|
 |
 |
|
| |
STRAIGHT TRACK
 |
Friday, April 30, 2004 |
Rail labor unions are proposing a unified bargaining front, BMWE’s Simpson says
 Several rail labor union officials are discussing the possibility of a unified approach to collective bargaining and lobbying. Since January, the officials have met several times to determine a coalition's structure, said Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes (BMWE) Acting President Fred Simpson in the union's March/April newsletter.
"I know that talk of grand bargaining coalitions run through rail labor before every round of bargaining — however, this time things will be different," he said. "What we have been discussing is the creation of a structure that identifies common issues, drafts common notices to the carriers and requires that the participants stay together until the agreements are ratified by the respective memberships."
Railroads have acted as a coalition for many years through the National Carriers’ Conference Committee.
"It’s about time we did the same thing," said Simpson, adding that the officials will meet again this month to continue discussions. "I'm very optimistic that in the 2005 round, rail labor will be unified to an extent not seen since the late 1970s."
In the meantime, BMWE continues to pursue a merger with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters under which BMWE would become part of the Teamsters' rail conference, joining the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. A BMWE committee is drafting a merger agreement to present to members — a vote might be scheduled later this year.
"[The merger] will provide greater bargaining, organizing and political punch for the membership without increasing the financial cost of these benefits," said Simpson. "Additionally, a merger will help unite rail labor by bringing the maintenance-of way-workers and locomotive engineers together in a single union with the resources provided by a 1.4 million member union."
2:39:07 PM 
Google It!
|
|
|
Thursday, April 29, 2004 |
Why May 1 must be celebrated
The United States has the bloodiest history of labor of any
industrialized nation on Earth. It is a story rich in human drama and
tragedy. It is also one of progress and hope.
The battle for the eight-hour work day was one of the longest and most
difficult in American labor history. The fact that it is now taken for
granted and its tragic history buried is a terrible loss.
In 1884, a group of union leaders and radical activists declared that by
May 1, 1886 eight hours was to be considered a legal work day. The
resolution gained support among workers as many were forced to work 12-
and sometimes 16-hour days. Tens of thousands of workers across the
nation walked out that day protesting for the eight-hour day. The
workers at the McCormick Reaper plant outside of Chicago were among
them.
On May 3. Pinkerton guards (a private militia group hired by the
management) and police opened fire on the strikers at McCormick's plant.
Four were killed and many others wounded.
Labor leaders and other radical activists called a peaceful rally for
the next day near Haymarket Square in Chicago. After speeches by many
leaders of the movement, the day turned rainy and cold. The final
speaker was just finishing his speech when the police decided that the
crowd needed to disperse, although at this point most of the crowd had
already left.
Someone, it has never been determined who, threw a bomb into the group
of police. At this the police opened fire. They shot indiscriminately
killing and wounding many in the crowd, and very likely among the police
as well. It is in large part because of this that the actual number
killed and wounded by the bomb will never be known.
The Haymarket tragedy threw the police and the public into a frenzy.
What followed is a dark moment in the history of the U.S. justice
system.
The chief commissioner for the case fueled the public outcry by
falsifying reports of weapons seizures and staging raids on known
anarchist and labor leaders. They broke into the offices of the local
labor presses and destroyed their printing equipment. Eight labor
leaders and writers were charged with conspiracy to murder and
convicted. The prosecuting attorney at the trial said: "These men have
been selected, picked out by the grand jury and indicted because they
were leaders . . . Convict these men, make examples of them, hang them
and save our institutions." The men were not on trial, the labor
movement was.
While none of them had been present at the bombing (except one who was
on the speaker's podium), four of them were executed, one died in prison
(suicide), and three were later pardoned.
The police crackdown, the show trial, and the witch-hunt that followed
convinced labor leaders to declare May 1 an international workers' day.
May Day has been celebrated nationally and internationally since. But
the U.S.government felt threatened by the radical history of May Day,
and so it created Labor Day on Sept. 1, a day with no historical
significance.
Why celebrate May Day? May 1 is the only day to recognize the
international struggle for worker's rights. It is also a day rich in a
history that is all but forgotten today.
If we allow the struggles of the past to slip into oblivion we will be
destined to have to fight these battles again. We must remember the cost
in human lives and suffering that go into the rights that we consider so
basic and fundamental today.
SIMON LIVINGSTON
Savoy, April 21, 2004
4:41:47 PM
Google It!
|
|
|
Wednesday, April 28, 2004 |
|
Tuesday, April 27, 2004 |
I see that Editor Sarge is supporting the movement to require all high UTU officers to sign the same pledge of allegiance that was foisted on the lawyers. Makes sense to us. He's also recommending each local designate a good FELA law firm and forget what Cleveland recommends. All politics is local.
The latest issue of Snakebites is available now.
1:08:47 PM
Google It!
|
|
|
Sunday, April 25, 2004 |
As one brother asked, "Where's our UTU on this issue?"
BLET calls for corporate governance reform at Union Pacific
CLEVELAND, April 22 -- Roughly 19 million shares (9.5% of voting shares) were cast in support of a Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) shareholder proposal at the Union Pacific Corporation’s annual shareholders meeting in Salt Lake City last week.
9:38:00 AM
Google It!
|
|
At least the SOFA folks have figured something out - that accidents have multiple interwoven causes. Unfortunately they are still limiting their analysis to the bottom operational level and looking for a solution through more rules compliance and behavior modification of the victims.
Safety alert: Reducing switching accidents
CLEVELAND, April 22 -- The Switching Operations Fatality Analysis (SOFA) Group has issued its safety statistics for the month of January of 2004.
According to SOFA, there were 11 “severe injuries” in switching operations in January, including two amputations.
9:35:01 AM
Google It!
|
|
|
Friday, April 16, 2004 |
"Union Pacific doesn’t have a manpower shortage. They have a brainpower shortage. Until that gets fixed, 3000 new employees will only be getting in each others way." (TF)
An Open Letter to Our Customers
April 15, 2004
To Our Customers:
This is a report to provide you with current information on Union Pacific service issues. Today, we find ourselves in the position of having more business in certain geographic areas than we can handle at this time, and the resulting pressure on our resources has caused a deterioration of service. We recognize that we are failing to satisfy your expectations as well as our own. We know that many of you are concerned about our ability to provide reliable transportation at a time when your business needs are growing…in some cases rapidly.
Here is how we got into this situation:
The problem started with a shortage of train crews. Our manpower plan going into 2003 was developed by analyzing our historic business levels and by surveying our customers to learn their anticipated needs for the upcoming year. We took into account that forecasted economic growth for the prior two years had not materialized. Based on these factors, we made the decision to keep our manpower tight. The year 2003 started out, as had the prior two years, with actual demand substantially below our projections. This continued through the first three quarters and our decision to keep manpower levels tight appeared to be correct. However, unlike 2001 and 2002 when the planned recovery didn't materialize, demand turned quickly upwar! d in the fourth quarter of 2003.
A word about manpower at the railroad: There is a very long lead time from the time an employee is hired until he or she is qualified for train service. New employees must complete classroom and on-the-job training that lasts at least 14 weeks before they can become a brakeman/conductor. Locomotive engineers are drawn from the ranks of experienced conductors and must then complete an additional training program that can take six months. Both positions are subject to stringent federal and company safety rules that limit the amount of time they can be on duty in any given 24-hour period.
This time-consuming process severely limits our ability to ramp up quickly in response to sudden increases in demand and prevents a quick fix. As a result, when the economic recovery actually appeared in the latter part of last year, and demand surged, we could not add qualified crews fast enough – in effect reducing the capacity of our system.
Starting just before the last quarter of 2003, demand began increasing across all our businesses at rates well beyond the high end of our planning, and it accelerated further in the first quarter of this year. For example, we projected that our whole-grain business would increase 5.6% during the first quarter of 2004. We actually handled 9.9% more traffic while demand was up 15.0%. Similarly, lumber shipments were projected to be up 3-4% as we put our plan together, but first quarter demand jumped to the 20-23% range. Our actual performance was 8.5% above first quarter 2003 – about twice the level for which we had planned. One large customer told us to plan on an increase of 6% for this year and its shipments are up 19%. The! re are many similar examples in all of our business groups where demand was several times higher than predicted. While we are usually pleased with increases in demand, our inability to quickly meet these new levels has become obvious – and is very frustrating.
The combination of a shortage of train crews and the dramatic increase in demand for service created huge stress on our system. This strain manifested itself by increasing the time it takes to recover from external problems such as winter storms and major derailments. While a fully resourced system could recover in a few days from a severe storm such as we experienced in the Pacific Northwest in January or those that followed in the Midwest, it took us several weeks. Usually the disruption from a major service interruption is manageable; however, without a resilient system, the effects are far reaching and time consuming.
With our recovery capacity reduced, our system velocity began to slow late in January. This, in turn, makes the system less efficient and consumes more of our basic resources: crews, locomotives, freight cars, main lines and terminal capacity. As more of these resources are consumed, the system's ability to recover is further degraded, making recovery even more difficult.
Here is what we have done to date to restore our system:
 We are hiring and training people as fast as we can consistent with maintaining high safety standards.
Since we began hiring last fall to meet higher demand levels, we have hired over 2,700 people for train service and are on plan to hire an additional 1,250 people in the second quarter alone. In fact, a total of 961 trainmen completed training in the first quarter of 2004 and an additional 397 will graduate in April. Nearly 3,700 people will complete their training and enter train service by September. In the meantime, we also moved employees back into service from other segments of the workforce, shifted qualified employees from surplus areas to areas with shortages, and temporarily borrowed employees from other railroads. New conductors and switchmen are pouring onto the system, but we need to train more conductors to be engineers. A major focus for the next few months will be to qualify more engineers to run our trains.
We are acquiring additional locomotives as quickly as they are available.
Our original! plan for 2004 was to acquire 150 new locomotives. In response to the increased demand, we are taking delivery this year on an additional 120 units previously scheduled for 2005. Also, we have leased 300 more units under short-term leases. We are negotiating for an additional 50 similar units, for a total of 620 units. If needed we have the option to pull ahead the delivery of an additional 125 new units. This represents all of the locomotives available on the market this year. Lastly, we are delaying the retirement of older units until we are sure they are no longer needed.
We are taking other steps to increase our system velocity.
We created special Customer! Service Centers in the critical locations of Phoenix, AZ, and West Colton! , CA. We are building temporary transloading facilities in California and Arizona to keep rail cars out of congested yards, and we are rebuilding a number of tracks in key rail yards to expand their capacity. We are rebuilding one of our rail yards in Los Angeles and reopening our switching yard in Yermo, CA. These actions are allowing us to first recover our fluidity in that region and then to manage the increased demands for service in the West.
We are managing the flow of rail cars onto our network.
We are curtailing several reso! urce intensive trains on our Sunset Corridor between Los Angeles and the East. We are working with a number of customers on switching schedules and other scheduling opportunities as well.
With the current demand for transportation far outstripping the available supply, the most effective tool we have to control volume growth on our railroad is price. As such, we are taking pricing actions to bring supply and demand into balance.
Here is how we are also investing for the future:
We are investing for capacity growth.
We plan to spend approximately $2 billion of cap! ital this year – an increase of 8% over 2003, including a 68% increase in capacity spending targeting key corridors. We are adding Centralized Traffic Control on our line between Chicago and Omaha, doubletracking more of the Sunset Route, and improving our Chicago-Texas-Mexico capacity.
We'll invest over $200 million in manifest and intermodal terminals in 2004; an increase of 35% over last year, with projects designed to support growth in many areas of the business.
In fact, Union Pacific has spent $18 billion of capital since the UP/SP merger to replace rail and ties, add capacity, and to ! invest in other assets.
Here are the current problem areas:
We confront our greatest challenges in Southern California, the Phoenix and Tucson areas, and throughout the western part of our system, where the crew shortages are greatest. We recently faced a new difficulty across the border in Mexico, where floods washed out a major bridge on Ferromex, south! of Eagle Pass, TX. This contributed toward some congestion in the Houston area, although most of our Southern Region is in good shape. We just finished a major track project in Central Texas, which should improve traffic flows to and from Houston. We suffered from two major derailments that crippled us last month in the Midwest. One shut down our Chicago-Omaha main line in Iowa, and it was followed immediately by a derailment that destroyed a bridge on our busy line northwest of Kansas City. Those routes have largely been restored.
In conclusion, we are experiencing record demand that is negatively impacting our velocity and service levels. We are intensely focused on the steps outlined above – hiring and training qualified train crews, acquiring sufficient numbers of locomotives, adjusting our operating plans to reflect increased demand, and investing for future capacity.
We will continue to provide regular updates on our situation so that you can accurately assess our progress. Efficient and timely service is our goal and we look forward to once again achieving this important objective.
We will continue to provide regular updates on our situation so that you can accurately assess our progress. Efficient and timely service is our goal and we look forward to once again achieving this important objective.
Executive Vice President-Marketing and Sales
10:05:33 AM
Google It!
|
|
|
Thursday, April 15, 2004 |
|
Seems UTU has trimmed the DLC roles to a lean 19. Out of 50 plus lawfirms these are the only ones who would sign the "oath" that they had not collaborated with the ENTERPRISE. That leaves 30 plus who were either participants or refused to play this game. A reliable source informs us that a next round of indictments is coming soon. This will involve International VPs and General Chairmen. How much more of this can the UTU take? Will it survive? Will FELA survive? Depends pretty much on you guys. Join MAC at www.reformit2004 .org
19 DLC attest compliance with ethics guidelines |
| CLEVELAND -- Numerous attorneys who held United Transportation Union designated legal counsel (DLC) status were removed from the "recommended" list after they resigned and/or failed to attest to the fact that neither they, nor any member of their firms, violated the UTU's Rules of Conduct for DLC by making cash payments to any of four defendants who pled guilty in criminal proceedings in Houston, Texas. |
5:02:23 PM
Google It!
|
|
| Former officer charges UTU International president |
| CLEVELAND -- Former UTU General Secretary and Treasurer Roger Griffeth has filed formal charges, under Article 25 of the UTU Constitution, against UTU International President Paul C. Thompson.
A determination will be made by the UTU Executive Board whether to accept and hear the charges. When that decision is made, it will be posted on the UTU website. If the accused responds to the charges under provisions of Article 25, that response also will be posted on the UTU website.
The letter sent by Griffeth to the Executive Board may be read by clicking this link. |
| April 15, 2004 |
4:47:04 PM
Google It!
|
|
|
Wednesday, April 14, 2004 |
Roger Griffeth, on behalf of every UTU member, files a complaint with the DOL after seeking all internal remedies:
Election Complaint To Department of Labor regarding UTU 2003 Election for International President
"Please accept this letter as a formal election complaint as provided for by the LMRDA.
Prior to filing this complaint I have exhausted the remedies available under the Constitution of the UTU. Under the provisions of Article 16, the parent body has been provided the first opportunity to review and resolve this election complaint. In keeping with due process, the assistance of the Department of Labor (OLMS) is now being solicited as a "last resort" — the final appeal for my complaint."
8:06:32 AM
Google It!
|
|
Finally comes the official press release of the Houston US Attorney on the matter of Byron Boyd's and John Rookard's guilty plea:
INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT OF UNITED TRANSPORTATION UNION PLEADS GUILTY TO LABOR RACKETEERING
CONTACT AUSA: Edward F. Gallagher
PHONE: (713) 567-9343
(HOUSTON, TX) United States Attorney Michael Shelby announced that Byron Boyd , 57, of Seattle, Washington, the current International President of the Cleveland, Ohio based United Transportation Union, pled guilty late this afternoon to labor racketeering conspiracy. John Rookard , 58, Olalla, Washington, a special assistant and project coordinator to Boyd, plead guilty yesterday afternoon to the same charge.
7:54:24 AM
Google It!
|
|
|
Thursday, April 08, 2004 |
To RRESQ:
Upon receipt of the annual report as a stock holder for Union Pacific I noticed some conflicting figures in this report that I would like to share with you.
In this report they mention "Casualty Costs" which includes personal injury expenses, freight and property damage,insurance, environmental matters,and occupational illness expenses. In 2003 the Union Pacific posted a 16% increase in this expendature over and above the 2002 expenditure. This increase resulted to $57,000,000 more being spent in 2003 verses 2002. And the disturbing fact is that this all took place with remote control locomotive technology leading the way. I thought that remote control technology was supposed to be the saving grace of the railroad by reducing personal injury and freight claim expenditures. I wonder how the Union Pacific Railroad will try to cover this up even though they list it as an expenditure in their annual report.
For the record the Union Pacific paid out 416,000,000 in caualty costs in 2003 verses $359,000,000 in 2002. How do they justify this increase when as I stated before remote control technology was supposed to significantly reduce this expenditure.
Very upset shareholder.
8:54:12 PM
Google It!
|
|
Members urged to oppose Minn. heavy-truck bill now
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Members are being urged to contact Gov. Tim Pawlenty immediately to express their opposition to legislation that would increase truck weights to nearly 100,000 pounds.
An action alert distributed today (April 8) by UTU Minnesota State Legislative Director John Smullen said opposition to House File 804 and Senate File 1324 can be expressed to the governor by calling 1-800-657-3717 or (651-296-3391.
"Please tell Gov. Pawlenty: 'We do not want heavier trucks damaging our bridge and roads and endangering our lives,'" Smullen said.
House File 804 and Senate File 1324 will allow much heavier trucks on Minnesota highways for transporting all unfinished forest products. The bill will allow six-axel 98,000-pound trucks in the winter and 90,000-pound trucks during all other times of the year.
Not only are heavier trucks bad for the state's infrastructure, Smullen said, but the big rigs pose a safety hazard. "One study showed that as weights went from 65,000 pounds to 80,000 pounds, the risk of a crash being fatal goes up 50%," he said.
Early estimates of the bridge weight analysis indicate heavier trucks will cost the local government $2.2 million, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MNDOT), not including the actual damage of heavier trucks. The additional damage and costs associated with the repairs to northern routes will divert precious financial resources from road and bridge repair needs and also other potential projects, such as public transportation, Smullen said.
"And this is just the beginning," the alert said. "Other special interests, including waste haulers, dairy trucks, live stock trucks and farm product haulers, have all sought increased weight exemptions this year."
Also, according to the 2000 National Bridge inventory data, there are 161 bridges in Minnesota on the National Highway System that are "structurally deficient" or "functionally obsolete," the alert said. "With Minnesota's current budget deficit of more than $1.953 billion (Minnesota Budget Project 2003), we cannot afford to jeopardize more of our bridges with heavier trucks," the alert said.
"The U.S. Department of Transportation estimated bridge costs associated with nationwide operation of heavier trucks at $329 billion ($65 billion in capital costs and $264 in user delay costs)," Smullen said. "One 40-ton single trailer truck does as much pavement damage to the road as 9,600 cars, and one 50-ton single trailer truck does as much pavement damage to the road as 27,000 cars."
Those with more questions about the legislation can contact Michael Guest at 612-724-9454 or John Smullen at (763) 788-3594.
6:27:10 PM
Google It!
|
|
|
Monday, April 05, 2004 |
Reuters
Union Pacific limits rail customers - WSJ
Monday April 5, 4:02 am ET
NEW YORK, April 5 (Reuters) - Union Pacific Corp. (NYSE: UNP - News), the largest U.S. rail freight operator, has asked customers to reduce their use of the railroad as it works out problems with traffic congestion and crew shortages, the Wall Street Journal said on Monday.
Union Pacific officials are asking a few customers to use truck shipments, limit new railroad business and examine ways to reduce the number of train crews needed for loading and unloading, the Journal cited a company spokesman as saying.
Problems with its service have plagued the company since late last year, the Journal said.
Union Pacific's biggest headaches are in the Los Angeles area and along its active freight route running from California to Texas, the story said.
The Journal said the Omaha, Nebraska-based company underestimated how many crew members would leave after changes in the federal retirement law for railroad workers, leaving the company with too few locomotive engineers and conductors.
At the same time, the railroad has seen a jump in demand for rail service recently in line with the recovery in the U.S. industrial economy coupled with a strong grain harvest.
A company representative was not immediately available to comment.
Associated Press
Union Pacific Declining Some Business
Friday April 2, 5:08 pm ET
By Joe Ruff, Associated Press Writer
Union Pacific Corp. Declining Some Business As It Struggles With Train Crew Shortage
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Union Pacific Corp., the nation's largest railroad, is declining some business as it struggles with a train crew shortage that has its system near capacity.
For one month beginning Monday, United Parcel Service will put packages on trucks that normally would run express rail routes once a week each way from Los Angeles to New York, Dallas and Memphis.
"They explained they had been having some congestion problems," said Norman Black, a spokesman for UPS. "They need to get a handle on them quickly."
Union Pacific will pay the added costs of drivers, gasoline and other expenses of putting those items on trucks, Black said.
The express routes are a minor part of UPS business with Union Pacific, and it is important that the railroad get any problem corrected before it deepens across the railroad's system, Black said.
"The vast majority of our volume is running on their regular trains," Black said.
Union Pacific is the nation's largest railroad, stretching across 23 states in the western two-thirds of the country.
Its traffic snarled in 1997 and 1998 as it adjusted to its merger with Southern Pacific Railroad. Train speeds then dropped as low as an average of 12 mph.
Today's problem is not as significant, with train speeds averaging about 21.5 mph, down from about 25 mph for first quarter 2003, railroad spokesman Gene Hinkle said.
Still, the railroad has heard complaints from some customers about slower service, and it began hiring train crews at an accelerated rate late last summer to get the railroad back up to speed, said Kathryn Blackwell, general director of corporate communications.
Service problems began as business surged and trains slowed along the Sunset Corridor, which runs from Los Angeles to El Paso, Texas, Blackwell said. West Coast ports have been busy with imports from Asia that Union Pacific ships across the country, Blackwell said.
The nation's economy has rebounded more quickly and with more strength than Union Pacific and its customers had anticipated, Blackwell said.
In addition, more engineers and conductors have retired than had been expected under new federal rules that allow them to leave at age 60 with 30 years of service, Blackwell said.
The railroad expects to hire 4,000 train crew workers through this year, with about half in new positions and half covering normal attrition, Blackwell said. The railroad employs about 20,000 engineers and conductors.
Shipments of coal, industrial products and consumer goods all are growing, Blackwell said. "There is more business than we can handle, really," Blackwell said. "We don't have the crew base to deal with it."
Blackwell declined to discuss the slowdown's effect on specific customers. The railroad may have turned down some business when it could not meet time or other specifications for deliveries, but it has not been a widespread occurrence, she said.
Earlier this month, Union Pacific said it would not meet its earnings forecast for its first quarter ended March 31 in part because of its crew shortage. It also blamed an adverse $30 million court judgment, severe winter weather and high fuel costs.
12:59:33 PM
Google It!
|
|
|
Sunday, April 04, 2004 |
Subject: Union Pacific, UPS, Meltdown.
Thought you guys might be interested in this:
Message: 3
Date: Tue, 30 Mar 2004 10:07:49 -0700
From: "Huggins, Michael" michael.huggins@schwab.com
Subject: UP Screwing up UPS' Bullet Trains and shipping by Truck
The word is starting today and going for at least four weeks UPS on UP will be operated as follows:
Hot day traffic between Little Ferry, NJ and Los Angeles will be trucked at UP expense in both directions. That would be the Tuesday bullet trains on UP and CSX.
Hot day traffic between Memphis, Dallas and Los Angeles will be operated over the highway at UPS expense.
Cold day traffic between Los Angeles and Bergen (20 to 40 trailers per day, four days per week) will be handled by BNSF.
BNSF is almost at capacity on its transcon and does not want this business back. The business growth is overwhelmingly China boxes and U.S. truckload stuff - not high priority goods. With more and more of these 8000-foot double stack trains running on the Transcon, it's harder and harder to keep them moving when the Z trains are overtaking them every hour. The UPS NYC-LA business that BNSF is again hauling for at least the next four weeks will be added to existing Willow Springs-Los Angeles trains.
This is all happening because UP is having another meltdown on the Sunset Route in and out of LA in general. On Sunday it is reported that 55 trains - 30 westbound and 25 eastbound - between El Paso and Long Beach that were either sitting on sidings or waiting for a chance to leave Long Beach. Is the Alameda corridor not working. Yet they can get engineering specials over the road in record times.
5:18:25 AM
Google It!
|
|
|
Saturday, April 03, 2004 |
Roger writes yet another letter, this time to the acting IP Thompson:
He reminds him of the previous letter he sent to now retired IP Boyd concerning the 2003 elections at the convention in light of the recent information implicating elected officials in an illegal scheme to influence the delegates and control the electoral process. What will IP Thompson do about this? Do you think the delegates and members deserve another shot at it???
10:24:23 AM
Google It!
|
|
|
Friday, April 02, 2004 |
Roger Griffeth drafts another letter to Cleveland:
This time he is bringing VP Hakey up on charges for violating his oath of office under Article 41 of the UTU Constitution.wherein he pledges:
"to so conduct myself at all times as not to bring reproach upon my union and at all times bear true and faithful allegiance to the United Transportation Union."
Roger charges:
I allege that Brother Hakey directed illegal campaign contributions from employers to finance various clandestine operations designed to conceal from the membership, and the U.S. Government, reportable financial transactions that could have affected the outcome of the 1995 election for International officers, specifically the office of International President.
and
In keeping with the provisions of Article 25, this will serve as advance notice to all parties that I have secured the cooperation of Brother Jack Arnold, who will testify in the manner described under Article 25. Brother Arnold has agreed to provide the Executive Board with full and factual details regarding a number of meetings at which Brother Hakey personally directed the financial resources of employers to conduct meetings at various locations within the United States. Brother Arnold’s verbal testimony will support the allegations of my charge. In addition to Brother Arnold, I reserve the right to call other witnesses as needed.
And surprisingly, the "official" UTU website is reporting it at
http://www.utu.org/worksite/detail_news.cfm?ArticleID=13073
9:06:48 PM
Google It!
|
|
|
Thursday, April 01, 2004 |
Michael D. Priester
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen
1400 East Pugh Dr.
Terra Haute IN 47802
RE: BLE Tentative agreement discussion (VFW Cottage Grove Minn
3/27/04)
Dear Sir and Brother;
As a trainman in the newly formed BLET member of the rail conference
under the umbrella of the Teamsters I came to this meeting to observe what
was being offered to the Engineers. I came with an eye as to how I could go
about recruiting new trainmen with the hopes that someday BLET would be
handling the trainman's contract on this property. After years of fighting
with the UTU the BLE finally took a step towards STRENGTH & POWER by merging
with the TEAMSTERS-creating "a seamless transportation union" as stated by
IBT president James Hoffa. This was not only done on the CPRS property, but
across the whole country & Canada as well.
I'm quite sure CPRS saw this movement towards growing strenth & is now
out to "nip it in the bud" before large numbers of UTU members jumped ship &
joined the BLET in the hopes of bettering their lives also.
One didn't have to look very far into this new proposal to see that it
was written on TOILET PAPER & that CPRS is not going to offer this newly
formed organization anything but CRAP. Mr Priester-for you & V.P. McPherson
to bring this contract to a vote & state that this is the best offer after
20 meetings with the company reveals pure and total INCOMPETANCE on your
parts.
We merged with the Teamsters to gain strength and to use Teamster
resources so as to negotiate and secure stronger contracts-DID YOU GO TO THE
IBT and state "hey we just merged with you and now the railroad is handing
us crap and WE NEED YOUR HELP!"? Apparently no-this was only presented to
the membership and most feel that you two were actually promoting it! And
when a question was brought up concerning a certain issue you tended to
argue with the member until the other members would create an uproar. Then
you guys would change colors like chamelions and seem to side with the
member in some manner and assure him that he could always vote "no". To be
explaining the the many issues with this contract is one thing but to be
promoting this crap is unconsciounalbe for union officers.
If you really don't want to hear the objections of your membership read
no further; but here is the long and short of what I heard in the room that
day. "NO to copays...NO on side letter 18 {editor's note; making it
possible for the carrier to annull extra men's whole one day off a
week}...NO on 'trick rates' {editor's note; CPRS supplied NO hard and fast
numbers on these and wants the engineers to buy that horse sight
unseen!}...NO on this...NO on that..." And even "NO!" from stockholding
engineers who do everything they can out there to get the trains over the
road in a safe and fuel efficient manner.
Hopefully this "April Fool's Day joke four days early" of contract will
get voted DOWN! Before you go back to the drawing board you could GO TO THE
TEAMSTERS & get SOME EDUCATION AND TRAINING and maybe even some Teamster
experts. Otherwise we might as well pull out of the IBT-what with all their
expertise and resources sitting there unutilized anyhow- and JOIN THE GIRL
SCOUTS! CPRS has not wanted to be in national handling for over two decades
now except to where national agreements benefit them. Then they scream
"pattern" and demand that because Johnny Jones in the national jumped off a
cliff then we must do so also. BS! This is a BLET/CPRS contract and maybe
a good place to start to STOP the destruction of the rail worker in this
country! We cannot do it alone, and unless you and Mr. McPherson are
willing to do what must be done you should either resign or figure on being
replaced at the earliest opportunity.
Fraternally,
D.A. Heath
BLET # 357
CC:Mcpherson, LC Kepka, Hahs, Hoffa, members
PS. And as far as "pattern bargaining" goes; isn't that union that started
the pattern (UTU) under RICO indictment? Haven't some of UTU's top leaders
already been convicted with more indictments said to be coming? And aren't
once good railroad jobs across the country being devalued to the point where
almost nobody will do them... all on account of this never relenting
CORPORATE GREED? Time to take a stand and this is the time and this is the
place!
1:27:12 PM
Google It!
|
|
© Copyright 2005 The Usual Suspect.
Last update: 5/25/2005; 4:34:11 PM.
|
|
|
