BLE and Wisconsin Central officials review the final paperwork before signing the first-ever collective bargaining agreement between the two organizations. Seated, from left, is: BLE First Alternate Vice-President Dale McPherson; BLE Wisconsin Central General Chairman Ken Davis; and WC Vice-President of Human Resources Richard White. Not pictured but present at the signing ceremony is J. Edward Terbell, Wisconsin Central Vice-President and General Manager. The contract was formally signed on April 30, 1999.
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers announced the ratification of a first contract with Wisconsin Central Ltd. that provides wage and work rule improvements for more than 300 locomotive engineers.
The three-year contract, ratified by Wisconsin Central workers earlier this month, is retroactive to Jan. 1, 1998. It is the first union contract for engineers, who selected the BLE as their collective bargaining representative on July 18, 1997.
Under the agreement, Wisconsin Central engineers will have overtime provisions not previously available, with an emphasis on reducing the number of hours worked. Workers also gain union protections on discipline rules and procedures, as well as procedures for filing grievances.
Engineers will receive increases in their wages of 8 percent over the three years, with a 6 percent increase immediately. The 3 percent increase in the first year of the contract is retroactive to Jan. 1, 1998, with another 3 percent retroactive to Jan. 1, 1999. There will be a 2 percent raise effective Jan. 1, 2000.
"This agreement was a long-time coming and it was well worth the wait," said BLE International President Clarence Monin. "I congratulate all involved on a job well done a job that will benefit our membership on the Wisconsin Central."
Monin recognized Wisconsin Central General Chairman Ken Davis and BLE First Alternate Vice-President Dale McPherson for the time and effort they put into the new agreement.
"I am very pleased with the result," Brother Davis said. "We worked very hard to ensure the wishes of our members were met while the customer focus of Wisconsin Central was maintained. Our members are proud of their achievements with this company and want to ensure we all continue to benefit from the success we have achieved together."
WC Chairman, President and CEO Edward A. Burkhardt expressed his satisfaction with the new contract. "The union adopted a thoroughly professional approach to these negotiations," he said.
"They came to the table knowledgeable of the conditions our people already enjoyed and were determined from the outset, as were we, that a partnership approach to negotiations would best serve the interests of our employees."
BLE Special Representatives spent several months in an extensive organizing campaign on the WC property leading up to the July 1997 representation election.
Prior to the BLE victory, the Wisconsin Central was the largest U.S. railroad without unionized operating employees.
WC's principal subsidiaries, Wisconsin Central Ltd., Fox Valley & Western Ltd., Algoma Central Railway Inc. and Sault Ste. Marie Bridge Company, operate approximately 2,900 route miles of railway serving Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Michigan's Upper Peninsula, and Ontario, Canada.
WC is also recognized as one of the world's leading companies in railroad privatizations. It holds a 33 percent equity interest in English Welsh & Scottish Railway Holdings Limited, which operates most of the freight railroad services in Great Britain.
WC also holds a 24 percent equity interest in Tranz Rail Holdings Limited, which operates 2,400 route miles of railway in New Zealand. It has a 33 percent equity interest in Australian Transport Network Limited, which operates 450 route miles of railway statewide in Tasmania, Australia.
Since he and his fellow locomotive engineers filed a lawsuit against Grand Trunk Western Railroad for invasion of privacy, BLE General Chairman John Karakian has been inundated with media attention.
Nineteen locomotive engineers are suing GTW after they discovered a hidden video camera in their locker room in Pontiac, Mich.
The locker room is where engineers change clothes before and after work, and is adjacent to a shower facility. Engineers report that a trainmaster bragged about seeing them naked.
The lawsuit, which was filed on March 18, has received wide coverage from an impressive list of media outlets, covering the gamut from television and radio to print media.
It was mentioned on page 1 of the Wall Street Journal on March 23. The newspaper has a daily circulation of nearly 1 million.
It was also a leading news item on the March 18 edition of Paul Harvey's nationally syndicated radio broadcast. A transcript of the show reads as follows:
"In Pontiac, Mich., a video camera in the locker room at the Grand Trunk Western Railroad. They found a tiny camera poking through a small hole in the wall. The 19 people who are suing, saying that somebody was unlawfully spying on them while they were changing their clothes, are all railroad engineers."
The lawsuit also received coverage from the following media sources:
An interview with Karakian was the opening story for the WXYZ 11 p.m. broadcast on March 19.
"How does seeing locomotive engineers in various stages of undress help make the trains run any safer," Karakian said during the interview.
Karakian also reports that he has been contacted by several other media outlets for possible future interviews regarding the GTW spy camera lawsuit.
Editors of Traffic World magazine asked, "Who could possibly be interested in seeing a bunch of railroad engineers in the raw?"
The lawsuit itself is progressing. Stuart Israel, who is handling the suit on behalf of the 19 locomotive engineers, reports that the lawyers for the carriers are expected to provide documents and answers to written questions about the surveillance in the near future.
While the case was filed on March 18, the controversy began months ago when locomotive engineers discovered a small video camera hidden inside an exit sign above the main doorway to their locker room at their Pontiac, Mich. facility.
"If you just saw the hole in the exit sign you wouldn't think anything of it," Karakian said. "The actual camera was very well concealed."
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