James Traficant: “if we take away the incentive to bargain in good faith, we kill collective-bargaining, period. Every word of the Quinn…”

“if we take away the incentive to bargain in good faith, we kill collective-bargaining, period. Every word of the Quinn amendment is in LaTourette and Traficant. If Members vote for LaTourette-Traficant, they vote for Quinn. But what is not in Quinn are basic labor protections. I am tired of hearing about 2 years ago. Workers were willing to hurt themselves to save Amtrak. But since then there has been a blue ribbon panel that said we do not have to kill the workers. That is not the big cost factor. Let us allow our workers to negotiate with management. Let us not set a precedent today that does kill collective-bargaining. If we do not incentivize collective-bargaining and we provide a disincentive, we kill collective-bargaining. That is the issue today. That is the issue today. If Members are supporting Quinn, everything that Quinn says is in LaTourette and Traficant. I want Members to know that. But when they vote for Quinn, they are killing the incentive to negotiate in good faith. Let there be no mistake. That is a sad day. H.R. 2247, the Amtrak Reform and Privatization Act of 1997, makes some much needed changes to Amtrak that will allow it to streamline its operations and cut costs. However, as drafted the bill makes changes in current law that are unnecessary and will have a negative impact on Amtrak's employees.”