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OUR COURSE IS STEADY; FAREWELL
On August 27, 1987 President Delaney stated that his goals had been accomplished, that the BLE's course was steady, and that he was retiring, passing the office of International President to Larry D. McFather who had been elected first vice-president in 1986.
Retiring International President Robert E. Delaney, right, hands the gavel to First Vice-President Larry D. McFather at the August 27, 1987 meeting of the BLE Advisory Board.
President McFather began his railroad career in 1959 on the Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe. When he assumed the office of international president in 1987, a vacancy was created in the office of first vice-president. The Advisory Board selected Vice-President Ronald P. McLaughlin to fill the vacancy.
A very significant act took place on June 22, 1988. U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed into law the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 1988 which included a provision that required engineers to be certified and licensed in order to perform their duties. While the leaders of the BLE had supported the original concept of engineer licensing and certification, in the end, the FRA created a regulation that placed an enormous burden upon engineers, including mandatory periods of suspension up to a maximum of five years. The BLE would challenge and seek to amend numerous sections of this new regulation.
Another round of national bargaining began in 1988. This began a bargaining process that would continue for more than three years, and would include a nationwide strike, another Presidential Emergency Board, and another government mandated collective bargaining agreement.
In 1988, the members in the U.S. voted to affiliate with the AFL-CIO and the members in Canada voted to affiliate with the Canadian Labour Congress.
The end of 1988 and into 1989, brought further aggression on the BLE by the UTU. These skirmishes began to attract the attention of other rail unions which viewed them as dividing and weakening rail labor as a whole.
One of the most heated representation elections in history was held in 1989 on the Norfolk Southern Railway. The UTU spent in excess of $1 million attempting to gain the votes of engineers on the NS. In the end, however, the engineers voted to be represented by the BLE rather than the UTU.
The BLE Safety Task Force was created in 1989 to assist the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) with accident investigations. BLE team members work alongside the National Transportation Safety Board investigators when accidents occur. This task force remains active today and has gained industry-wide respect for its investigative abilities and efforts.
The last half of 1989 and all of 1990 found the BLE leadership in bitter negotiations with the carriers on the wage rules movement. The National Mediation Board was called in to assist in these negotiations but the effort was futile. Eventually Presidential Emergency Board No. 219 was appointed to recommend a solution to the dispute. The recommendations were very disappointing to the BLE. Once again the carriers were successful in convincing a Board that engineers needed to make more concessions in the wage/ rules movement.
On April 17, 1991 the BLE engaged in a nation-wide strike. In less than 24 hours, Congress took action passing legislation and sending it to President George Bush who signed it into law, ordering the striking rail workers back to work.
In ordering the strikers to return to work, the legislation stated that the President of the United States would appoint a "Special Board" of three people to reconsider and clarify the recommendations of Presidential Emergency Board No. 219. This Board issued its report in July of 1991, basically rubber stamping the recommendations of the earlier Emergency Board. The carriers had won another battle.
As was the case in 1986, one month after the issuance of this report, the delegates to the Fifth Quinquennial Convention arrived in Cleveland. Their moods were not unlike those of the delegates to the previous convention. The results of their actions were very similar to those of 1986.
McLAUGHLIN ELECTED INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT
On August 19, 1991, 357 delegates were called to order for the opening of the Fifth Quinquennial Convention by incumbent President Larry D. McFather. He was challenged by First Vice-President Ronald P. McLaughlin and General Chairman Mark D. Waldemer from the Union Pacific Railroad. This three way race resulted in no candidate getting the necessary majority of votes needed to be elected. Therefore, a run off election between the two candidates receiving the most votes, McFather and McLaughlin, was held on August 22. The result of this election placed Ronald P. McLaughlin in the office of International President. Also elected to the Executive Committee at this convention were Clarence V. Monin, first vice-president and Edward Dubroski elected to the office of general secretary-treasurer.
President McLaughlin, a member of Division 538, began his railroad career in 1948 when he hired out as a fireman on the Milwaukee Road. As the gavel was passed to him, President McLaughlin stated to the delegates:
"I have said many times that if I was elected President, I would do everything possible to restore peace and harmony within this organization. This will be my number one priority."
One of the first acts of the new leadership was to petition the FRA for reconsideration of eight sections of the regulation concerning engineer certification and decertification. It is an ongoing process which attempts to make the more harsh provisions of the regulation i.e., the periods of decertification, more tolerable and more fair to the locomotive engineer.
The remainder of 1991 found the BLE fighting attempts by the carriers and the White House to weaken or eliminate the Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA). In addition, the BLE Education & Training Department was created, as mandated by the delegates at the last convention.
President McLaughlin started the year 1992 by testifying before a congressional committee, attacking the FRA's enforcement of safety regulations as being favorable to rail management and to the Association of American Railroads (AAR). He continued by calling for Congress to amend the Hours of Service Act to address the problem of engineer fatigue and exhaustion which was being identified by the National Transportation Safety Board as the primary cause of several recent derailments and accidents.
President McLaughlin saw the need to issue a "call to arms" in terms of voluntary contributions by members to the newly established Political Action Committee (BLE-PAC). He used the President's Message column in the Locomotive Engineers Journal to convey his message to the membership that it was critical to the organization to be able to have a fund that we could use to assist labor friendly candidates for public office. In launching the BLE-PAC in the spring of 1992 President McLaughlin stated:
"The reality is this: Norfolk Southern, CSX, Union Pacific, Santa Fe, Conrail, Southern Pacific are putting money, more money each year, into the political process hoping to get a few breaks on legislation such as Railroad Retirement, FELA, Hours of Service Act, or the next round of bargaining. If we walk away from the political and legislative game because we don't like the rules, then you can bet that the railroads are going to have more influence in the legislative process."
The message had the desired effect. Voluntary contributions began coming in and the BLE-PAC was on its way to becoming another tool for the organization to use in the political/legislative process for the benefit of locomotive engineers.
The conservative Canadian government, at the request of the Canadian railroad managements, was calling for a representation vote under Section 18 of the Labour Code of all operating railroad employees that would require the employees to be represented by only one union the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers or the United Transportation Union. This effort, if successful, would have eliminated one of the two unions in Canada. Foreseeing the danger of this management initiative, leaders of the BLE and the UTU met and formed what is now known as the Canadian Council of Railway Operating Unions (CCROU) which consisted of members of both unions. This council became a single bargaining unit in negotiations with the Canadian railways.
Another first for the BLE took place in the summer of 1992. For the first time in its history, the BLE publicly endorsed a candidate for the office of President of the United States. In the fall issue of the Locomotive Engineer Journal, President McLaughlin, supported the decision to endorse Democratic candidates Bill Clinton for president and Albert Gore for vice president:
"With all of our individual political leanings aside, the Advisory Board unanimously endorses Bill Clinton and Al Gore. We firmly believe that with these men in the White House, the BLE can serve you better in its bargaining and legislative roles to improve your working conditions as Engineers."
Many significant events occurred in 1993. A successful referendum was initiated that changed the Constitution and Bylaws to allow each division of the BLE to be represented by a delegate from its division at each International Convention. Prior to this change, divisions with less than 200 members were grouped together, i.e., two divisions represented by one delegate.
President McLaughlin began holding town hall meetings in 1993. These meetings were held in different cities where substantial numbers of members were located. The purpose of the meetings was to seek input from the rank and file members as to their concerns, problems and ideas. These meetings proved very beneficial and were very popular with the members.
On April 12, 1993 President McLaughlin was elected by acclamation to the position of Chairman of the Railway Labor Executive Association (RLEA). His election to this position represented the first time in the history of the RLEA and of the BLE that the International President of the Brotherhood held this position.
The American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA) and the BLE signed an agreement on July 16, 1993 which affiliated/merged the ATDA into the BLE. The dispatchers' organization is now the American Train Dispatchers Department (ATDD) of the BLE.
BLE President Ronald P. McLaughlin (seated, right) and American Train Dispatchers Association President Robert Irvin, left, sign the official merger agreement on July 16, 1993. Members of the committees who worked on making the historic even a reality were, from left, ATDA Vice-Presidents H.E. "Ed" Mullinax and G.D. "Dean" Bennett; BLE Vice-President William C. Keppen; BLE General Secretary-Treasurer Ed Dubroski; ATDA Vice-President William Clifford; BLE Vice-President George DeBoldt; ATDA Secretary-Treasurer Robert Rafferty; and BLE First Vice-President Clarence V. Monin.
Realizing that a new round of bargaining with the carriers would begin later in the year, President McLaughlin began considering alternatives to the traditional national bargaining that had produced substandard results in the three previous bargaining rounds.
In March of 1994, with the consent of the Advisory Board, McLaughlin recommended on-property bargaining to the general committees of adjustment as the means by which negotiations should be accomplished in the upcoming wage/rules movement. This type of bargaining consisted of the general committees on each individual railroad bargaining with representatives of their carrier separate from other carriers and other general committees. The general committees voted overwhelmingly in support of this recommendation.
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