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An impartial AFL-CIO umpire found the United Transportation Union guilty of illegally attempting to raid the membership of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers in violation of the federation's constitution.
"Accordingly, I rule that UTU, but not BLE, was in violation of Article XX in the circumstances of this case," ruled Impartial Umpire Paul Weiler in his decision released on February 27.
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Article XX of the AFL-CIO constitution prohibits one affiliate from raiding the membership of another, and Umpire Weiler ruled that is exactly what the UTU is attempting to accomplish with its January 12 petition to the National Mediation Board.
"This is the most blatant raiding attempt in the history of the AFL-CIO," BLE President Clarence Monin said.
In addition, the UTU's appeal on the Article XX hearing was denied on March 17, leaving the UTU open to possible AFL-CIO sanctions if it does not conform to the umpire's ruling.
Weiler said the UTU's attempt to force a consolidation of crafts was not only illegal, but had far-reaching negative implications outside of the rail industry.
"There is no doubt that engineers, conductors, and trainmen all play vital and collaborative roles in the efficient and safe operation of the trains they run together. However, there is no interchange of the key functions performed by such employee classification on the train no more than in the work of different crafts, for example, who must all collaborate in the erection of a single building," Weiler ruled. "As in the building trades, the UTU and BLE have long been able to negotiate with Union Pacific and other railroads the specific levels of pay, benefits, and working conditions provided to the members of these separate craft units."
President Monin applauded Weiler's decision.
"Mr. Weiler recognized the severity of the UTU request to the NMB and the impact it would have not only on rail workers, but for all of organized labor," Monin said. "That's why he cited the building trades. The UTU's request would destroy our established collective bargaining agreements and set a precedent of destruction for other collective bargaining agreements throughout the various industries and all of organized labor."
Details on possible sanctions against the UTU will follow in the next edition of the Newsletter. ·
LAS VEGAS, March 17 -- The mobilization network of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers swings into action throughout the Union Pacific Railroad today following a two-day training and education conference here March 13-14.
BLE President Clarence Monin points out key regions on the Union Pacific/Southern Pacific system during the BLE's mobilization meeting in Last Vegas, March 13-14.
Representatives from the 140 BLE divisions on the combined UP/SP system met to develop strategies and an action plan to counter a raiding attempt by the United Transportation, which has asked the National Mediation Board to eliminate the crafts of locomotive engineer, conductor and brakeman and set up a winner-take-all representation election between BLE and UTU for a single craft of rail operating employee.
"If the NMB rules in favor of the UTU, there will be no more locomotive engineers," BLE President Clarence Monin said. "There will be no more conductors. No more trainmen. No more brakemen. And we will have opened up the possibility that 'no union' could be the result."
WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 -- The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers was granted party status by the National Transportation Safety Board today to participate in a public hearing next month that will investigate a series of accidents on the Union Pacific Railroad.
The March 18-20 hearing will focus on a 12-month accident period on the UP, stretching from October of 1996 to October of 1997. The hearing will begin at 9 a.m. and will be held at the Springfield Hilton Hotel in Springfield, Va.
BLE Vice-President William C. Walpert, who directs the BLE's Safety Task Force, will serve as spokesman for the Brotherhood. In addition, BLE Safety Task Force member Jim Bradford will be one of 17 witnesses called to testify during the three-day hearing.
Bradford will testify on the BLE's role in safety oversight on UP, its participation in the joint BLE FRA-UP Safety Assurance and Compliance Program, and the operation of trains by UP's management.
Other witnesses include UP President and Chief Operating Officer Jerry Davis, several high-level UP managers, and various FRA inspectors and officials.
The hearing will take place at the Springfield Hilton Hotel, 6550 Loisdale Road in Springfield, Va. Anyone planning to attend the hearing may wish to contact the hotel for directions by calling (703) 971-8900.
For more information, contact James P. Dunn, NTSB Office of Railroad Safety at (202) 314-6430 or Shelly Hazle, NTSB Office of Public Affairs at (202) 314-6100. ·
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