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Your Retro UTU

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UTU Officers Give Rail Pact Huge Thumbs-Up

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Overwhelming support for a tentative contract between the United Transportation Union and most of the nation's major railroads was voiced here May 23 by the union's international officers and general chairpersons following their first look at the document.

The proposal, which must be ratified by the UTU rank-and-file, would increase wages substantially by December 2004, eliminate a two-tier wage system, protect UTU members against job loss from implementation of remote control technology and require railroads to study alternative means of controlling soaring health-care costs.

The proposed contract affects primarily some 65,000 operating employees on Burlington Northern Santa Fe, CSX Transportation, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific.

"This is a superior economic agreement that delivers wage increases well in excess of inflation, guarantees that our members are not going to lose their jobs because of remote control technology and puts the UTU in the driver's seat with regard to health-care cost reform," said UTU International President Byron A. Boyd Jr. "This contract is about improving our members' standards of living and providing them with long-term survivability in a world where technology is replacing humans."

The complete agreement and ballot could be delivered to UTU members by early July. General chairpersons have until June 7 to submit questions regarding contract interpretation, which will be sent out to rail negotiators for a written response. The contract, questions and answers, a history of negotiations and other explanatory material then will be sent members eligible to vote. They will have 21 days in which to study the contract and cast a ballot.

"Even were one to uncouple the proposed tentative agreement from the remote control package, which provides additional pay and protection, what is left still would be far superior to anything else out there," Boyd said.

"This proposal gives us control over our destiny," said Assistant President Paul C. Thompson. He recalled that when computers first appeared in railroad yards, they were embraced rather than opposed by yardmasters. "Anytime new technology comes on the market, the workers who embrace that technology become the long-term survivor," said UTU Yardmasters Division Vice President Don Carver.

The contract briefing took place in the main hearing room of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which was made available to the UTU for the entire day by the bi-partisan committee leadership. When House Railroad Subcommittee Chairman Jack Quinn (R-N.Y.) stopped by to check on progress, he said: "I try not to put my nose into others' business, but if you have an opportunity to work out this issue before it gets to us, you will be much better off."

Quinn echoed comments by UTU General Secretary and Treasurer Dan Johnson that if the agreement is not ratified and the Bush White House appoints a Presidential Emergency Board, the UTU is likely to be much worse off. "You are better off making decisions yourself," Quinn said. "If the issue comes before us for resolution, it won't get done to your liking because we can't control the politics."

Although the carriers sought more than a dozen work rule and other changes when negotiations began, the tentative contract contains none of those carrier proposals. "Each would be alive again -- such as the 160-mile day, combining of extra boards and elimination of the Federal Employers' Liability Act -- if this agreement is rejected and we wind up with a Presidential Emergency Board," Johnson said.

Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.), who also visited with the UTU officers May 23, later told UTU National Legislative Director James Brunkenhoefer that while he (Baucus) strives to protect the interests of organized labor, Congress would very likely give the UTU less if ratification fails and the White House acts to head off a work stoppage.

"There is a war going on and the nation is still in a recession," Brunkenhoefer said. "After the railroads tell Congress that a work stoppage could affect national security and that we are among the highest paid industrial workers in America, there is not going to be a lot of support for us on Capitol Hill even with all the friends we have. The staff that advises Congress pays several hundred dollars a month toward their health insurance. So there we would be, arguing for a status quo where we pay almost nothing toward health insurance."

UTU Vice President Arty Martin said that elimination of the dual basis of pay, which would scrap lower entry rates, combined with an the additional payment for operating remote control technology, could increase wages for many by $1,000 per month and allow many UTU employees now renting apartments to afford a home for their families.

"Evaluate this contract by the light of reality," Boyd said. "Remote control is not going away. So we must ask ourselves: Do we want this work? Do we want to decide our destiny? Or do we want to give the work to the BLE and let BLE negotiators decide our destiny?"

Here is a summary of the tentative contract:

-- General wage increases of 4 percent July 1, 2002; 2.5 percent July 1, 2003; and 3 percent July 1, 2004.

-- $1,200 longevity bonus paid all pre-1985 employees.

-- Alternative compensation programs, such as stock options, stock grants, bonus programs and 401(k) plans to be offered at carrier discretion and only implemented by mutual agreement with general committees.

-- All cost of living adjustments since July 1, 2000 ($3.84 per day) rolled into wages and subject to all general wage increases.

-- Status quo for health-care benefits and cost sharing pending study and negotiation concerning plan redesign, cost containment, cost sharing, administrative changes and vendor review. This separates UTU from the BMWE settlement and other rail unions. Any agreement reached after study is subject to ratification. Failing agreement, issues may go to arbitration, but UTU study and other materials may be used.

-- Trip rates established for through freight assignments. Full pay for deadhead trips, which will result in significant increases for pre-'85 employees. All post-'85 employees will be brought to parity.

-- Overtime not included as a pay element in trip rate calculations. Overtime will continue to be paid as it is.

-- Trip rates implemented within 30 months. If not, dual basis of pay for post'85 employees eliminated.

-- Effective July 1, 2004, employees subject to entry rates will receive the full rate of pay when working as a conductor/foreman, brakeman/helper hostler or engineer (on carriers party to agreement where UTU represents engineers).

-- Off-track vehicle accident benefits increased to $300,000 and aggregate benefit to $10 million. Maximum per week payment to an injured employee increased from $150 to $1,000.

-- All employees in train service or on a train-service seniority roster eligible for protection against adverse affects of remote control operations.

-- UTU represented engineers will be included in the protected class.

-- UTU will offer BLE protection for BLE-represented engineers.

-- Overview committee of UTU and carrier representatives to discuss and resolve problems associated with remote control technology.

-- Yardmasters receive same benefit package as basic agreement; longevity payment for pre-1987 employees; an increase in supplemental sickness; parity with operating crafts on vacation; and turnover time not to exceed 15 minutes at straight time rate when transitioning work responsibilities between shifts.

May 23, 2002

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CSX, KCS lead U.S. in remote-control rollout

WAUKESHA, Wis. -- While other U.S. Class 1s mount limited locomotive remote control pilot projects, CSX and Kansas City Southern are aggressively moving toward rolling out remote control across their systems, according to report on the Trains magazine website at http://www.trains.com.

Why have they jumped into remote control with both feet when Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific are content, for now, to merely dip their toes into the technology?

"There certainly are some very persuasive safety reasons to adopt the technology. You could pose the question the other way -- why aren't we going faster," says Mike Wall, CSX's vice president-mechanical. "We want to balance the expected benefits in safety with implementing it right."

CSX has purchased 100 locomotive remote control (LRC) units from Cattron-Theimeg, an order that will make it the largest LRC user in America when all 100 units are deployed sometime this fall. Measured on a pound-for-pound basis, though, the 2756-mile KCS and its 50 Canac Beltpacks rank the smallest Class 1 as the LRC heavyweight in the U.S. Both railroads say they envision purchasing more LRC units.

Their LRC figures already dwarf those of the other U.S. railroads. BNSF has purchased four Beltpacks from Canac, NS has two units each from Canac and Cattron, and UP has five Cattron units.

KCS and CSX say the remote control (RC) experience of Canadian National and Canadian Pacific completely sold them on the technology.

"Safety and injury prevention are right up there at the top" of the reasons KCS has pursued remote control, says Ab Rees, KCS's senior vice president-operations.

"A number of years ago, my friend Jack McBain, senior vice president of operations on CN, had a number of us up there in Edmonton and gave us a demonstration of remote control," Rees says. "He sold me on the safety, productivity, the reduction of lading loss. Everything from their experience said it was a very innovative thing to do."

Back then, though, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) had not yet implemented guidelines for RC use, and the Class 1s lacked an agreement with rail labor.

"I made the decision then that as soon as it was possible in the U.S. that we on the KCS would pursue it," Rees recalls. The FRA issued RC guidelines last year, and the United Transportation Union and railroads reached a pilot project agreement in January.

Although railroads clearly see cost savings from remote control -- the systems replace the engineer on switching jobs -- it is safety benefits they are touting most.

With a conductor or switchman operating the train from the ground, remote control eliminates communication failures and visibility problems that can occur during conventional switching with an engineer in the cab.

The Canadian roads have been using remote control for yard switching for more than a decade. On CN, the continent's largest RC user, accident rates in yards where RC is used are 56 percent lower than in yards where RC is not used.

"The starting point and ending point for us is safety," Wall says. "We have looked at both Canadian roads' operations, and we feel like we can achieve that safety improvement -- and hopefully be even better."

CSX and KCS say their LRC rollouts are going smoothly.

The two-week training process is the same on all railroads. During the first week, crews receive classroom training, are tested, and switch cars in a controlled environment. During the second week, they switch cars on the job under the supervision of instructors.

CSX introduced remote control at its yards in Baldwin and Tampa, Fla., during the last week in January. Since then, it has spread to six other locations: Montgomery, Ala.; Wilmington, N.C.; Charleston, S.C.; Miami, and Lakeland, Fla.; and Augusta, Ga., which both began training last week.

"We've had very good support from the UTU," Wall says. "The general chairmen have been involved. We've worked to communicate with them, and they've been supportive of the implementation."

The UTU says the rollout has gone well, and that crews are reacting positively.

"They like it. It's brought a bit of fun back into railroading," says John Hancock, a UTU general chairman on CSX. "It's kind of like model railroading.like having your own HO-scale train out there."

The union and management have created a safety committee to examine remote control issues, including ergonomics. The process has worked well, and Hancock says he believes RC operation will prove to be safer than traditional switching with an engineer.

Watco is installing the RC equipment on CSX locomotives at its facility in Jacksonville, Fla. So far, 25 locomotives --SW1500s, MP15s, GP40-2s and SD40-2s -- have been equipped.

Overall, 100 locomotives will be equipped. The number of terminals with LRCs will be less than that, Wall says, because some yards may have two or three units in operation. CSX has not yet determined every terminal that will receive LRCs, he said.

For now, flat-switching operations with three-person crews are targeted for remote control. Some hump operations may receive remote control toward the end of the implementation this year, Wall said.

On KCS, the remote control leader was Knoche Yard in Kansas City. LRC operations began there in late January, and three of its jobs are currently run by remote control, Rees said. One job at KCS's Mill Street Yard in Kansas City also runs by remote control.

"The people are very interested in it, and their productivity is very, very good," Rees said of the rollout.

KCS crews began training this month in Shreveport, La., where four jobs are currently using RC. Two more will be added there by the end of the month, Rees said. Next up: Beaumont, Texas, and Baton Rouge, La. The yard-by-yard rollout schedule for the rest of the railroad hasn't been finalized yet, Rees said, but every terminal should have it by September 15.

So far, KCS has a dozen locomotives -- all SW1500s -- equipped with remote control. Four more units are currently at MidAmerica Car in Kansas City for installation work, Rees said. Ultimately, KCS will have SW1500s and some GP38s and GP40s equipped for remote control, Rees says.

Neither CSX nor KCS is able to quantify cost savings of remote control yet. They expect productivity increases, as well as reduced damage due to improved coupling speeds.

Engineer positions on the remote control jobs will be eliminated on both CSX and KCS. But the engineers themselves will still have jobs, as both railroads are hungry for engineers.

The changes to railroad retirement, which allow 60-year-olds with 30 years of service to retire with full benefits, are expected to accelerate normal attrition rates among engineers, both railroads said. Remote control will help cushion the blow to both railroads and the engineers.

CSX compared Cattron and Canac systems, Wall said, and "felt very comfortable" with Cattron, which also happens to be less expensive than Canac.

KCS didn't look beyond Canac, the Canadian National subsidiary that supplies LRC systems to both CN and CP. "As a smaller company, we can't experiment too much," Rees said. "We wanted proven technology."

BNSF's pilot project is at Newton, Kans., and Mandan, N.Dak. UP's is at Des Moines, Iowa. NS has its Canac Beltpack equipment in use at Bellevue and Columbus, Ohio, using GP38-2s. Training is under way with Cattron-equipped GP38-2s at Savannah, Ga.

March 19, 2002

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Are Teamsters eying Rail Retirement assets?

News reports over the weekend of the looming failure of United Airlines' employee pension plans, and the horror facing retired rank-and-file airline employees and their families as a result, should give railroaders and their families pause.

On the one hand, the Railroad Retirement fund, which pays substantial benefits in excess of Social Security, is financially sound following a recent run-up of some $7 billion in new investment income.

No railroad family need worry about the solvency of their railroad pension fund or losing the generous retirement benefits it pays -- that is, unless the Railroad Retirement fund's assets are bled off to pay retirement benefits to truck drivers.

Whoa, Nelly. What is going on here? Using Railroad Retirement trust fund dollars to pay truck driver pensions?

Officials of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, which is in the process of merging with the Teamsters Union, acknowledge that a simple stroke of three pens in Washington, D.C. (the House of Representatives, the Senate and the president) could divert billions of dollars in intended railroader pensions to retired truck drivers.

Think this potential nightmare through for a moment, because the BLE admits it could occur. According to BLE President Don Hahs, a Teamsters' raid on the Railroad Retirement fund is "impossible without an act of Congress."

An act of Congress? Holy cow. What's he really telling us?

Let's connect the dots, all of which already have been provided by the Teamsters.

For one, the Teamsters Central States Pension Plan, which pays retirement benefits to some 400,000 truck drivers, is nearly broke, according to news reports. The fund, according to news reports, already has slashed retirement payouts to its current and future retirees and canceled the ability to collect benefits earlier than age 65 following 30 years' employment.

Two, because the political future of Teamsters leaders could well depend upon solving this calamity -- regardless of who is to blame -- there is speculation that the Teamsters' leadership has its eyes on the $24.2 billion Railroad Retirement trust fund. But truck drivers can't get at that money unless -- as the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers says -- Congress chooses to open the trust fund's vault to truck drivers.

So why would the Teamsters eye the Railroad Retirement fund?

Unlike the Teamsters' Central States Pension Plan, Railroad Retirement is financially strong. The labor member of the Railroad Retirement Board recently said, "barring a sudden, unanticipated" financial jolt, "the Railroad Retirement system will experience no cash-flow problems for at least 22 years." The "sudden, unanticipated jolt" that could doom Railroad Retirement could be its having to share trust fund assets with more than 400,000 truck drivers -- and that's no mud flap.

Indeed, having to share Railroad Retirement trust fund balances with truck drivers would doom railroad families to accepting much less than they would otherwise collect during their old age. The reported calamity of the truck drivers' Central States Pension Plan would be visited upon railroaders -- but only after truck drivers helped themselves to the Railroad Retirement funds' $24.2 billion in assets.

How realistic is this potential nightmare? Realistic enough that every railroader should think long and hard about why the Teamsters are trying to bring railroaders into their truck drivers' union.

The Teamsters regularly brag about the power of their congressional lobbying. Last month, the Teamsters boasted how their president, Jim Hoffa, was invited to speak at the Democratic National Convention in Boston. The Teamsters also talk about how much money they have to spend through their political action committee, which influences the business of Congress.

No other transportation union -- EXCEPT the United Transportation Union -- has as strong a lobbying presence in Washington, D.C., as does the Teamsters. But if the Teamsters weaken the UTU, as is their stated intent, the ability of the UTU to counteract the Teamsters' grab for Railroad Retirement could be dealt a mortal blow.

Consider that if railroad unions are merged into the Teamsters, those railroad unions will have to take orders from the truck drivers who run the Teamsters for the benefit of truck drivers.

In fact, the Teamsters ruling body, its General Executive Board, is dominated by former truck drivers. Even the merger agreement between the BLE and the Teamsters does not guarantee the so-called rail division a seat on the Teamsters' General Executive Board. The merger document only says that such an appointment could possibly occur if the Teamsters' president issues an invitation.

The history of the Teamsters in permitting non-truck drivers a say in their affairs is dismal. For example, more than 11,000 Northwest Airlines flight attendants recently disaffiliated with the Teamsters because, said reports, those flight attendants were given no meaningful voice in setting Teamsters policy. Reports said they faced "strong arm tactics" and were hooted off the floor with "catcalls" and "sexist" slurs during a Teamsters convention at which those flight attendants attempted to voice opinions.

It is reasonable to fear a similar fate awaits rail unions that affiliate with the Teamsters, which, after all, is dominated by truck drivers.

When the voices of independent railroad unions are silenced, there will be nobody left to defend Railroad Retirement before Congress.

For sure, the railroads, which have always complained about the expense of funding Railroad Retirement, will not oppose a phased end to Railroad Retirement, which could be the sweetheart deal the Teamsters offer in exchange for making truck drivers eligible for Railroad Retirement trust fund balances.

Certainly a George Bush Republican administration would not stand in the way of a deal endorsed by the railroad companies. And what hope could there be for railroaders and their families under a Democratic administration and/or Democratic-controlled Congress if there were no independent and strong railroad union voices remaining to fight the Teamsters' grab for Railroad Retirement assets?

With rail unions under the control of the Teamsters' General Executive Board, there would be no railroad union voice -- or even whisper -- to be heard in Congress. Only the Teamsters' General Executive Board roar would be heard.

That's a scary thought. But it also speaks volumes of reality. It wouldn't be the first time eyes and ears were not properly attuned to present-danger warnings, as the 9/11 Commission has made abundantly clear in recent weeks.

Indeed, why else -- if not out of selfish interest to tap into the $24.2 billion Railroad Retirement trust fund -- would the Teamsters be spending so much money and exerting so much effort to entice railroaders into the Teamsters Union?

Certainly the goal of the Teamsters is NOT to encourage more freight to move by railroad -- which IS the intent of independent railroad unions.

Read, mark and inwardly digest that the Teamsters Union demanded in its most recent contract with trucking companies that those trucking companies further limit how much of their freight may be moved by more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly railroads. To be forewarned is to be forearmed.

What is at stake are railroad jobs and the security of railroad families whose breadwinners spent a career working on the railroad in valid expectation of a Railroad Retirement pension.

When railroaders stick together, no amount of huffing and puffing can blow their house down. When railroaders are divided, they are in imminent danger of being conquered.

That's why, more and more, UTU members are answering the BLE knock at the door with this response: "Just how is the BLE, when under truck driver union control, going to protect my Railroad Retirement pension? Just how is it going to do that? Brother, I'm stickin' with a railroad union. I'm stickin' with the UTU."

August 2, 2004

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State of the United Transportation Union

By UTU International President Byron A. Boyd, Jr.

(This speech was given by President Boyd at a UTU regional meeting in Reno, Nev., June 10, 2002.)

Brothers and sisters, welcome to the United Transportation Union's regional meeting in Reno.

This may be a gambling town and that is fine when it comes to recreation. But, when it comes to your business, your livelihood and your family, the UTU is not a gambling union.

Your UTU is dedicated to making rock-solid decisions designed for the single purpose of protecting your earning power, your family and your future.

Our railroad, transit, commuter, bus and airline employee members and their families enjoy wage levels, fringe benefits and job protections that are the envy of North America.

Your UTU is the union that provided the demonstrated leadership to secure improvements in Railroad Retirement benefits. Your UTU is the union that provided the demonstrated leadership to force changes at Amtrak. And, your UTU is the union that last month secured from the railroads an unprecedented job-protection package.

Your UTU national officers and negotiating committees have broken free of a failed tradition among other organizations that simply react to events. Your UTU is shaping events by meeting challenges with vision, courage and leadership that are defining a new frontier in labor relations.

We are the labor union for the 21st century. And, I'm honored to have the privilege of working with Paul Thompson and Dan Johnson on your behalf. All the officers of this great union are working together to write new chapters in the North American labor movement. Let others stand by and watch. Your UTU moves with purpose toward progress, prosperity and protection for its members and their families.

Our objectives are as clear as the history of the labor movement: more, now. That means a combination of wages, health care, job safety, employment protections and retirement benefits. When viewed as a package, UTU contracts give us the peace of mind in knowing we have a secure future for our ourselves, our spouses and our children.

Your UTU is rolling forward. When Railroad Retirement reform was debated on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., last year, it was our National Legislative Director, Brokenrail, who coordinated the effort among rail labor unions and the carriers.

The second-most powerful member of the U.S. Senate, Harry Reid from this great state of Nevada, said afterward that the effort would not have been successful had it not been for the leadership of the UTU. Those words were echoed by Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate, and even by the carriers.

At a press conference after President Bush signed the new Railroad Retirement law, Senator Reid said, and I quote, "Had Brokenrail not come to me and not worked as hard as he did, this legislation would not have passed Congress."

During the long battle to secure passage of Railroad Retirement reform, lobbyists from all other rail unions and from the railroads met regularly. They met at UTU's Washington, D.C., building, which served as the command center for strategy-planning sessions. UTU, in the spirit of America's founding fathers, organized committees of correspondence to influence every member of Congress. The opposition by several conservative extremists was severe and their influence on the White House further threatened this bill.

But, our committees of correspondence, through e-mails, letters and telephone calls - thousands upon thousands of communications coordinated by the UTU - overcame the opposition. Several lawmakers initially opposed to Railroad Retirement actually telephoned Brokenrail and promised to end their opposition if only he would bring a halt to the non-stop phone calls and e-mails.

The power and leverage UTU unity provided to gain passage of the Railroad Retirement bill is the power and leverage that makes us the can-do union.

Our dedicated and skilled officers, your willingness to send the e-mails and make the phone calls and, especially, your contributions to our Transportation Political Education League are what make the difference. And, sisters and brothers, you do make a difference. That's what makes your UTU the most effective labor union in America.

Railroad Retirement is a wonderful program that provides benefits far in excess of Social Security. Once again last year, your UTU was instrumental in improving Railroad Retirement.

The retirement reform bill your UTU spearheaded through Congress covers a million rail employees, retirees and survivors.

It provides long-needed improvements in the surviving spouse benefits.

It provides a full retirement annuity at age 60 for those with at least 30 years of service.

It eliminates artificial caps on service.

And, it vests new hires after just five years of service, instead of 10.

The new Railroad Retirement law also requires the railroads to assure the system's solvency through higher railroad-paid taxes.

Your UTU also gained a provision in Railroad Retirement reform that allows beneficiaries to keep an eye on your money. In recognition of UTU's leadership role, our General Secretary and Treasurer, Dan Johnson, was elected to the Board of Trustees of the National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust.

And, here's the only sure bet I know of in Reno: A bet that our own Dan Johnson will be on guard for you.

Let me now talk about Amtrak. Amtrak and its future are important to each of us. Our railroad members and their families depend upon Amtrak, which employs about 3,000 UTU members. Amtrak's survival also is crucial to the financial health of Railroad Retirement. That's because Amtrak employs about 10 percent of the rail workforce. A loss of Amtrak would be devastating for many reasons.

This is why your UTU has taken the torch and run with it. On the subject of Amtrak, we have testified before Congress. We have met individually with congressional leaders. We have helped to coordinate rail labor union rallies supporting Amtrak. And, we provided guidance to environmental groups that also support preservation and expansion of a national intercity rail passenger network.

Leadership has costs and your UTU has staked out a tough position on Amtrak. We did not shy away from pointing the finger at the former Amtrak chief executive officer for his failures. When others declined to fight the tough fight on behalf of rail employees, your UTU came out swinging on your behalf.

We criticized Amtrak's former management for its failure to fight for congressional funding.

We criticized the former Amtrak management for its emphasis on the Northeast Corridor to the detriment of a national intercity rail passenger network.

We criticized them for their refusal to reach out to employees and their unions for our constructive ideas. Nobody knows better how to improve a product than the people that make it and use it every day!

We also pointed out what is successful at Amtrak. We pointed to Amtrak's West Coast chief executive, Gil Mallery. Gil has built successful partnerships with labor to boost the efficiency of West Coast Amtrak service.

We also identified successful operations, such as Chicago Metra. At Chicago Metra, Executive Director Phil Pagano reaches out to all his stakeholders - to freight railroads, to labor, to community leaders and customers. Phil includes them in problem solving and decision making.

Management may not win a popularity contest, but it need not be an unpopularity contest. We shall continue to preach that important message on your behalf.

Now Mr. Warrington is gone. It is too early to predict what route his successor, David Gunn, will take. We do know what route your UTU is taking. Your UTU is committed to preserving and expanding a national intercity rail passenger network.

Your UTU is committed to stopping dead in its tracks the effort to sell off portions of Amtrak to union-busting private operators. There must be no role for speculators who could destroy our national intercity rail passenger network like speculators destroyed British Rail.

Your UTU is committed to educating lawmakers to the fact that no passenger railroad anywhere in the world is profitable. The mission Congress gave Amtrak to earn a profit while providing the service demanded by Americans is a mission doomed to failure. Congress must understand this and understand it now!

Your UTU is committed to reminding Congress that every public opinion poll ever taken on the subject showed overwhelming support for a national intercity rail passenger network. Americans demand a national intercity rail passenger system operated border to border and coast to coast. Amtrak serves a population unable or unwilling to travel by highway or air. With an aging population and increasing terrorist threats, Amtrak becomes more important every day. Even before 9/11, newspapers reported that 70 percent of Americans do not travel by air.

Your UTU also is committed to educating Congress that a national intercity rail passenger network is essential to the economic, political and social fabric of this nation. It was essential before 9/11 and its indispensability is that much greater today.

And, your UTU is committed to assuring that Congress provide Amtrak with sufficient short-term funding. We cannot, we must not and we will not allow our national intercity rail passenger network not be chopped up. Make book on this: Your UTU will be there. Brokenrail will be there. I will be there. Paul Thompson will be there. And, Dan Johnson will be there. We will be there for you!

Brothers and sisters, safety is another challenge we are meeting every day. Each of you has a right to return to your family after work in one piece.

Earlier this month, I reminded Congress that the most fundamental obligation of our government is to protect Americans from harm. Yet many railroaders do not return home in one piece. In fact, too many railroaders do not return home at all.

Railroading is one of the most dangerous occupations in America. Other industries may have higher accident rates, but accidents in the railroad industry do not typically result in strains, sprains and soreness. Accidents in the railroad industry too frequently result in loss of limb or loss of life.

Rail employees in recent years have been beheaded, impaled and crushed to death. Railroaders work around the clock and in foul-weather environments operating heavy and dangerous equipment. Railroad jobs require constant and vigilant attention to surroundings. Railroaders must continually be aware of their own actions and of the actions of others.

As we know too well, employees who are fatigued cannot be vigilant. They have a hard enough time just staying awake.

The National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Railroad Administration and even the carriers agree that fatigue is a problem. The Federal Railroad Administration told Congress that fatigue is a contributing factor in most accidents allegedly caused by human error.

A consequence of fatigue is a change in brain function. We know from experience what fatigue can do. It may cause us, under normal operating conditions, to fail to react to information. Or we may do something completely inappropriate.

Should anybody be surprised? I don't think so. And, I know you don't think so. One of the nation's foremost experts on sleep told Congress, and I quote, "Coming to work sleep-deprived is like coming to work drunk!"

With our help, the carriers have identified solutions, such as guaranteed and uninterrupted rest periods and permission to nap on the job. But, those solutions rarely are implemented. Carriers prefer laying off employees and forcing others to work in their place, regardless of the safety risk.

So my message to Congress June 6 was: We need a law, because the carriers will not do it themselves.

We are not going to permit the carriers to protect their stock price on the lifeless bodies of UTU members! There will be no rolling of the dice by the carriers when it comes to our members' safety.

Your UTU will continue the fight we started for assigned rest days and predictable time off.

We have documented for Congress the availability policies of some railroads. We have shown Congress how many of our members must work in excess of 75 percent of each month while non-railroaders are on the job only 22 percent. A commercial airline pilot is permitted to fly only 100 hours per month. A truck driver may be on duty no more than 260 hours each month. Yet, railroad operating crews are forced to be on the job up to 432 hours each month. Yes, you heard me correctly: up to 432 hours for a railroader versus 100 hours for a pilot and 260 hours for a truck driver.

We reminded Congress that it has addressed fatigue on the airline flight deck and in the trucking industry. Now it is time to address fatigue in the railroad industry not just because we say so, but because medical science says so!

Medical scientists have told the carriers very basic things to do to prevent fatigue. They are minimum rest, guaranteed and uninterrupted days off, fatigue recovery time, limits on hours worked each month and acknowledgment that fatigue is more likely during certain hours of the day.

Brothers and sisters, we shall continue this fight on your behalf and on behalf of your families. We shall be victorious and Wall Street can take that promise to the bank.

We are a transportation union and I certainly don't want our brothers and sisters with us today from the bus and airline industries to feel ignored. Believe me, every craft and every brother and sister in this union is unique and important.

Your UTU has been busy in Washington, D.C., fighting for federal dollars for the bus and airline industries.

In May, the UTU won praise from the American Bus Association for helping to guide a bipartisan Bus Security Act. The bill will provide almost one billion dollars to the bus industry to improve security.

Clyde Hart, the chief lobbyist for the bus association, said, and I quote, "UTU lobbying efforts were very important to the success of getting this bill through committee."

The money will be used to train employees to recognize terrorist threats and establish passenger and baggage screening procedures.

I'm also very proud of many of our bus members in the New York City area. They won praise for their heroic efforts on 9/11, moving terror-stricken people home from the World Trade Center disaster.

These dedicated bus members were recognized along with our rail transit members for heroism. Every one of us should take pride in our UTU heroes.

It wasn't just our bus members who were heroes that day. Our rail members on New Jersey Transit and the Long Island Rail Road also were recognized by the media for their heroic efforts. And, the media made many references to our Port Authority Trans Hudson members who saved hundreds of innocent lives. They stayed cool and on the job and moved people from the World Trade Center platform just moments before the twin towers collapsed. Each of those brave UTU members also deserves a special round of applause from us.

The UTU also has been working on behalf of our Big Sky Airline members.

Brokenrail and Montana Legislative Director Fran Marceau convinced Congress to boost federal funding for essential local air service. Those funds are crucial to job security for our Big Sky members. Since Big Sky pilots chose the UTU as their bargaining agent in 1998, membership has grown from about 35 pilots to more than 100 pilots and dispatchers.

Let me now recognize others within our UTU for jobs well done this past year.

Everyone associated with UTUIA is to be commended for helping UTUIA post positive and impressive growth. We owe special recognition to our dedicated field supervisors, under the direction of Ralph Dennis, for their efforts on behalf of our members' long-term security. Let's give our UTUIA people well-deserved applause.

The UTU Auxiliary is an essential component of this union. Our Railroad Retirement victory is due in large part to the Auxiliary's efforts. Thousands of telephone calls and e-mail messages to Congress were made because our Auxiliary was on the job. Thank you so much.

And, we cannot forget the efforts of our UTU Retiree Program for keeping our retirees active and informed. We must carry the UTU agenda forward and Larry Davis and Bill Packer are doing that by building the very best retiree program anywhere. Join me in applauding their dedication.

Now let me talk about remote control.

In every aspect of our lives, it is an inevitable fact that we must confront change. Change occurs whether we are ready or not, and whether we want it or not.

Were our fathers and grandfathers successful in attempting to stop the introduction of diesel locomotives? Many of you have first-hand experience in how we couldn't stop elimination of the caboose.

Remote control is technological change.

From an Air Force base in Florida, U.S. servicemen use remote control to fly unmanned warplanes in Afghanistan.

From an office in Jacksonville, CSXT dispatchers use remote control to open switches in Michigan.

And, every day for the past decade in rail yards across Canada, our brothers and sisters have used remote control to switch freight cars.

If change is inevitable - and it is - then we must devise a strategy to make change our ally and not our enemy. Those who deny change are really condemning themselves to be controlled by it. They will lose in the short run, as well as the long run. This is because history records that everyone who has resisted change has lost.

The issue of controlling new technology is really quite simple. The issue is not whether change is going to occur. The issue is who is going to control the new technology, who is going to own the new technology and who is going to operate the new technology.

What your UTU has won for you is control, ownership and operation of the new technology. Your UTU has won for you protection against losing your job or your income because of the new technology. And, your UTU has also won protections for engineers. That's a fact that cannot be denied.

Brothers and sisters, what your UTU has won for you is the ability to control your own destiny with regard to remote control. A third party, such as a Presidential Emergency Board, will not allow you control of your destiny. A third party could shove remote control down your throats. And, a third party could deny you additional pay or job protections as occurred with the introduction of diesel locomotives and radios or the elimination of the caboose.

Your negotiating team has put you in the driver's seat if you ratify the proposed agreement. The economic value and job security of this package is overwhelmingly in your favor. And, we shall discuss that in considerable depth very shortly.

Finally, let me update you as to where we are with regard to our relationship with that other organization, as well as with representation elections that recognize the community of interest among train and engine service employees.

This union overwhelmingly supported a merger with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. We made numerous concessions in an attempt to move the merger forward for the benefit of all train and engine service employees. A family living under the same roof in the cab of a locomotive must have the same goals if the family is to succeed.

The introduction of remote control is a clear example of what I mean.

When Canadian National said it wanted to initiate remote control operations, the UTU sought to negotiate the matter jointly with the BLE and put the emphasis on job protection.

The BLE refused to sit down with the UTU. In the end, third-party arbitrators had to choose which of the unions would own, control and operate the new technology.

Had the UTU and the BLE jointly negotiated, members of both unions would have been protected.

Instead, the UTU won the arbitration and won control, ownership and operation of the new technology. The BLE lost all of its yard engineer positions in Canada. It could have gone the other way and the UTU could have lost thousands of jobs.

This was our primary concern when the U.S. carriers announced they wanted to implement remote control operations. We hoped a UTU/BLE merger would unite the two organizations to work solely for the benefit of all train and engine service employees.

Thus, when the U.S. carriers signed a letter of intent with the UTU regarding remote control operations, I immediately called newly elected BLE President Hahs.

I showed him and his senior officers the letter of intent.

We discussed how a UTU/BLE merger would protect train and engine service jobs.

I promised President Hahs that the UTU would demand from the carriers a seat for the BLE at the negotiating table and equal job protections for all train and engine service employees.

I even cancelled all negotiations with the carriers over remote control until after the BLE voted on the merger. That would have allowed BLE officers to sit with the UTU at all remote control negotiating sessions.

But the top three BLE officers did not openly support the merger after they pledged they would. And, once the merger was voted down by the BLE, the BLE walked down the same path it had walked in Canada.

The BLE contended introduction of remote control was a "major" dispute under the Railway Labor Act and that the BLE could engage in a work stoppage. A federal judge said, "no."

The BLE was left to submit the issue to arbitration, the same as the BLE was forced to do in Canada. This, again, gives a third party control over BLE-member destiny.

What the BLE really demands is all the remote control work. Make no mistake: The BLE is not fighting to stop remote control. The BLE is fighting to take the work from the UTU and to put you out of work.

Your UTU sought protections for all train and engine service employees in Canada and sought to negotiate protections for all train and engine service employees in the U.S.

That is not what the BLE is about. The BLE has a history of taking work from others.

On Montana Rail Link, where the BLE represents train service employees as well as engineers, the BLE in March 2001 negotiated a remote control agreement. That agreement gives remote control operations to two engineers.

In an environment where half the train and engine service employees on U.S. railroads might work as an engineer one day and as a conductor the next, we cannot have such a situation as the BLE created.

We cannot have each union and each train and engine service employee out only for themselves. That is not what unionism is about and it certainly is not what the UTU is about!

If the BLE will not merge voluntarily, there is no choice but to let train and engine service employees decide for themselves which of the two unions they want to represent them.

As you know, we have previously won representation elections on the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis, the Paducah & Louisville and the Manufacturers Railroad. Those elections were held after the National Mediation Board found a single craft among train and engine service employees.

The NMB should issue a similar ruling on the Kansas City Southern and we can proceed with the election there.

In fact, the BLE agrees with our position. I say that because the BLE itself is seeking a winner-take-all election on the Tex-Mex. The BLE could not have sought that election if it did not believe, as we do, that the crafts of locomotive engineer and ground service employee have become completely blurred.

Brothers and sisters, I think our UTU today is in better shape than ever.

We have a unified union. We don't have factions within the union fighting each other.

I think our people realize it is time we control our own destiny rather than allowing someone else to do it for us.

I am very proud of our negotiating committee. They put a package together that truly gives our members the right to control their destiny.

My vision for the UTU is to have all our members moving forward as we celebrate our diversity, build a stronger organization, and gain improved wages, job security, training and adequate health care.

Brothers and sisters, welcome to your UTU regional meeting in Reno. Bond with each other and learn from each other. Thank you!

June 10, 2002

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"Corrupt lawyers" cited during sentencing

HOUSTON -- Disgraced former leaders of the nation's largest railroad operating union described a system controlled by corrupt lawyers during a sentencing hearing Friday in a Houston federal court, reports Harvey Rice in the Houston Chronicle.

Two ex-presidents of the United Transportation Union were sentenced to two years in prison for accepting bribes from lawyers in exchange for access to workers injured on the job. Two other union officials were sentenced to three years' probation after all four pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy. Other counts in the September 2003 indictment were dropped in exchange for their cooperation in an ongoing investigation. U.S. District Judge Sim Lake also ordered former international presidents Charles Leonard Little, 69, of Leander, and Byron Alfred Boyd Jr., 57, of Seattle to pay a $10,000 fine and a $100,000 forfeiture. Boyd, who resigned his post after his indictment, described a union system controlled by lawyers who paid as much as $30,000 to be on a list giving them access to injured union members. "The system has gone on for generations, and the system goes on as we stand here today," Boyd said. Lake sentenced Ralph John Dennis, 51, of Boone, Iowa, former union director of insurance, and John Russell Rookard, 57, of Olalla, Wash., Boyd's assistant, to three years' probation and a $45,000 forfeiture. He fined Dennis $2,000. Lake said there appears to be a problem with the system that criminal prosecution could not cure. Lake asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Gallagher whether his office had sought help from legislators in changing the law. Gallagher, saying lawmakers had been consulted, said the corruption went back to the 1908 passage of the Federal Employers Liability Act, allowing unlimited damages for injured railroad workers because their jobs are so hazardous. He told Lake that so many lawyers wanted to represent those workers that they were willing to bribe union officials. Gallagher was referring to lawyers designated by the UTU president as legal counsel with honorary union membership. Although any lawyer can represent an injured union member, those on the designated counsel list had the union's imprimatur and easier access. The probe began in 1999 after El Paso lawyer Victor Biegnowski was accused of insurance fraud. Biegnowski, a UTU designated counsel, offered information to prosecutors about the bribery. Lawyers involved in the scheme were given immunity for their cooperation in prosecuting the four union members. "Had it been reversed, it might have been 35 lawyers before us today," Gallagher told Lake. But Little's attorney, David Gerger, contended that "the people who benefited financially the most have never been prosecuted and never will be prosecuted." Gerger said some lawyers involved in the scam are still designated counsels with the union. Gallagher responded that the government is pursuing noncriminal action against them, including disbarment. Of the 56 designated counsels at the time the union officials were indicted in September 2003, six were in Texas and five in the Houston area. UTU spokesman Frank Wilner said the union has made reforms and is working with prosecutors.

"We are concerned about corruption and doing everything we can to root it out so that such an embarrassing and tragic situation never recurs," Wilner said.

(The preceding report was published by the Houston Chronicle)

July 10, 2004

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Boyd on NMB Decision: 'Stay Tuned'

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The National Mediation Board on Aug. 14 recognized the changing workplace environment in the railroad industry and upheld the UTU's theory of a single craft or class of train and engine service employees.

In its decision, the NMB said, "Technology ... could ultimately result in a combined craft or class of train and engine service employees on KCS, however, the evidence at this point does not warrant such a finding. The UTU is not precluded from applying for a combined craft or class of train and engine service employees in the future."

UTU International President Byron A. Boyd issued a two-word statement following the NMB decision: "Stay tuned."

Click here to read the full text of the NMB's decision: http://www.nmb.gov/publicinfo/pr081402.html

August 15, 2002

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Straight talk on remote control

By Paul Thompson, International Assistant President

There are numerous false rumors about remote control. Let me set the record straight.

It begins in Canada a decade ago, when the carriers sought to negotiate remote control operations jointly with the UTU and the BLE. But, soon after negotiations began, the BLE declined to meet and talks broke down. That was unfortunate, because the UTU had proposed the two organizations work closely to put an emphasis on job protection for both train and engine service employees. After the BLE refused to negotiate, the issue was decided by a third-party arbitrator.

The separate UTU and BLE arbitration hearings were handled simultaneously. The UTU focus was on safety, mitigation of adverse affects and measures to protect jobs. The BLE's primary focus was who would "own" the work.

The arbitrator ruled that the work of a yard foreman would not change if the foreman, instead of giving hand signals to an engineer, sent signals via a belt pack to an on-board computer.

The ink was barely dry on this award when the carrier served notice to establish conditions for extensive use of belt packs. The carrier said if both the UTU and the BLE would jointly negotiate an all-inclusive belt-pack agreement, benefits would be superior. Again, the three parties met. And, again, the BLE walked out - this time refusing to sit with the UTU because of the arbitration award.

By letting a third party determine its fate, the BLE lost all of the yard engineer positions in Canada, and UTU-represented employees were given the remote control work.

When the UTU became aware that the U.S. carriers were considering remote control operations, President Boyd sought to avoid a repeat of the Canadian situation. He hoped a UTU-BLE merger would unite the two organizations to work solely for the benefit of all train and engine service employees. I know, because I was present when President Boyd explained this situation to then-BLE President Clarence Monin and later to then-BLE President Ed Dubroski.

Both Clarence and Ed agreed that all train and engine service employees would be better served by one organization working to protect all members.

When the U.S. carriers signed a letter of intent with the UTU regarding remote control operations, President Boyd immediately alerted newly elected BLE President Don Hahs. In fact, on President Hahs' first trip to Cleveland after his election, President Boyd brought me, General Secretary and Treasurer Dan Johnson and General Counsel Clint Miller to an Oct. 3 meeting with BLE President Hahs, First Vice President Ed Rodzwicz, General Secretary and Treasurer Bill Walpert and BLE General Counsel Harold Ross.

President Boyd showed the BLE officers the letter of intent. They discussed how a UTU-BLE merger would protect train and engine service jobs as U.S. carriers sought to implement remote control. President Boyd specifically promised President Hahs that the UTU would demand from the carriers a seat for the BLE at the negotiating table and equal job protections for all train and engine service workers.

President Boyd also told President Hahs that the UTU had cancelled all negotiations over remote control with the carriers until after the BLE voted on the merger. This would allow BLE officers to sit with the UTU at all remote control negotiating sessions. The BLE officers present at that meeting personally assured President Boyd they would openly support the merger.

The BLE officers did not openly support the merger. And, once it was voted down by the BLE members, the BLE walked down the same path it had walked in Canada. The BLE chose to fight remote control and not negotiate.

The BLE contended it was a "major" dispute and the BLE could engage in a work stoppage. A federal judge said, "no." The BLE was left to submit the issue to arbitration, the same as the BLE was forced to do in Canada, thus again giving a third party control over their members' destiny.

Meanwhile, the BLE is demanding all the remote control work. The BLE is not fighting to stop remote control. It is fighting to take the work from the UTU. The BLE has a history of taking work from train service employees in favor of engineers.

On Montana Rail Link, where the BLE represents train-service employees as well as engineers, the BLE on March 12, 2001, negotiated a remote control agreement that gives remote control operations to two engineers. When only two engineers are on an assignment without train-service employees, the two engineers receive an extra 45 minutes pay.

So if you wonder why the UTU negotiated this issue with the carriers, you need look only at recorded history.

You might also ask why the UTU didn't simply fight remote control technology. The answer is that we have repeatedly learned - in Canada with remote control and in the U.S. with radios and end-of-train devices - that technology cannot be stopped. Moreover, the U.S. carriers have the Canadian arbitration award on their side, which says belt packs are simply communication devices. They further argue that they have a right to unilaterally implement remote control.

While the UTU believes the carriers do not have the right unilaterally to implement, we know from experience that we are better off negotiating rather than having a third party, whether it be an arbitrator, court or Congress, make decisions for us - especially since most of those third-party decisions have not been good ones for our members.

I think we have negotiated solid and valuable protections for UTU members in the tentative agreement you will see shortly. In fact, the tentative agreement provides substantial protections for buy-outs and/or reserve board positions for engineers as well as train service employees. President Boyd is to be commended for looking out for all operating employees.

It is too bad BLE officers do not share a similar desire.

May 16, 2002

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President Boyd responds

The following statement was first issued Sept. 15, 2003, by United Transportation Union International President Byron A. Boyd Jr. in connection with certain charges made against him:

"I respond to the allegations made today in Houston by declaring that they are unfounded. While it is certainly not pleasurable to go through this process, at least the allegations and accusations are now known and may be dealt with directly. I have every intention to pursue this matter to a final and full conclusion that completely exonerates me.

"This is not the forum to address the issues. I will leave that to the due process provided me. The one fact that cannot be refuted is that we will not know the issues and facts until the end of this process, and any comments or opinions before the resolution are premature. I am confident in the system and my legal counsel.

"To all who have called with offers of support and friendship, I say, thank you. We have faced many challenges together and I look upon this as another challenge to be faced. To friend and foe, now is not the time to rush to judgment of the accused or the accuser. Now is the time to let the system and process work.

"On a personal note, we all face challenges in our lives. How we deal with those challenges defines each of us as a person. I have always believed in due process and have represented hundreds of our members confronted with unfounded charges and allegations. My advice was always to take the issues head on. I will be following that advice myself.

"I trust that all will understand that from this time forward, any further comments on this matter will be made through my counsel. Again, I am overwhelmed with the calls of support. Thank you so very much."

(President Boyd is represented by Robert J. Sussman, Esq., and Charley Davidson, Esq., both of Hinton Sussman Bailey & Davidson, LLP, Houston, Texas.)

January 26, 2004

-- Edited by Troll at 14:29, 2008-04-03

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Charles Little pleads guilty

HOUSTON -- A former official of the United Transportation Union, based in Cleveland, has pleaded guilty to charges that he took cash payments and other things of value from lawyers doing business with the union, reported the Associated Press Jan. 25.

Charles Little, 69, of Leander, Texas, could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison and fined $250,000 when he is sentenced April 9. In addition, the former international union president will forfeit $100,000, which the government says he received though illegal activity.

Little and three others were indicted by a grand jury last September on charges of conspiring to violate federal mail and wire fraud statutes and interstate transportation in aid of racketeering through commercial state bribery

Little pleaded guilty to labor racketeering conspiracy, U.S. Attorney Michael Shelby said. Little said he used the money to fund his campaigns and for his personal use.

Also indicted were union President Byron Boyd Jr., 57, of Seattle; former union director of insurance Ralph Dennis, 51, of Boone, Iowa; and special assistant to Boyd, John Rookard, 57, of Olalla, Wash. In October, Dennis also pleaded guilty to labor racketeering.

(Boyd said he is innocent of the charges and has "every intention to pursue this matter to a final and full conclusion that completely exonerates me." Boyd's statement of innocence, first issued in September 2003, is reproduced elsewhere on this website under the headline, "President Boyd responds.")

(The preceding story was distributed by the Associated Press. Material in parenthesis was added by UTU editors.)

January 26, 2004

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A quiz

Which union led the successful fight to improve Railroad Retirement benefits?

Which union's officers visit regulatory agency heads to discuss problems affecting members?

Which union has the most Democratic and Republican friends in Congress?

Which union gained from Congress $125 million for bus-operator safety training and led the battle for emergency Amtrak funding?

Which union negotiated trip-rates that put to rest forever carrier attempts to increase the basic day to 160 miles, and provide predictable paychecks and an end to grievances over how arbitraries are paid?

Which union negotiated a new national rail agreement providing wage increases exceeding those of every other organization?

Which union negotiated a dramatic boost in rates for dead-heading and brought post-'85 employees to wage parity (without diminishing the earnings capability of pre-'85 employees)?

Which union negotiated a new national rail health-care agreement that beats all others out there?

Which union gained ownership of new technology and unprecedented job security for those affected by it -- and gained a congressionally ordered study into remote control safety?

Which union saved jobs in every operating craft by practicing craft inclusion rather than craft exclusion?

In each instance, the answer is: UTU. When the chips are down, your UTU takes a positive approach, delivering improved quality of life for members and their families. It's a record of superior accomplishment of which we all can be proud.

February 11, 2004

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UTU vs. BLET: Just the facts

As the no-nonsense police detective Sgt. Joe Friday used to say, "Just the facts, ma'am."

Here are "just the facts" with regard to the United Transportation Union, the Teamsters Union, and the Teamsters' subsidiary, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.

As UTU members know, the Teamsters/BLET are playing the role of a pied piper -- making undeliverable promises in hopes of luring UTU members. (In literature, the pied piper lured innocent children of a town to a cave from which they never returned.)

The objective of the Teamsters/BLET is to gain control of UTU crew-consist agreements, cancel them, and negotiate engineer-only contracts for the benefit of engineers.

Even back in 2000, then-BLE public spokesperson William Walpert told three separate public meetings in Louisiana that his organization intended to negotiate engineer-only agreements. Only the UTU's crew-consist agreements have prevented the BLE (and now BLET) from doing so.

The Value of Crew-Consist Agreements

Without crew-consist agreements, a majority of UTU yardmen, brakemen and conductors could lose their jobs.

As proof, look at carrier seniority rosters. Without the crew-consist agreements' protection of at least one conductor -- and, in some cases, a brakeman -- on each assignment, it is the engineers who keep their jobs (and share in any new productivity fund payments), and the train-service employees who lose their jobs, their health-care insurance and their Railroad Retirement.

It's as simple as that.

Teamster/BLET Empty Promises

Can you believe promises of the BLET and Teamsters?

Just the facts, ma'am.

In 1997, before it was absorbed into the Teamsters, the BLE played pied piper to conductors on Canada's VIA Rail, which is Canada's intercity rail passenger operator.

The BLE promised that if UTU-represented conductors voted to be represented by the BLE, the BLE would provide them with craft autonomy and protect those conductors' jobs.

The conductors voted for BLE representation.

Once the BLE had control of UTU contracts (lured the innocent conductors into the pied piper's cave), the BLE signed an engineer-only agreement with VIA Rail. Hundreds of conductors lost their jobs, their health care insurance and their retirement benefits. Families of VIA Rail conductors were devastated.

The Canadian Industrial Relations Board and the Canada Supreme Court agreed that the BLE "breached its statutory duty of fair representation."

FOOLED YA, FOOLED YA!

And what did the BLE say in its own defense? Its senior Canadian officer said under oath -- his hand on a Bible -- that BLE promises were merely "campaign rhetoric" intended to gain the confidence of UTU conductors.

The BLE's senior Canadian officer said, under oath, that the BLE "cannot be held accountable for what was said during a campaign, and there can be no reasonable expectation on the part of UTU members that they would obtain all that had been promised."

In other words, the BLE admitted its promises were intended only to gain A-Cards, and that UTU members, once having signed A-Cards, should not expect the BLE to deliver on any of its promises. (Kinda like being lured into a cave by a pied piper.)

The BLE is now a subsidiary of the Teamsters Union and is soliciting A-Cards from UTU members on Norfolk Southern -- all the while making new campaign promises.

As we were taught in school, you can't know where you are going unless you understand, and learn from, the past.

How Many Times?

How many times will UTU members allow themselves and their families to be victimized by an organization (a pied piper) that has a history of selling out conductor jobs?

Remember VIA Rail. Better yet, remember what the BLE said after selling out conductor jobs on VIA Rail: "There can be no reasonable expectation on the part of UTU members that they would obtain all that had been promised."

BLE: A History of Selling out Other Crafts

The BLE, or the BLET, or the Teamsters/BLET, or whatever it calls itself tomorrow (maybe the pied piper) cannot change is stripes.

The organization has a history of selling out other crafts. The VIA Rail sellout of conductor jobs was just the latest evidence of that organization's treachery.

Back in 1964, the BLE signed an agreement for engineers to work without a fireman (members of a UTU predecessor union, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, BLF&E) in exchange of $1.50 more per-day per-engineer.

Then in 1985, the BLE proposed its Lake Erie Plan, which would have reduced train-crew size to just two engineers represented by the BLE. In exchange for helping carriers eliminate all conductors and brakemen, BLE-represented engineers were to receive up to a 75 percent pay increase. Then-BLE President John Sytsma predicted, "Technology will permit engineer-only operations."

It was ONLY because of UTU crew-consist agreements that BLE's Lake Erie Plan could not be put into effect.

If we do not learn from the past, we are doomed to repeat our failures! The BLE -- as evidenced by its own actions -- is an organization that makes false promises and sells out other crafts. The BLET is a pied piper.

BLE Even Crosses Picket Lines

The BLET's ignominy goes further. The BLET's history of aggression against train service employees extends to crossing UTU picket lines.

As reported by the Journal of Commerce on Aug. 23, 1994, the then-BLE "authorized its members to cross UTU picket lines and return to work" during a UTU strike against the Soo Line Railroad. News reports described BLE's scab action as "unprecedented."

Transportation Communications Union President Robert Scardelletti expressed "shock" at the BLE's action and instructed TCU members to display "solidarity" with the UTU. Who Are the Teamsters?

The Teamsters, which once represented a majority of truck drivers, have lost half a million truck-driver members in recent years and haven't organized a major trucking company in more than 25 years!

Teamsters compared to Custer: Indeed, when the Teamsters sought to organize the fifth largest trucking company in America -- Overnite -- Teamster organizers were sent packing time and again. Only 687 of 12,000 Overnite employees wanted anything to do with the Teamsters. Traffic World magazine reported, "Three years ago, Jimmy Hoffa came in as George Patton. Now he's being carried out as George Custer."

Teamster drivers paid less: And where the Teamsters do hold contracts for truck drivers, those over-the-road drivers who compete with railroads earn less than railroad operating employees and have fewer benefits.

Teamster agreements limit freight by rail: Where the Teamsters do have those few contracts with trucking companies, its agreements limit how much freight can move by rail in trailers and containers. The Teamsters Union, run by truck drivers, is in direct competition with railroads and rail workers.

Teamster pension fund near bankrupt: Meanwhile, the Teamsters' Central States Pension Plan is on life-support, with truck-driver retirement benefits having been slashed.

Hoffa praises George Bush: Recently, Teamsters President Jim Hoffa praised President Bush's plan to open Social Security to change, which would also require opening Railroad Retirement to change by Congress. As USA Today reported, "Hoffa Praises Bush on Social Security."

There is legitimate fear the Teamsters would like Congress to make changes in Railroad Retirement to benefit the near-bankrupt Teamsters' Central States Pension Plan.

If the Teamsters control rail labor, then rail labor would have no independent voice in Washington to protect Railroad Retirement!

Teamsters out of step with AFL-CIO: Already we have seen neither the BLET nor the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes, both now absorbed into the Teamsters, utter a single peep in protest to Teamster President Jim Hoffa's support for President Bush's plan to open Social Security to change.

Every other labor union, as well as the AFL-CIO, is dead-set opposed to President Bush's plans for Social Security. But Teamsters President Jim Hoffa, who sat next to Mrs. Bush at a State of the Union Address, is praising George Bush.

Airline employees disaffiliate: Unable to organize truck drivers, the Teamsters turned to airlines for a short-lived honeymoon. Some 12,000 Northwest Airlines flight attendants plus some 3,000 Southwest Airlines mechanics recently disaffiliated with the Teamsters, complaining their crafts had no voice within the truck-driver dominated Teamsters.

According to news reports, the flight attendants said adios to the Teamsters after flight attendant delegates were verbally attacked for daring to question Teamster officers at a Teamsters convention. A federal government official monitoring the convention said the attack was coordinated by Teamster officials using walkie-talkies on the convention floor.

Teamsters under total control of truck drivers: Indeed, the Teamsters ruling body, its General Executive Board, is controlled by truck drivers and rail labor (the BLET and BMWE) has not a single seat on that 24-member ruling board.

According to Ken Paff of the Teamsters for a Democratic Union, there is no room in the Teamsters Union for "new voices, women, diverse workers ... or dissenting voices."

Teamsters: A Union in Deep Doo-Doo

The Teamsters Union "is the mother of American labor union corruption," says the National Institute for Labor Relations Research.

It details how local Teamsters officers who have sought to blow the whistle on the union have been murdered.

When Teamster Pete Camarata complained of greed and incompetence at a Teamsters convention, he was told by then-Teamsters President Frank Fitzsimmons to "go to hell," and rewarded with a "vicious beating" outside the convention hall, according to Michael J. Goldberg, vice dean and professor of Law at the Widener University School of Law, who has studied the Teamsters Union and failed efforts to reform it.

Former Teamsters President Jackie Presser told investigators, "If you're totally honest and you try to clean up the union like you say I should, and you try to do it fast enough and without making accommodations so the government won't get you, the other guys-the hoods-will get you."

With such a history, one would hardly expect a BLET or BMWE official to challenge the agenda of truck drivers running the Teamsters.

In fact, the BLET has yet to warn its members that beginning Jan. 1, 2006, the BLET must pay the Teamsters $11 every month for every BLET member (over and above existing BLET International dues). Ultimately, that $11 must be paid by each BLET member. That $11 per-capita fee is found in the BLE-Teamsters merger documents.

Also in those merger documents is a clause insulating the Teamsters from having to pay millions of dollars in damages expected as a result of the BLE's failure to fairly represent conductors on VIA Rail. Those damages were ordered paid by the Canada Industrial Relations Board and upheld by Canada's Supreme Court.

Nor has the BLET or BMWE voiced a single objection to Teamsters President Jim Hoffa's numerous recent threats to bolt from the AFL-CIO.

The Same Old Teamsters

In 1989, admitting to a history and culture of internal corruption, the Teamsters Union signed a consent decree, placing it "indefinitely" under the day-to-day watch of the Justice Department and the Labor Department.

As a result of that consent decree, the Teamsters created Project RISE (Respect, Integrity, Strength and Ethics) as a high-profile internal anti-corruption program. To head the project, the Teamsters hired attorney Edwin H. Stier, a former federal prosecutor.

But in 2004, Stier and his staff of investigators and lawyers resigned, saying the Teamsters had "backed away" from their anti-corruption plan "in the face of pressure from self-interested individuals," some with ties to organized crime, says Professor Goldberg.

The UTU's Record

In contrast to the BLE and its history of false promises, selling out other crafts and crossing picket lines, the UTU has focused on craft autonomy and craft protection.

Craft autonomy: The UTU is the only labor union that has united various operating crafts while protecting craft autonomy. Craft autonomy is written into the UTU Constitution. There is no such provision in the BLE or BLET/Teamsters Constitution.

Every UTU agreement must be ratified by every historical craft affected by that agreement. Smaller crafts have an equal vote as larger crafts.

Craft protection: The UTU pioneered craft protection among train and engine service employees who move in and out of various craft assignments -- from engineer to conductor to brakeman.

The UTU pioneered an agreement allowing qualified ground-service employees, working under UTU contracts, to transfer into engine service, retaining their ground-service seniority. Every operating employee -- be it engineer or train service employee -- owes their job to the efforts of the UTU.

Crew-consist and remote control agreements protect UTU members from total elimination via the adverse effects of new technology.

UTU led Railroad Retirement reform: The UTU took the lead on behalf of rail labor in coordinating Railroad Retirement reform, which reduced the retirement age (for full benefits) to age 60, and increased survivor benefits. The BLE and BMWE declined to participate in that effort.

UTU gained improved medical benefits: The UTU took the lead in amending the early-retirement medical plan by reducing to age 60 the minimum age for eligibility.

The UTU is the leader in allowing its rail members to choose from multiple medical benefit plans and medical benefit providers.

UTU's peer training initiative: The UTU took the lead in engineering peer-training and mentoring of new hires. Having new hires trained on the territory where they will work, and by those with whom they will work, is more effective than a one-size-fits-all training program by a carrier's outside contractor. The UTU has established successful peer-training demonstration programs on Union Pacific and Conrail Shared Assets Areas.

Remote control safety: The UTU has taken the lead in seeking improved training for remote control hires. Although the UTU would rather explain to its members why they have the remote control work rather than why they don't, the UTU has been active with the Federal Railroad Administration, the National Transportation Safety Board and Congress in seeking appropriate levels of training for those operating remote control and to ensure remote control is not used beyond its technological abilities.

It should not be overlooked that the BLET's opposition to remote control is only where the UTU holds the contract. On Montana Rail Link and Tex-Mex Railway, where the BLET holds the contract, it has not voiced objections to remote control In fact, the BLE negotiated the first remote control agreement -- on Montana Rail Link.

UTU the leader on fatigue issues: The UTU also has taken the lead on safety-related fatigue issues. For example, only the UTU is seeking from the carriers a guarantee that employees with sleep-related or other medical abnormalities gain protection against loss of employment. The UTU asked the BLET to join with it in working aggressively in a coordinated effort to gain that and other safety advances, but the BLET said it would do so only if the UTU let the Teamsters Union take charge.

UTU slowed harassment, intimidation: On Norfolk Southern, the UTU collected evidence of employer harassment and intimidation related to workplace injuries. The UTU alone worked with the Federal Railroad Administration to gain new protections and a commitment from the FRA that further instances of carrier harassment and intimidation would be referred to federal prosecutors.

UTU fighting bigger trucks: The UTU is the leader in fighting a law to permit longer and heavier trucks that suck jobs from railroads to trucking companies. Trucking companies want bigger trucks so they can reverse the growth of rail intermodal. Does anyone believe a truck drivers' union, the Teamsters, will fight to keep freight on the rails?

UTU defending crew consist, FELA: The UTU is the only union that has gone to court to stop the carriers from demands that crew consist agreements be re-opened for negotiation, and that the Federal Employers' Liability Act (FELA) be scrapped. (FELA allows injured railroaders to sue their employer for damages in the event of an injury. FELA is the single most important safeguard in pressuring carries to eliminate workplace hazards.) The BLET has done nothing to counter these carrier demands.

The Choice Is Clear -- UTU

Which is the best organization to protect the interests of yardmen, brakemen and conductors?

Is it the BLET, a union now dominated by truck drivers and with a demonstrated history of making false promises, selling out other crafts and crossing UTU picket lines?

Or is it the UTU, whose Constitution guarantees craft autonomy, holds crew-consist agreements that protect train-service jobs, and has been the leader in workplace safety, improved working conditions and better benefits?

Consistently, the UTU has been the leader on issues important to train and engine service crews, such as improved workplace safety, Railroad Retirement reform, FELA, Amtrak funding, drug testing, carrier harassment and intimidation, and the fight against longer and heavier trucks.

The UTU clearly is the best choice for job security. And that's just the facts, ma'am.

June 24, 2005

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CSX line sales, leasing could affect 250 jobs

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. -- CSX Transportation has invited eight short-line railroads to bid on buying or leasing two major rail routes in West Virginia and Western Maryland, an action that would directly affect about 250 employees, according to this report by Bob Withers published by the Herald-Dispatch.

"These lines require more capital than we are willing to invest, and we hope short-line operators can make their economics operate better than we currently can," said CSX spokesman Gary Sease in Jacksonville, Fla.

One of the routes runs generally east and west for 182 miles between Brooklyn Jct., near New Martinsville, W.Va., and Cumberland, Md., via Clarksburg and Grafton, W.Va. The other is a 116-mile north-south artery between Grafton and Cowen, W.Va.

If one of the short lines' bids is accepted, CSX employees will be given the choice of relocating to other routes operated by that carrier or applying to the leasing company for work -- in which case their seniority would start over and pay scales would be smaller.

The effect on jobs could spread to other areas traversed by CSX -- including Huntington -- in a trickle-down fashion because those who relocate could displace younger workers.

Most of the traffic on the routes is coal, and much of the terrain is mountainous, with steep grades and tight curves that increase track maintenance costs. Many of the trains in those territories require helper locomotives -- which are operated by an additional crew -- to shove from or near the rear, assisting the head-end power.

Sease noted that second main lines, branch lines, yard tracks and industrial tracks raise the total mileage to be sold or leased to 535.

CSX has set a goal of trimming 1,200 miles from the 23,000-mile, 23-state system this year, Sease said. Decisions are still being made.

Sease said the railroad has asked the eight short lines -- which it did not identify -- to submit their bids by July 20. A decision will be made within a few weeks afterward, and the company has reserved the right to reject all bids.

The U.S. Surface Transportation Board must approve any change in operating control, said Rudy Saint-Louis, an STB staff attorney.

"More than likely it would be approved, barring unforeseen circumstances," he said.

The plan concerns some CSX employees, but they declined to comment on the record. Retirees were more open.

"The company should consider the predicament they're putting these men in," said F.S. Furbee of Point Pleasant, W.Va., a retired CSX engineer. "They shouldn't be so concerned with making money that they refuse to consider the feelings of the people who have given them so many years of faithful service."

Kyle F. Hall of New Smyrna Beach, Fla., who used to run into Huntington, agreed.

"I don't think it could ever be a good deal for the employees," he said. "Going to work for the other company shouldn't be a choice they have to make. They would lose many of their fringe benefits, the security of a large corporation and much of their pay, particularly if the short line uses nonunion labor."

Hall also said short lines tend to use older locomotives that are more prone to breakdown and less environmentally friendly.

"It'll set railroading in that area back probably 20 years," he said.

Frank Wilner, director of public relations for the United Transportation Union, which represents 65,000 railroad conductors, engineers, firemen, hostlers and yardmasters, wasn't so pessimistic.

"Our primary objective has always been to keep freight on the rails and off the highways," Wilner said. "If the alternative is seeing abandonment of these lines, we would not necessarily oppose such leases if we were convinced that the alternative would be abandonment and scrapping of the rails."

Wilner said that, contrary to popular belief, the UTU holds more short-line labor contracts than all other unions combined.

"More than half of all short-line employees today work under union contracts," he said.

Wilner said that while it's true the short-line movement started with nonunion operators, those operators kept a tremendous amount of lines open, freight moving and people working.

"The old model -- opposing every abandonment, every sale and every lease -- just didn't work," Wilner said, adding that the principle applies especially to abandonments. "The company pulls the rails up, the freight goes to the highways and jobs are lost forever."

CSX is in the process of turning over a 182-mile route between Richmond and Clifton Forge, Va., to the 16-mile Buckingham Branch Railroad of Dillwyn, Va. And, earlier this year, the company leased a 276-mile former Pennsylvania Railroad mainline between Crestline, Ohio, and Chicago to RailAmerica Inc.

"The fact that there are parallel routes or the lines' economics made them good candidates," Sease said. "We are looking at how to make our network more efficient and concentrate our resources on those lines that provide the best returns to us."

(The preceding report by Bob Withers was published by the Herald-Dispatch on Wednesday, July 7, 2004.)

July 7, 2004

Troll · 500 - Internal Server Error

BLET members face huge legal fees

Proving the adage that people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) has set itself up for another expensive court-imposed fine on its members.

After Canadian regulators and courts imposed fines in the tens of millions of dollars on the BLET for failing properly to represent VIA Rail conductors, BLET members now face having to pay all the legal fees for railroad giants Burlington Northern, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific -- plus all the legal fees of the United Transportation Union -- because of a frivolous lawsuit the BLET filed.

Yes, BLET members face having to pay this bill -- not UTU members as the BLET wrongly claims.

The BLET alleged the UTU somehow is a company union because it entered into an indemnification agreement with the carriers relating to any legal challenges that may arise in the wake of a carrier letter-of-intent permitting UTU general committees of adjustment to impose seniority maintenance fees as a defense against BLET raiding of UTU members. The BLET long has had authority to impose such fees of its own, and recently successfully defended that right in an arbitration proceeding.

As for indemnification agreements that the BLET curiously claims are so offensive, they are, in fact, the rule in most union-shop agreements, where unions promise to pay any damages awarded in any lawsuit against the carriers as a result of enforcement of the union shop provisions -- and the BLET well knows that.

The reason unions are willing to agree to indemnification provisions is because the membership benefits from eliminating so-called "free riders" who get all the service from the union holding the contract without paying for it. That's unfair to conductors and trainmen who belong to UTU, and it's just as unfair to let BLET charge cheap dues -- or, in some cases, no dues -- to conductors and trainmen, which is designed to cripple the UTU as a representative.

The BLET conductor and trainmen members are no better than free riders or "no-bills." The seniority maintenance fee provisions of the letter of intent the UTU entered into with the carriers are designed to make sure that the loyal membership of UTU does not subsidize these free riders and no-bills, making the indemnification provisions well worth it, just as such a provision is worth it in union-shop agreements.

The UTU is not a company union any more than any union that tries to protect its members from attacks by the BLET's free riders.

So here's the rub that every BLET member should understand. The UTU plans to ask that the BLET pay all the attorney's fees because of the frivolous case it has brought here.

The fact is that the BLET made the very law it is attacking here in a six-year old case where it defeated the identical argument of UTU!

The BLET can't have it both ways. If the case it won six years ago is good law -- and it is because it is in line with even older cases from three different federal appeals courts -- then the BLET shouldn't be wasting this court's time and other parties' money to pay unnecessary attorney's fees.

If the court orders the BLET to pay all the attorney's fees for its frivolous case, it is BLET members who'll be asking the questions -- as they already are asking questions in regards to the tens of millions of dollars the BLET has been ordered to pay to the former VIA Rail conductors it failed to represent after enticing them to abandon the UTU and join the BLET.

December 17, 2004

Speaking of "No Bills"

Troll · 500 - Internal Server Error

BLE vs. UTU battle moves to Texas

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- An ongoing power struggle between the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) and the United Transportation Union (UTU) took another twist on May 29 when the National Mediation Board (NMB) determined that a "community of interest" exists on regional Texas-Mexican Railway, which is partly-owned by Class I Kansas City Southern (KCS), according to Railway Age magazine.

Community of interest refers to the blurring of traditional craft lines, where locomotive engineers, conductors, and brakemen can flow back and forth between assignments.

When BLE members voted down a BLE/UTU merger late last year, the UTU pledged to seek representation elections on all Class I railroads, starting with KCS.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the AFL-CIO's Transportation Trades Department (TTD) last week joined the BLE in pressing the NMB to halt the efforts of the UTU to create a single craft of train and engine service (T&ES) employees on the KCS. A nine-page brief filed by the Teamsters and the TTD said, among other things, that a "jilted" UTU "would now have the NMB abrogate the century-old division among the operating crafts on Class I rail carriers, a division that has been upheld by the NMB for nearly 70 years and do so...despite no legal or factual basis for the assertion that a consolidated craft of T&ES employees exists on the properties of KCS or, for that matter, any Class I carrier....The BLE's rejection of a merger with the UTU helps prove that the two groups do not share a community of interest."

The BLE late last week collected A Cards on the Tex-Mex, whose 114 T&ES employees are currently represented by UTU, Railway Age said.

But following the BLE's collection of the A Cards, the NMB ruled that a community of interest does in fact exist on the Tex-Mex. As a result, there will be a winner-take-all representational election on the Tex-Mex in mid-June, Railway Age reported.

"The finding by the NMB that a community of interest exists among train and engine service employees on the Tex Mex helps to validate our contention that similar cross-utilization exists on the Kansas City Southern, where the UTU is awaiting an NMB decision on our request for a representational election," said a UTU spokesperson. "The BLE has strengthened the UTU case by its action on the Tex-Mex."

The UTU said it is "confident" that Tex-Mex employees will vote to continue UTU's sole representation, and that the NMB "very shortly" will order a winner-take-all election on the KCS, where the BLE currently represents engineers and the UTU represents trainmen.

June 4, 2002

-- Edited by Troll at 19:01, 2008-03-27