no problem at my end and I use chrome but here is text :
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen
New Jersey Transit
General Committee of Adjustment
JULY 19, 2017 — The following is a statement from the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) in
response to allegations by NJ Transit that is locomotive engineers
are to blame for manpower shortages.
“New Jersey Transit management has portrayed its locomotive engineers in a negative
light by blaming them for recent manpower shortages at the commuter railroad, implying
that engineers simply do not want to come to work. In fact, the opposite is true. Members
of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen are highly trained
professionals who take their commitment to safety and to the traveling public very
seriously. Since track work began at New York’s Penn Station, many engineers have
worked on their scheduled days off and have come to work early and stayed late in order
to do their part during the unprecedented summer construction schedule.
“In public statements, NJ Transit has made an issue out of engineers exercising their
contractual right to take up to 48 hours to choose a work assignment after they have been
displaced from their current assignment. However, this is not the root cause of the current
manpower shortage. Even during normal traffic periods the railroad does not have
enough locomotive engineers to cover all work assignments.
“The BLET warned NJ Transit management over two years ago that current locomotive
engineer staffing levels were inadequate. The Penn Station track work added 8-10 new
work assignments and the current staff of locomotive engineers are simply spread too
thin to keep up with the added work. Also, it should be noted that NJ Transit management
did not consult with the BLET in any way to develop an improved engineer-scheduling
plan prior to the start of Penn Station track work.
“The BLET recommends that NJ Transit hire up to 30 additional locomotive engineers to
cover all work assignments, but that is a long term solution given that it takes up to two
years for a locomotive engineer to become fully trained and federally certified at NJ
Transit. In the short term, the BLET suggests that NJ Transit combine some of its eight
hour work assignments into 10 or 11 hour assignments, allowing the railroad to run more
trains with its current workforce of engineers. The BLET stands ready to work with NJ
Transit management to solve its manpower issues to better serve the traveling public.”
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BLET General Chairman James P. Brown
If Conductors are in charge, why are they promoted to be Engineer???
Retired Triebfahrzeugführer. I am not a moderator.