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CLEVELAND, April 17 -- BLE Division 391 in Ft. Madison, Iowa, will sponsor a golf tournament and dinner on May 19 in order to raise money for the Tim Lesher Fund.
As reported in the March issue of the Newsletter, Division 391 Member Tim Lesher was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS) in 1994 and has been on Railroad Retirement disability since December.
Brother Lesher and his family have had trouble paying medical bills on his limited income, so Division 391 established the "Tim Lesher Fund" to help the family make ends meet.
The May 19 golf tournament begins at 9:30 a.m. at the Deer Run Golf Course in Hamilton, Ill. The cost is $60 per person, which includes dinner afterwards. The cost is $20 per person for those wishing to participate in the dinner only. The catered dinner starts at 5 p.m. at the Keokuk Yacht Club in Keokuk, Iowa.
Division 391 is currently seeking sponsors for each hole of the course. The cost is $50 per hole, and if you or your division would like to sponsor one of the 18 holes, please contact Division 391 President Chuck Tanner at (319) 372-7535.
Proceeds from the golf tournament will also benefit the family of BNSF Conductor Tim McIntyre, who recently died from leukemia.
Any BLE Brother or Sister who can't make it to the golf tournament can still help by sending donations to:
Since the March issue of the Newsletter, Brother Lesher reports that he has received several donations which he used to pay his monthly insurance premium.
While he is humbled that total strangers are willing to help, Brother Lesher said the most important thing is that people learn about his disease.
"It's great that people are being made aware of ALS," Lesher said.
ALS is a disease that attacks motor cells in the spinal cord and brain. When the motor neuron cells can no longer send the impulses to the muscles, there is significant weakness in the arms and legs.
Brother Lesher first knew something was wrong when he had trouble walking and noticed that one of his calf muscles was smaller than the other.
Victims of ALS have trouble with speech, swallowing and breathing. Brother Lesher must sleep with the aid of a breathing machine.
CLEVELAND, April 16 -- The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers today announced a tentative contract agreement with Canadian National for the BLE's Rail Traffic Controllers.
If approved, members will receive a two percent wage increase per year for three years with major improvements in work rules and benefits.
"The major goal we achieved was improvement of the pension plan for both active and retired members," Hallé said. "Cost-of-living adjustments will be improved."
Hallé also cited a clause that will protect members who are forced to work a different position because of medical restrictions.
"This is a good contract that improves the working conditions and quality of life for our members," Hallé said. "It provides protection for our members both while they're working and when they're retired."
Canadian Director Hallé congratulated his Negotiating Team for a job well done, and specifically thanked CN General Chairman Jim Ruddick; Vice General Chairman P. Wojtowiez; BLE Division 956 Local Chairman A. Owens; National Advisor D. Arnold; and BLE Division 956 Member E. Patenaude.
The tentative agreement with CN comes on the heels of a tentative pact reached with Canadian Pacific Railway in February.
The CP Rail deal is also a three-year contract that provides two percent pay increases per year.
The first of two training seminars for local chairmen will be held July 12-17 at the George Meany Center in Silver Spring, Md.
Sponsored by the BLE Education & Training Department, the seminar will cover duties of local chairmen including representing members, enforcing the contract, exercising leadership and building member support.
The course will also include BLE organizational structure and functions, representing members at discipline and decertification hearings, union leadership skills, claim and grievance handling, and writing and computer skills. Attendees will also particpate in simulated hearings.
"From the very basic to the most difficult task, local chairmen will have a full understanding of their responsibilities," said Larry James, Coordinator of the E&T Dept.
The cost for room and board is $125 per day for a single room and $95 for a double. The price includes three meals per day.
For more information, call the BLE's Carolyn Copeland at (216) 241-2630, ext. 253.
Part 3 of a series examining the BLE's newly developed Strategic Plan.
Strategic Initiative Checklist
#3.8 Utilize the AFL-CIO's
Transportation Trades Department to lobby Congress on common issues.
Editor's Note: This is the third in a series of articles that will show how BLE leadership is implementing the initiatives set forth in the BLE Strategic Plan.
LAS VEGAS, March 19 -- BLE President Clarence Monin met with leaders of the AFL-CIO's Transportation Trades Department to approve an aggressive policy agenda yesterday, adopting a broad array of resolutions aimed at protecting workers' rights, ensuring public and worker safety, and improving job security.
By working with its sister unions in the TTD, the BLE will fulfill Strategic Initiative #3.8 of the BLE's membership-driven strategic plan.
The initiative states: "Utilize the AFL-CIO's Transportation Trades Department to lobby Congress on common issues."
As one of 29 unions that comprise the TTD, the BLE is ready to lobby Congress on its 1998 agenda.
"Congress faces a significant transportation agenda," said Sonny Hall, Secretary-Treasurer of the TTD and President of the Transport Workers Union of America. "There is a great deal of good to be done for working families, but there are a number of ominous threats on Capitol Hill as well. TTD is poised to fight corporate special interests and right-wing attacks to protect the jobs and rights of transport workers."
Of particular note to BLE members is a TTD proposal that aims to stop the Surface Transportation Board from breaking or altering privately negotiated labor agreements.
"These are agreements we fought for and spent years negotiating," President Monin said. "They were ignored when the STB rubber-stamped several rail megamergers in the past few years, and with the support of the TTD we plan to put a stop to it."
According to TTD Executive Director Edward Wytkind, the group may lobby Congress to disband the STB altogether as it faces reauthorization hearings later this year.
Wytkind cites the STB's indifference to labor in railroad mergers as reason to disband the federal agency.
"Consolidation in the U.S. rail industry in the past two decades has vested unprecedented power in a few mammoth rail carriers, and left thousands of workers out of jobs, severely jeoparding worker and public safety," Wytkind said. "Unfortunately, the STB has typically adopted policies that ignore these problems.
"Questions about STB's ability to fulfill its public interest obligations are well-founded, and transportation labor will seriously consider any proposal to disband the agency.
"Its track record on rail mergers is particularly bad STB hasn't rejected a single proposed merger because of employee concerns. With STB reauthorization legislation possible this year, TTD believes Congress must address these and other issues in the interest of workers, shoppers and communities."
The TTD also attacked the bogus "Paycheck Protection" initiatives proposed by anti-union lawmakers.
"These proposals are designed to gag working men and women in the legislative and political arena," Hall said.
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