The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "Union Pacific" ...
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For Railroads and the Safety Overseer, Close Ties
This story is a continued analysis of the United States' railroads with a look at the close relationship between the industry and its regulator. The article examines the longtime friendship between Betty Monro, the Federal Railroad Administration's deputy administrator, and Mary E. McAuliffe, Union Pacific's chief lobbyist. In another instance, CPX, a major railroad company offered one F.R.A. chief safety official a $324,000 per year position with the company while he was at the railroad's headquarters discussing safety problems.
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Boxcar Battle: Railroads See Promise In a Freight Revival That Many Towns Fear
The Journal reports that "after a decade of sweeping mergers and hostile takeovers, the railroad industry is on the verge of its largest remapping in history -- a 25,000-mile rejiggering of tracks that will straighten out routes, speed up shipments and make railroads a better competitor against trucks. But the plans also put the industry on a collision course with residential America. Many of these new routes would cut through the heart of hundreds of cities and towns, subjecting them to long, lumbering freight trains."
Tags: business; corporate interests; transportation; Union Pacific; noise pollution; litigation; Burlington Northern Santa Fe
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Railroaded
The American Press sheds light on how railroads in Southwest Louisiana have become a threat to public safety, and have raised concerns about devaluation of local residents' properties. Union Pacific has planned on building a storage-in-transit station in spite of the objections of the homeowners in the vicinity. "Public officials on the state and local level ... have battled for years to toughen regulations governing the rail industry," the Press reports.
Tags: Federal Railroad Administration; zoning; hazardous waste; roads; transportation; highways; Southern Pacific Railroad; traffic; legislation; FOI request; noise pollution
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The Shame of Saipan
ABC News 20/20 reports "the second part of a two-year investigation into the abuse of human rights on the island of Saipan, a US trust territory in the South Pacific. (This is a follow up to the ... story "Made in the U.S.A (file 15202), which aired in 1998.) Upon returning to Saipan, Ross and Schwartz found that the same loopholes in the law that permitted American garment manufacturers to exploit imported, indentured Chines labor were now being used to operate a thriving sex business.... In addition, ABC reporter Brian Ross personally confronted retail giants Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger, whose companies do great amounts of business in Saipan factories, about the lack of follow-up to their earlier promises to end human rights abuses... And finally with the use of undercover video ABC News documented how businessmen on the island believed themselves to be safe from reform because of the backing of US Representative Tom DeLay, the powerful minority whip of the US Congress.."
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Made in America
A 20/20 investigation finds that top American clothing manufacturers, including Ralph Lauren, the Gap, Liz Claiborne and the Disney Company (parent of ABC), are using Chinese workers housed in crowded and often rat infested barracks on the Pacific island of Saipan to produce clothing labeled, "Made in the U.S.A." The workers have to pay off government officials in China for the right to work in Saipan and are forbidden to participate in any religious, political or union activity.
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Out of control
KDFW-TV investigation finds that many Union Pacific Railroad engineers are being pushed so hard, they are actually falling asleep at the controls of a 1 million-pound freight train. Engineers discuss making up to 340 separate trips per year, having less than six hours off between runs and having to work in non-air conditioned trains where the temperature hits more than 120 degrees.
Tags: TAPE FOIA Safety
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The Wreck of the Union Pacific
Fortune looks at the merger between Union Pacific and Southern Pacific railroads. Economists estimate that snafus resulting from the complicated merger have cost U.S. companies $2 billion. Conflicting size and organizational techniques have caused major congestion at several major switching yards, and freight is being delayed and lost regularly.
Tags: None
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Danger on the Rails
The series examined why Union Pacific was having so many fatal and otherwise serious accidents. The dangerous situation continues despite the fact that the federal government has identified many of the factors that make modern railroading unsafe. The stories show that Union Pacific was handling unprecedented amounts of freight with fewer workers. Engineers and conductors were forced to work 70 to 80 hour weeks, often in irregular shifts. The train dispatchers were overworked and not allowed to familiarize themselves with the track. Other basic safety measures, like brake tests, were being ignored. The series also addressed why Union Pacific's operations were plagued by gridlock and showed cost saving moves brought out in their plan to merge with Southern Pacific.
Tags: trains