Ron Kaminkow, BLET Division 27
Ed Michael, Pres., BLET Division 724
Mike Prince, Legislative Rep BLET Division 724
Jeff Ruha, UTU Local 1614 Delegate
Brad Thompson, Local Chairman BLET Division 442
Jeanette Wallis, BLET Division 518
Chet Whyers, Legislative Rep UTU Local 979
April 29,2005. Railroad engineers and trainmen are coming together to form a new organization called Rail Operating Crafts United (ROCU) to promote rank and file solidarity between two unions that have been at odds for decades. We hope to end the self-destructive policies that have arisen from a long history of conflicts.
Railroad engineers and conductors work side by side on trains, fight the same abusive companies, wrangle with the same out-dated labor law, and endure the same struggles with fatigue and unsafe working conditions. Yet the union that represents most conductors, the United Transportation Union (UTU), and the union that represents most engineers, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET, a division of the Teamsters), all too often fall for the carriers' "divide and conquer" tactics. On many issues such as new technology and crew size, the leaders of the two unions have failed to stick together and have even been willing to undercut each other. Nothing could please the employers more.
Tensions between the UTU and BLET are so strained at this point that there is practically open warfare between them. At any given moment, one union is raiding the other somewhere on the continent, and on their websites you can find articles that dredge up grudges dating from the 1960s.
The truth is, both unions have made mistakes and both unions and their respective memberships have been harmed. As long as the union officers pay more attention to assigning blame and exacting revenge than they do to building solidarity, the rank and file will suffer from weak contracts.
In fairness, the international unions have tried before to merge, but the effort was voted down by the engineers. However, many rank and file members say that they rejected the merger because there was too much focus on protecting the perks and privileges of the officers and not enough attention paid to the members. Instead of listening to the members’ concerns and trying to come up with a better merger agreement, the unions used the failure as a launching pad for more blame and retaliation.
Nastiest Demands Ever
The current situation is that the railroads have made their boldest, nastiest contract demands ever on freight workers and the Bush administration is poised to virtually annihilate Amtrak. If rail workers lose FELA (the legislation that allows injured railroad workers to sue their employers for damages), as the carriers are proposing, will there be any comfort in pointing at another union and saying, "it’s their fault because they sold out first"? If the employers get away with one-person crews, will it feel good to say, "at least we made sure the other union is a little bit worse off than we are?" Of course not. Moreover, this inter-union warfare hurts not just the BLET and UTU, but all rail workers who are trying to stand up to employers’ demands for givebacks.
If the BLET President Donald Hahs and UTU President Paul Thompson cannot provide the kind of leadership that is needed to stand united, then the rank and file must establish a network to build solidarity from the bottom up. Any BLET or UTU member who would like to be part of this network should email ROCU at rocutoday@gmail.com .
