Show Western Resources 1 J WRAP WRAP-UP Pipelines part 4 Coal slurry and the labor Issue By ay Helene C Vernal Express Washington Correspond Correspondent Dt Washington The construction of coal slurry pipelines would exacerbate the precipitous decline in jobs in the railroad industry according to the Association of American Railroads AAR and the rail unions Not so claims the Slurry Transport Association STA which is pushing coal slurry pipeline legislation in Con Con- Congress Congress gress There will be plenty of coal shipments to go around for coal slurry pipelines barges trucks and railroads STA claims Besides the slurry note they are spawning a anew anew new industry which would create thousands of new jobs I With or without the coal slurry pipelines being built the number of jobs in the rail industry has been in sharp decline in recent years More than a half million people were employed by Class I railroads in 1974 but the latest figure according to AAR is That's AARs AAR's latest estimate as of Sept 1 Western Resources Wrap Wrap- up was told That's a major drop from the reported as Railroad Class I employees In 1980 by bythe bythe the AAR 1981 edition of the yearbook of railroad facts Its It's a net loss of nearly jobs in less than two ye years rs Some of the jobs losses are tern tern- layoffs government figures In- In Indicate indicate railroad workers were drawing unemployment benefits this past June Some were due to mergers technological advances track aban reduction in crews in addi addi- addi addition tion to the current recession officials of AAR and of the United Transportation Union UTU told this week The latest edition of railroad facts in in- in indicates the railroads are in decline as a am m major jor employment industry The average number of employees of all Class I railroads in 1980 declined five percent from 1979 levels partially due to the liquidation of the Rock Island Railroad in the Western District and partially due to depressed traffic levels in the East Excluding Amtrak and Train Auto which are operated separately from railroads but use railroad facUlties facilities employment has de declined lin d 19 perc percent n ny by y railroads over the past decade the 1981 edition stated The decline has been more than percent since 1929 JOBS AS AN ISSUE This year as in 1978 Congress is wrestling with legislation which would give coal slurry pipeline companies the power of federal eminent domain allowing them to condemn and take land The for pipeline rights way House bill HR HR has cleared two committees and its it's now awaiting action by the House Rules Committed Committe to get the green light for House Floor debate The Senate bill S 1844 cleared the Senate Energy Committee on Aug 6 and the report on the bill bili No was filed on Sen J Bennett Johnston La DLa chief backer of the Senate bill bilI plans to attach the Senate bill to some must type of legislation in the Senate to get a vote on the emi emi- eminent eminent nent domain legislation before Senate adjournment in early October Time is running out for the legisla- legisla legislation legislation tion but a young and able group of lob lob lob- lobbyists is still pushing hard for enact enact- enactment enactment ment of the coal slurry pipeline bill in inthis inthis this Congress If If we can get it through Congress we can get the President to sign the bill a told recently Mr Reagan is opposed to the federal eminent domain concept JOBS Employment the major issue when the railroads and railroad unions beat the proponents of coal slurry pipelines in their first shootout in inthe inthe the House by a vote in 1978 1976 reported at the time In discussions that had with representatives of AAR and the United Transportation Union UTU this week jobs no longer appeared to be their ma- ma major major jor issue although has been told that some railroaders have already been here with wives and children in tow urging defeat def eat of the coal slurry bills as potentially costing them their jobs did not find the opposition to the 1982 1962 bills as bitter from the railroads and railroad unions as their opposition was to the House bill in 1978 J R Jim Snyder national legislative director of UTU crucial to the defeat of the bill in 1978 was not here this week he was attending a seminar in California Three western and midwestern railroads that shipped coAl have disappeared through merger or bankruptcy since the 1978 Rock Island the St St San Louis Francisco and the thereby Milwaukee eliminating several thousand railroad jobs Now t there ere is speculation that at least one major western railroad Burl Burl- Burlington Burlington ington Northern might get into the coal slurry pipeline business in the Pacific Northwest Another western railroad the Rio Grande has a subsidiary that is backing the San Marco coal slurry pro pro- proposal proposal to move coal by slurry pipeline from Southern Colorado to Texas I AAR and UTU are are s 's still iri 4 quoting fro ii the same study estimating job losses that was in the report on coal slurry pipelines completed by the Congressional Congressional Office on Technology Assess Assess- Assessment Assessment ment OTA in 1978 They have not up- up updated dated it on their own Staffers who attended the hearings which the Senate Energy Committee held on S 1844 earlier this year have told they received more statements from labor unions in favor of coal slurry pipelines and the Senate bill than statements of opposition More than ever before organized labor is split over the issue diluting its influence Joining the UTU in opposition opposition tion to the legislation providing federal eminent domain for coal slurry pipelines this year are the Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerk Freight Handlers Express Station Employees the In International Association Association tion of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the United Mine Workers although there are indications the is moving to a neutral position tion All 20 rail unions oppose the coal slurry bills Those in favor of this years year's coal slurry legislation include the 43 million member Building and Con Con- Construction Trades Department of the CIO the nations nation's largest union International Brotherhood of Teamsters International Union of Operating Engineers CIO Laborers International Union of North America CIO and the United Association of Plumbers and CIO A similar split over the coal slurry legislation has taken place among the farm groups Most of the regular farm organizations and regional farm organizations such as the American Farm Bureau Federation and the Na Farmers Union and the Col Col- Colorado orado Kansas and Nebraska Grain and Feed Associations oppose the federal eminent domain legislation while the National Rural Electric Association and a number of state rural electric coops favor it Jobs are not the major concern of these organizations The regular farm organizations fear federal condemnation tion of of farmland for any reason the rural electric cooperatives anticipate coal slurry pipelines will help hold down the cost of electricity COMPARISON WITH 1978 In 1978 two House Committee chairmen Rep Morris K Udall DAriz D-Ariz of the House Interior Commit tee and Harold T Bizz Bizz Johnson D D Calif of the House Public Works Committee who is no longer in Con Con- Congress gress told the most effective lob lob- lobbying against coal slurry was done by rail labor on the jobs issue T The e Aug 10 1978 issue of stated Both Udall and Johnson took note of the effective rail labor lobby work which spearheaded His lobby effort could be summed up in one word Jobs continually put out flyers to his UTU membership urging them to write to Congress notably their own House members in opposition to HR 1609 as it affects railroad jobs RAILROADS WOULD LOSE BUSINESS AT A TIME WHEN CON CON- CONGRESS GRESS IS SPENDING MILLIONS TO SAVE THEM Snyder advised his membership inra ina flyer dated May 30 1978 He quoted from the OTA study that between and railroad jobs would be lost due to coal slurry pipelines between 2000 1985 also told 1978 after defeat of the coal slurry bill About 10 days before the vote I brought in 12 good men to lobby their own Congressmen Con Con- Congressmen gressmen after we briefed them and gave them fact sheets The Machinists Union also agreed to my request to send in eight good men to talk to their Con Con- Congressmen Congressmen gressmen I e said The Machinists of- of offered to help work against the coal slurry pipeline bill after a labor reform bill that they wanted passed became a cropper in the Senate as Senate leader leader- leadership ship was unable to end a filibuster against the labor reform measure LA LATEST TES PITCH The current estimate of job loss that AAR AR and UTU are using relative to the construction of 13 coal slurry pipelines proposed in this country is in the railroad business plus an undetermined ed number of jobs in supporting in- in industries industries spokesman for both groups told this week This was based on using the OTA 1978 re report ort jo job loss estimates s for five proposed pro pro- proposed posed pipelines and g the estimate to include 13 pipeline proposals pro pro- proposals William H Dempsey AAR president told the Senate Energy Com Com- Committee Committee on May 10 only nine coal slurry proposals currently be be- be being ing considered on Aug 12 Most of the job losses the profit losses woul would be suffered by Western railroads where most of the projected increase in coal shipments would occur were it not for the threat of I coal slurry pipe 1 development he s said ld The West and d Midwestern Midwestern railroads likely to be most adversely af- af affected affected according to AAR are Burl Burl- Burlington ington Northern Union Pacific Cl Chicago cago and ana Northwestern Sante Fe Missouri Pacific and Illinois Central Gulf All Allare Allare are coal haulers and move Western coal in varying am amounts Most of the rail job losses would be permanent employment Dempsey em em- emphasized while coal slurry pipeline construction could only offer short short- term jobs and few permanent not jobs more than operating and repair maintenance jobs per pipeline Coal slurry pipeline advocates claim claim- claimed ed the emerging new industry would create many jobs not only iri in the con con- construction construction trades but also provide more coal production jobs for miners and suppliers to the coal industry and related industries The pipeline advocates claim coal slurry pipelines could not handle more than 12 percent of the projected 1400 million tons of coal to be shipped by 1990 according to the National Coal Association This would leave at least 60 percent of the market to the railroads whose share is now about two thirds of the market And coal shipments are a growing market all allagree allagree agree But AAR points out that there are already idle hopper cars in inthe inthe the railroad coal fleet which totals hoppers on Class I 1 railroads With so much idle capacity in hopper cars wheres where's the national Interest in giving federal eminent domain to coal slurry pipelines AAR asks |