Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, May 26, 1995                   TAG: 9505260064
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: A-15   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

CONTROVERSY SURROUNDS AWARD

But one of Norfolk Southern's unions took issue with the Norfolk-based transportation company receiving the Harriman.

While the awards ceremony was under way at the National Press Building in Washington, picketing members of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees union demonstrated outside. The union said in a prepared statement that it was there to call attention to serious safety problems on Norfolk Southern by presenting the railroad what it called the Harassment Award.

In the statement, union officials Paul Beard of Toledo, Ohio, and Gary Cox of Charlotte, N.C., claimed that NS was the "worst abuser" among the nation's railroads in under-reporting employee injuries. They accused NS of intimidating workers to keep them from reporting injuries and of coercing workers to report for work, even though they were injured, in order to keep lost-time accidents to a minimum.

NS spokesman Bob Fort said none of the NS officials attending the Harriman Awards recognized any of the demonstrators as being NS employees. Fort said the union had brought similar charges before the Harriman committee last year, and they were determined to be unfounded.

Otherwise, Fort said, he would not dignify the union charges with a comment.

Gold, silver and bronze E.H. Harriman Memorial Safety Awards are presented to U.S. railroads in four size categories. The Illinois Central Railroad and Springfield Terminal Railway won gold awards in their respective categories, and the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis won the gold for switching and terminal railroads.