Brothers - we received the following information from General Chairman Gil Gore concerning a situation involving FTX failure/decertifiable event(s) and how such would be affected by Upgrade Discipline.  To my knowledge, the situation described below has not occurred, nor has it been an issue in our area of jurisdiction, but we all need to be aware of the proper application of FTX and the intended effect upon Upgrade.  See attached guidelines as additional information which hopefully will be shared with your respective members.   Tim

III

 FTX GUIDLINES

 A.   Notification of testing results

Employees will be informed of their performance after all tests and observations, regardless of whether performance is within or outside of acceptable standards.  For tests involving routine observations, crews will be informed of their performance by the most expedient method, when practicable.  This may include direct follow-up discussion or subsequent contact/notification by the manager. For Structured Simulations (Set-up tests), crews will be debriefed at the scene. 

 B.   Performance below standard

 Employees will be debriefed "on - site" for rule infractions of discipline levels 1 or 2. In the event an employee that has a second exception of a testing event on rules associated with levels 1 – 2 within any 24-month period, the employee will be required to participate in a Formal Debriefing to discuss the employee’s performance.  In the event of a third such exception within a 24-month period, the employee will receive a second Formal Debriefing and will thereafter be ineligible for debriefing for a minimum period of 24 months from the date of the most recent event.

 Exception:    In the event a second testing event exception, within a 24 month period, involves the same operating or safety rule as a previous exception, the employee will participate in a Formal Debriefing and will be ineligible for debriefing for a minimum period of 24 months from the date of the most recent event.

 For discipline levels 3 – 4 (except FRA de-certification events) and Cardinal Rules violation:  A Formal Debriefing will be held as soon after the event as practicable. In the event of a second such exception within a 24 month period, the employee will be subject to handling under the current discipline policy and not eligible for further debriefing for a minimum period of 24 months from the date of the most recent event.  Any combination of three exceptions within a 24-month period, regardless of level, will result in ineligibility from FTX for a period of 24 months following the date of the most recent exception.

 FTX for FRA Decertifiable Events

 When an FTX exercise results in an FRA decertifiable event, as defined by 49 CFR Part 240, all train crew members who are charged with responsibility for the event and who are eligible to participate in the FTX program may elect to have the event handled under (1) the FTX Guidelines or (2) the applicable discipline policy.  Employees electing (1) the FTX Guidelines option must agree to serve a 15 days suspension during which time they will receive a Formal Debriefing.  When this option is utilized there will be no Discipline Level established and the employee’s eligibility for Discipline diversion under UPGRADE will not be affected.  This suspension will run concurrently with any revocation period required by Federal Regulations.

 Eligible licensed employees electing this option, whose certification was revoked under 49 CFR Part 240 for 30 days or less, will be offered the opportunity to receive remedial training as well as an FTX Debriefing during the suspension period.  The training noted above will serve to satisfy the Federal requirements under 49 CFR Part 240.117 (h)(5) thereby qualifying the affected employee for a reduced certificate revocation period.

If the employee becomes ineligible from participating in the FTX process due to test exception(s) any subsequent test exceptions during the period of ineligibility will be handled according to the existing disciplinary process.  The employee may regain eligibility to the FTX process if he/she works exception free for 24 months following the date of the most recent exception.

 C.   Debriefing

 The debriefing will take place after the test is completed at the location, or in close proximity to the location of the test. The intent of the field debriefing is to review the rule(s) tested, the intent and application of the rule(s), and the employee(s) performance relative to the testing event.  All debriefings will utilize a debriefing checklist and affected employees will receive a copy of the checklist at the completion of the debriefing if not otherwise provided for.

 D.   Formal Debriefing

 Discussion involving the employee and the employee’s supervising manager. The employee’s local labor representative will also be invited to attend. The formal debriefing will be conducted at a suitable location allowing for privacy and open discussion as soon as practicable after the day of the exception.  The formal debriefing is not a fault-finding exercise. It is intended to be an open discussion and will focus on root causes and corrective action needed to avoid future exceptions. Any employee electing not to participate in a Formal Debriefing will be referred to the existing discipline policy and will not be eligible for FTX debriefings for a period of 24 months from the date of the event triggering the debriefing.

 E.   Records Review

 Employees will be given opportunities to review their own FTX records.  Opportunities to review FTX results will take place in "one on one" sessions and employee developmental reviews (EDR's) with managers.  FTX results will also be available to the individual employees on the UP employee WEB site for review as Service Units are implemented in this process.

 F.   Decision Table

*     If a second exception involves the same operating or safety rule as a previous exception within the past 24 months, the employee becomes ineligible for FTX for 24 months.

**    A level 3 - 4 or Cardinal Rule does not disqualify an employee from FTX unless another level 3 - 4 or Cardinal Rule occurs within 24 months or the employee's total exception count reaches three (3) within 24 months.

Note:    A level 1-2 infraction proceeded by an infraction at ANY level within 24 months will receive a Formal Debriefing.