04/12/2001 01:37 PM Senate L&C

            SB 170-RAILROAD EMPLOYEE SALARIES AND WAGES                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
CHAIRMAN PHILLIPS announced SB 170 to be up for consideration.                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
MS. WENDY WINDSKOOG, Director of External Affairs, Alaska Railroad                                                              
Corporation, said:                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                
     SB 170 accomplishes two  very important objectives for the                                                                 
     Alaska  Railroad and its employees.  It would be amending                                                                  
     our  statute, AS 42  to do two things  - clarify that  the                                                                 
     Alaska Railroad  falls under the Alaska Wage and  Hour Act                                                                 
     and  also  it  would  allow  the  members  of  the United                                                                  
     Transportation  Union  and management  the flexibility  to                                                                 
     negotiate an agreement that  would allow the UTU employees                                                                 
     to  be paid on  a salary basis  rather than  on an hourly                                                                  
     basis.                                                                                                                     
                                                                                                                                
     I'll give  you a little bit of  background. When we  began                                                                 
     negotiations  several months  ago with  the UTU Union,  we                                                                 
     discovered  that there  was a  real question  whether  the                                                                 
     Alaska Railroad falls under  the Alaska Wage and Hour Act.                                                                 
     This  was a little  disconcerting  to us,  because we  are                                                                 
     exempt  from the Fair  Labor Standards  Act, which is  the                                                                 
     federal   law   governing  minimum   wage   and  overtime                                                                  
     protection for employees.                                                                                                  
                                                                                                                                
     The Railroad  has always operated  as though we are  under                                                                 
     the Alaska Wage and Hour  Act and we would definitely like                                                                 
     to see  this clarified  through our  statute that we  have                                                                 
     that protection for our employees.                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
     That's the first part of  the bill. The second part of the                                                                 
     bill deals with some flexibility  in our negotiations with                                                                 
     the UTU Union.  The exemption for UTU members  provided by                                                                 
     the bill would not leave  the UTU members unprotected with                                                                 
     regard  to overtime  and  wage  issues, because  they  are                                                                 
     protected  by the Hours of Service Act. That Act  prevents                                                                 
     excessive  or  unreasonable  work hours  by  limiting  the                                                                 
     number of  hours these employees can work to twelve  hours                                                                 
     a day and  after that have to take some time off.  They do                                                                 
     have that protection.                                                                                                      
                                                                                                                                
     The other  thing I would like to mention is why  this bill                                                                 
     benefits   both  labor  and   management  at  the  Alaska                                                                  
     Railroad.   The  UTU  members   would  benefit  from   the                                                                 
     exemption  by  having  their  pension  plan  enhanced.  In                                                                 
     exchange,   the  Railroad  management  would  be  allowed                                                                  
     eventually  to  operate  trains  with  a two-person   crew                                                                 
     rather  than  a  three-person  crew.  This  is  where  the                                                                 
     industry  is going in  the Lower 48  with railroads.  With                                                                 
     some  of  the  technical  upgrades  we are  doing  to  the                                                                 
     Railroad,  we would  be eventually  able  to operate  with                                                                 
     two-person  crews. We get there through attrition,  not by                                                                 
     laying off  jobs now, but as people retire, we  would move                                                                 
     in that direction…                                                                                                         
                                                                                                                                
MS.  WINDSKOOG  said  they have  letters  of  support  from  several                                                            
unions, both public and  private. They have a verbal commitment from                                                            
the AFL-CIO  in support of  the bill. However,  she said they  would                                                            
like to change the effective date to immediate.                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
MR. KEVIN BERGSGOOD, Locomotive  Engineer, Alaska Railroad Corp. and                                                            
State Legislative  Director, United Transportation  Union, said they                                                            
support SB 170.                                                                                                                 
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  DAVIS made  a conceptual  amendment to  add section  3 that                                                            
would make  an immediate  effective date.  There were no  objections                                                            
and it was so ordered.                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                
SENATOR  DAVIS moved  to pass  CSSB 170  (L&C) from  committee  with                                                            
individual recommendations.  There were no objections  and it was so                                                            
ordered.