak of the 
     shackles that keep it from making the best business 
     decisions. That's what the legislation supported by Shuster 
     does and why is should be enacted.
     

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