Train reaction

While Amtrak launches an internal investigation into racism and violence, its official task force seems to be spinning its wheels

by Sarah McNaught

In the wake of a Phoenix report two weeks ago ("Hate Train," October 11), Amtrak has launched internal investigations into 16 incidents of racism and violence at the engineering division of the company's Boston commuter-rail operation, which it runs under contract for the MBTA.

Documents obtained by the Phoenix, as well as interviews with several workers, revealed a 10-year pattern of public humiliation and physical assault, as well as racist jokes, slogans, and posters.

Amtrak's initial reaction, the day after the Phoenix report appeared, was to assemble a task force of four executives from the company's Northeast headquarters in Philadelphia. The task force spent three and a half days in Boston interviewing workers about the incidents in the story, and is responsible for preparing a plan of action for dealing with racism and violence in the company.

The internal investigation, headed by Captain Robert Smith, of Amtrak's Boston police force, and Ernest Frazer, national commander of Amtrak's police department, is now addressing specific complaints filed over several years in the engineering division, some of which were never formally acknowledged by Amtrak management.

That investigation began with a meeting last week, held at the order of George Warrington, vice-president for Amtrak's Northeast Corridor operations. In Amtrak's administrative offices at South Station, the police captains heard the testimony of Bill Regan, the union president of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Workers, Local 987; his attorney, Michael Smith; Brad Winters, national chairman of the union; and Herbert Kwaku-Zulu Jackson, executive director of the Greater Roxbury Workers' Association, a group that has tried to place minority workers in positions at Amtrak.

The four-and-a-half-hour meeting focused on 16 incidents of harassment from 1990 onward, eight of which involved Regan himself -- who has filed complaints of being assaulted, threatened, and set on fire. Six other incidents under investigation involve worker David Haskins, who has allegedly been hit with a truck, whipped with an antenna, and punched in the throat by fellow workers and supervisors over the past five years.

None of this was news to the Amtrak police. "The officers seemed well aware of the incidents they asked Bill about," says Regan's attorney. "They had a tearsheet on each of the 16 incidents."

Regan was also interviewed by the task force on Thursday, October 17, but it's still far from clear what the outcome of the group's Boston visit will be.

According to Sybil Williams, vice-president of human resources for Amtrak's Northeast region and a member of the task force, the group has yet to submit a written plan of action to regional chief Warrington -- despite the fact that he set an October 18 deadline for such a plan. "I would love to be able to discuss what is going on," she says, "but it's premature for me to speak out."

"The members of management who traveled to Boston did report back to Mr. Warrington," says Amtrak spokesperson Rick Remington. "However, the plan of action will come some time down the road."

According to Remington, Amtrak's first step will be an advisory letter sent out to all employees of the Boston engineering division warning against racism, violence, and racial harassment.

Workers aren't sure how to respond to Amtrak's mixed signals. One black employee is skeptical about the prospects for improvement. "Some of these people who came knew about these incidents long before now and never did anything about it," says the worker. "Why should we believe things have changed?"

Rose Bacchus, Amtrak's Equal Employment Opportunity officer for the New England region, also a member of the task force, admits she was already aware of the complaints coming from Boston. "Let's just say I didn't hear anything new," she says. But, like Williams, Bacchus says she can't comment on when and if any action will be taken.

Still, some employees remain hopeful. One black worker who had spoken to the Phoenix before on incidents of racism and hate violence in his division says he was interviewed by management with the division's seven other minority employees.

"They asked us about the specific incidents mentioned in the Phoenix and then asked us what we feel should be done about it," says the worker, who himself has been subjected to racial slurs and threats. "So I told them I wasn't there to have my ego stroked or my intelligence compromised. I told them they had to get off their behinds and do something fast."

The worker was one of several in the engineering division who said that some of their supervisors interviewed by the task force were verbally disciplined by the four-member task force. Sources also indicate that at least one supervisor's job might be in jeopardy.

"All I can say is, let's give [the task force] a little time to report back on what they are doing about it," says the worker.

If Amtrak's own response has been inconclusive thus far, workers have also been dismayed at the lack of political support for their cause. For one thing, contrary to a Boston Herald report last week, the Federal Transportation Administration is not in Boston to investigate racial incidents at Amtrak.

"The FTA is here doing a compliance review on the MBTA," says MBTA spokesperson Phil Puccia. "They are here looking at us, not at Amtrak."

Politically, the issue seems to be a hot potato. Or perhaps, as an instance of a federally backed private corporation under contract with a state transportation department, it's just too complicated to deal with during campaign season. Either way, there's been little response from either Senator John Kerry -- who took the lead last month in bringing the feds in to investigate racial-harassment charges at the MBTA -- or Bill Weld, who as governor is ultimately accountable for incidents that occur under the MBTA's watch.

Kerry, for his part, was notified about the problems at the engineering division this past April, and followed up with a letter of inquiry to Amtrak. But the senator has not responded to several calls from the Phoenix about the recent developments, and Kerry campaign spokesperson Larry Cartman could say only, "The senator's staff are following this." Cartman says he is going to suggest to Kerry's staff that the Justice Department be informed of the incidents at Amtrak.

Neither Governor Weld nor Attorney General Scott Harshbarger would comment on the issue.

As for Bill Regan, the worker and union president who has devoted the last five years to fighting for affirmative action in the engineering division, he will decide within the next week whether to remove his formal complaint from the Massachusetts Committee Against Discrimination and take Amtrak to federal court instead. As of press time, he is one of several workers contemplating a class-action lawsuit against Amtrak.

Sarah McNaught can be reached at smcnaught[a]phx.com.