Letter to Richard H. Anderson, President and CEO of National Passenger Rail Corporation - Takano Leads Bipartisan Letter Opposing the Closure of Amtrak's Reservations Facility in Riverside

Letter

Dear Mr. Anderson:

We are writing to express our deep concern with and opposition to Amtrak's recent decision to close its reservations facility in Riverside, CA, and eliminate the positions of almost 500 employees in our state.

We understand that Amtrak plans to outsource this work to a call center in Port St. Lucie, FL run by the international outsourcing firm, Teleperformance Inc. We have learned that Amtrak has asked the contractor to hire 150 individuals. This move flies in the face of your November 14th announcement to employees that cited an alleged reduction in calls as a principle reason for your decision to outsource this work. But if that were true, Amtrak would not require the contractor to hire additional workers.

Workers employed at Teleperformance, Inc. reportedly earn an average of $12 per hour without healthcare or benefits. This is significantly less than Amtrak employees currently earn through their negotiated contract rates of approximately $19 - $21 per hour with healthcare and Railroad Retirement benefits. We have also heard alarming reports of Amtrak engaging in the disrespectful practice of requiring employees to train their replacements at the outsourcer that will be taking over their work. This would represent a new low for Amtrak management.

Amtrak is unlike any other American corporation in that it is majority owned by the federal government and receives billions of American tax dollars to subsidize their service. And though we agree with Congress' mandate that Amtrak should and must endeavor to deliver services more efficiently, that does not give Amtrak license to engage in union-busting and union-avoidance maneuvers to lower costs on the backs of working men and women.

California remains one of the largest contributors to Amtrak. In FY2017, CA contributed nearly $88 million to Amtrak for its three state-supported service routes. According to Amtrak, California's corridors "are among the busiest in the system," including nine of the nation's top twenty busiest stations on state-supported lines. Californians continue to express interest and support for Amtrak through increased ridership and both their federal and state tax dollars, so it comes as surprise to us that Amtrak would consider removing these jobs from our state.

As members of California's delegation to Congress, we would be hard-pressed to view this decision as anything but hostile to the interests of our state and would communicate our concerns directly to our colleagues in California's state and local governments, as well as regional transit agencies.

We respectfully request that you reverse your decision immediately, and work with your employees' union representatives to find an agreement that keeps this facility open and Californians employed.

Sincerely,