Warning: Possible Amtrak Strike Ahead

The head of Amtrak's maintenance union says a

Jed Dodd, president of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Workers, says Amtrak management hasn't negotiated for more than a year, even though the contract for the 2,500 union employees expired six years ago. The talks have been under the auspices of the National Mediation Board since then. The parties would have to be released from mediation before a strike could begin.

Members of the maintenance union and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen picketed Newark's Penn Station for a day last month to protest the stalemate in contract talks. The picketers also protested Amtrak's plan to split off the 457-mile Boston-to-Washington Northeast Corridor line from the rest of the railroad.

More than 3.8 million New Jersey Meanwhile, 100,000 passengers ride NJ Transit trains each day. Dan Stessel, a NJ Transit spokesperson, says the system is a tenant of Amtrak's and couldn't legally run its trains if the maintenance workers walked out.

NJTransit pays Amtrak $110 million ayear to use its rails. In New Jersey, a strike would halt Northeast Corridor service between Trenton and New York City, plus Atlantic City-Philadelphia service and portions of the North Jersey Coast, Raritan Valley, Morristown and Montclair-Boonton lines. All NJ Transit service into New York City would be stopped. "Our trains rely on the Amtrak infrastructure," Stessel says.

A strike would have an enormous impact on New Jersey commuters, says Dave Johnson, a spokesperson for the National Association of Rail Road Passengers, in Washington, D.C. "If the trains are shut down, it would force people to spill over onto the roadways and the PATH Trains [from New Jersey to New York City], which are already at capacity."

Dodd doubts that other maintenance workers could be recruited to fill in for strikers in the event of a walkout. Railroad workers are "very loyal to one another," he says, and would refuse to cross picket lines.

"We're the ones that keep the tracks parallel. It's a very delicate balance," Dodd says. "I wouldn't run an engine down [the track] if we're not there."

Amtrak Spokesperson William Schulz says Amtrak wants to negotiate a contract "that is fair to workers, contains costs and make us more efficient.

"Such an offer was made last year," Schulz says, but the union rejected it without comment. The offer covered pay increases and copayments for medical expenses. Schulz says he doesn't know when new talks will be scheduled.

Schulz says the notion that Amtrak executives want to force a strike "couldn't be further from the truth." He says Amtrak recently reached comprehensive agreements with three unions that represent food-service workers, baggage handlers, reservation agents and onboard service supervisors.

At the heart of the protracted dispute, says Dodd, are Amtrakfc plans to eliminate overtime and reduce compensation for union employees who are injured on the job. About one-third of the workers' salaries come from overtime.

The maintenance workers have agreed to contribute up to $100 a month for medical insurance and are demanding retroactive pay increases of 3% to 4%. Dodd says the average maintenance worker earns about $19 an hour. He says the union is willing to go to binding arbitration if Amtrak would accept it.

Meanwhile, he says the union has asked to be released from mediation "several times," but the three-member National Mediation Board has refused to grant it.

Once the parties are released, there would be a 30-day "cooling off period," Dodd says. President Bush would then appoint an emergency board that would have another 30 days to make recommendations. If Amtrak and the union refused to accept the recommendations, a walkout could begin.