Spring 2003
Volume 110 - No. 1
Spring 2003
Volume 110 - No. 1
BLE Focus
The Membership Speaks
Results from BLE survey and poll show member
support for IBT affiliation
If an election were held today, more than three-quarters of BLE members would vote to support an affiliation with the Teamsters Union (IBT), according to results from both a direct membership survey of BLE members and a scientific telephone poll.
The union conducted the two studies in order to find out what the members
think of the potential affiliation with the International Brotherhood of
Teamsters. The members spoke loudly and clearly.
"The poll and member survey conclusively demonstrate that BLE members feel they will benefit by becoming part of a larger and stronger union," BLE International President Don Hahs said. "BLE members are especially supportive of the affiliation because they feel that it will allow them to share in the strength of the Teamsters while maintaining autonomy."
In the telephone poll conducted in January 2003, 78% of BLE members said they would vote to approve a merger with the Teamsters Union, compared to only 21% who said they would oppose it. The telephone poll surveyed 400 randomly selected BLE members.
One-third of the members, approximately 11,000, returned mail surveys
during February and March 2003. The surveys indicated support for the Teamster
affiliation equivalent to the scientific poll. Nearly 77% of BLE members
returning surveys said they thought the Teamsters and the BLE were a "good
match," and 78% said they were comfortable with "the prospect
of a merger of the BLE and the Teamsters Union."
In both the poll and the survey, members indicated that they see an affiliation with the Teamsters as generating new strength in collective bargaining, organizing, and political action - three areas that the members agreed are critical to the BLE's future.
Photo captions: Top: Speakers at the March 11 BLE-IBT rally for remote control safety were, from left: AFL-CIO Executive Director Ed Wytkind; AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Rich Trumka; BLE President Don Hahs; Association of Flight Attendants National President Pat Friend; and Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa.
Bottom: From left: George Newman, Mass. State Legislative Board Chairman (SLBC); John Collins, New York SLBC; Ken Michel, New Jersey SLBC; Dan Lauzon, Legislative Representative of Division 57 (Boston); Jeff Cheney, BLE Division 236 (Portland, Ore).; and Tim Smith, California SLBC.
© 2003 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers