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Union stalls US rail outsourcing
8 December 2005
Railway workers in the US have successfully warded off attempts to install a prominent food supplier on a New York State rail service.
A leafleting initiative by Amtrak employees, members of the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU), brought an end to the company’s four-month pilot catering service project, just six days after it began. The pilot, managed by international sandwich chain Subway, ran between Rensselaer and New York City. The government-owned rail firm stopped providing its own catering service on trains operating on the Empire Corridor through New York’s capital, Albany, in July. As a result 16 members of the ITF-affiliated TWU were forced to take positions on other services.
Union officials fear that the pilot project is just one step further towards the implementation of government plans to increase private sector involvement in the delivery of services, paving the way for an eventual sell-off of the national railways.
Robert Wechsler, Director of Education and Research at the TWU commented: “The board that oversees Amtrak is made up of political appointees of the current administration in Washington, with no rail experience. Two members are “recess appointees”, meaning they have not been confirmed by Congress. Yet they are trying to fulfil the ideological mandate from the White House to sell off the railroad. We fully expect that we haven't heard the last from the railroad on this issue, but TWU will be fighting this move all the way down the line.”
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