Postings by General Chairman
September 14, 2002
Dear Sirs and Brothers:
Ref: Contractors – Grade Crossing Warning Devices
The Agreement was signed on Tuesday September 10, 2002.
The consideration for contractors was a long and hard thought out process. There is a liability issue on Union Pacific Railroad. It has to do with money being appropriated and a crossing being slated for renewal. The turn around time right now for UP is between 12 and 13 months. If there is an accident on one of these crossings during this time and the crossing has not been completed the liability is substantially higher. Currently UP has not been able to reduce the number of crossings to attain a turn around time which they would like to cut in half, to about 6 months.
National negotiations have been stalled. Presently there are two sister unions who have negotiated agreements, BMWE and UTU. The Carriers, in National handling are willing to give us the BMWE Agreement. We do not believe our Organization would accept that Agreement and therefore, have refused to bring it back to our membership for a vote.
We are looking at a Presidential Emergency Board currently. Vice President of the United States, Dick Cheney, sat on the Board of Directors of the Union Pacific Railroad up until the time he received the nomination for the Vice Presidency. He will be very much involved in the naming of the members who will be selected to hear our case at the Presidential Emergency Board. The Carrier is seeking nationally, CONTRACTING, FLEX TIME, and ON SITE REPORTING, in this round of National Negotiations.
The Carriers cannot make a case for contracting nationally nor can they make a case for on site reporting or flex time in as much as we have always sat down and worked through these issues when they have been able to show a need.
In 1991, the BMWE went to a Presidential Emergency Board and was given contracting, in their Agreement because they were unwilling to negotiate. Today the Carriers give BMWE 5 days notice they are bringing a contractor on the property. It is a part of their Agreement on all Class 1 Railroads. BMWE members have been reduced over 100,000 members since 1991 because of the contracting provisions being shoved down their throats and put into their agreement by a Presidential Emergency Board.
Signalmen have learned from our sister union’s mistake. We are the only skilled craft left in the railroad industry that does not have a contracting provision in our Agreement. The Carrier cannot show today any reason why they need a contracting provision in any Signalmen’s Agreement.
In return for the Sub-Contracting Agreement just entered into, we have taken away the Carrier’s need to ask for CONTRACTING, FLEX TIME and ON SITE REPORTING.
We have job protection for all signal employees across the entire system for the duration of the agreement and an additional 12 months of protection for all signal employees in Zones three and four.
We have brought all wiring of signals back to the property in our shop at Sedalia, MO. for the life of the Agreement.
The Carrier has agreed to hire an additional 80 new employees.
Two weeks prior to the vote on this sub-contracting issue we met with all of the Local Chairmen from the Union Pacific Railroad in Las Vegas. This was discussed in detail and gone over thoroughly. There were 50 Local Chairmen present. It was decided the Local Chairmen would go back and they would call me by September 1, 2002 and cast their vote. That was done. The vote came in: 29 in favor, 20 opposed and 1 abstention.
Every Railroad across the Nation has made a similar Agreement. We are not the first.
The Signal Department is a very hard working and dedicated group of men. I am not saying it is a good thing to contract our work. I am saying we need to look hard at all the things involved and make objective and smart decisions going into the future preserving our agreements and not allow outsiders to dictate to us our agreements. The decision was made, based on which is the better of the 2 evils. Negotiate our own fate and we know exactly what we have or let someone else who does not know what a Signalman does, decide for us. We can have contracting short term, or we can have it in our agreements into perpetuity just like BMWE.
We looked at Maintenance of Way. They got contracting through a Presidential Emergency Board because they refused to negotiate and chose to fight. We are not afraid of a fight, but we need to select our fights.
I do not know if this will in anyway relieve some of your feelings, but I know this was a tough decision and was not done overnight. I would be happy to try and answer any other questions or discuss this with you at any length you wish. If you would like to talk to me, please call my pager it is toll free and I will return your call. Pager #888-752-0773, Office #775-423-2288.
Fraternally yours,
John McArthur
General Chairman