-
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen • International
Brotherhood of Teamsters
LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS AND TRAINMEN
NEWSPUBLISHED BY THE BLET, A DIVISION OF THE RAIL CONFERENCE,
INTERNATIONAL BROTHERHOOD OF TEAMSTERS
OCTOBER2006
President Hahs: Get out and vote!BLET National President Don M.
Hahs issued the
following statement regarding the importance of reg-istering to
vote and voting on November 7:
BLET members are fortunate to have a strongunion that supports
them by standing up for theirrights at work. The BLET works very
hard to negoti-ate and enforce strong contracts to ensure that
mem-bers receive good pay and benefits.
However, each day, BLET members are con-fronted with news that
our American dream is slip-ping further from our grasp. In other
industries, wesee massive layoffs. In our own industry, we
hearthreats from the rail carriers to take away our jobsand
benefits, even in a time of record profits.
In other words, the corporate agenda cuts acrossall industries.
Big business want tax cuts for them-selves and for the rich; they
want to privatize,downsize and outsource; they want to deregulate
in-
dustries; they want to enact free trade agreements;they want to
weaken unions; and most importantly,they want to take away workers’
rights to organizeand to silence our voice in the political
process.
But there is a way to keep the American dreamalive — by casting
your vote for worker-friendly can-didates on November 7. It is as
simple as that.
All BLET members must take a few moments outof their busy days
to cast a ballot that will help toensure their future. Most states
will allow voters tocast an absentee ballot if they cannot vote on
Elec-tion Day. Check with your state for the regulationsregarding
absentee voting.
You may not be feeling the loss of the Americandream yet, but
you still need to vote. Why? You needto vote in order to protect
your family; to protect yourjob; to protect your retirement; and to
protect yourfuture.
The railroads will try to take this all away if cur-rent trends
continue. They are already threateningyour benefits and your jobs
in negotiations and willbe further empowered to do so if the
corporate titanswho rule our country are allowed to stay in
office.
There is no government “of the people, by thepeople and for the
people” if people do not vote.
On pages two and three of this issue, you will finda list of
BLET-endorsed candidates. These candi-dates, both Democrat and
Republican, have shownthat they support workers and have been
friendlytowards us. Please take this list with you when youvote on
November 7 and remember to vote pro laborand support union
candidates. •
List of BLET Endorsements— See Pages 2-3
After two years of workby the Brotherhood of Loco-motive
Engineers andTrainmen, California Gover-nor Arnold
Schwarzeneggersigned a railroad securitybill into law on October
1.
The law, known as theLocal Community Rail Secu-rity Act of 2006,
requiresrailroads to provide a de-tailed risk assessment ofeach
rail facility in Califor-nia by July 1, 2007. The lawalso calls on
rail carriers todocument their emergencyresponse procedures incase
of acts of sabotage orterrorism.
“This bill will make therailroads in California muchmore secure
for our mem-bers and the general pub-lic,” BLET National Presi-dent
Don Hahs said. “In thispost 9-11 era, it is impera-tive that we
take all stepsnecessary to secure ournation’s railroads againstthe
threat of terrorism.”
By January 1, 2008, railcarriers are required to de-velop and
implement an in-frastructure protection pro-gram to protect rail
infra-structure in the state fromacts of sabotage, terrorism,
or other crimes. Railroad em-ployees will receive
specializedsecurity training as part of theinfrastructure
protection pro-gram regarding how to recog-nize, prevent, and
respond toacts of sabotage, terrorism, orother crimes.
The railroads’ own flag-ging rules were adopted in thebill.
Codification included theuse of yellow, red, and yellow/red flags
and crew notification;accurate milepost markers;accurate whistle
posts and twomile speed boards.
All points of the new laware covered by
“whistleblowerprotection” with fines of up to$1 million.
Additionally, thisnew law provides the protec-tion of severability;
if any en-tity finds a portion of the lawinvalid, the rest of it
remainslaw.
The bill was signed aftermembers in the state of Cali-fornia
inundated theGovernor’s office with phonecalls, faxes and emails,
accord-ing to BLET California StateLegislative Board ChairmanTim
Smith.
“With the efforts of sev-eral, we were successful,”Smith said.
“First, I would liketo thank BLET members of the
state of California who tookthe time to make phonecalls, send
faxes, email andletters to the Governor.Without your efforts,
thiswould not have been pos-sible.
“Barry Broad andShane Gusman of CT-PACwere instrumental in
carry-ing our bill forward,” hesaid. “Additional thanks goout to
1st Vice ChairmanDarrel Azarcon.
“I would also like tothank my Executive Staff ofMike G. Holt,
Secretary-Treasurer, and Diz Fran-cisco, 2nd Vice Chairman,for
their efforts and encour-agement. Thanks also to theBLET National
officers andthe Teamsters.”
BLET State LegislativeBoards have introducedRail Security bills
in statelegislatures throughout thecountry.
“Congratulations to allthe BLET members in Cali-fornia, who
worked dili-gently with Tim Smith andthe Legislative Board to
getthis bill passed and signed,”BLET Vice President andNational
Legislative Repre-sentative John Tolman.
BLET-supported railroad securitybill becomes law in California
The U.S. railroad industry
must take immediate action toimprove the security trainingof its
workers if they are to helpprevent terrorist attacks in theUnited
States.
That was the message de-livered by BLET Vice Presidentand
National Legislative Rep-resentative John Tolman be-fore the House
Homeland Se-curity Committee’s Subcom-mittee on Economic
Security,Infrastructure Protection andCybersecurity.
In his testimony, he citedthe “High Alert” report com-piled by
the Teamsters RailConference. In the High Alertsurvey, 84 percent
of respon-dents said that they had notreceived any additional
train-ing in terrorism response orprevention in the 12
monthspreceding the survey; and 99percent said they did not
re-ceive training related to themonitoring of nuclear
ship-ments.
“This lack of trainingshould be of critical interest tocitizens
who live near railyards and tracks,” Tolmansaid. “The workers who
lackthis training will be the firstones to respond to
incidents.It’s all about the money, ofcourse, but employees
stillneed adequate training. Thenumber one issue in
nationalnegotiations is to reduce the
crew size from one to two tosave money. There should be aminimum
of two people on ev-ery train.”
The training is critical be-cause railroad workers are the“eyes
and ears” of the indus-try and are the first line of de-fense in
the event of a terror-ist attack on a freight train orpassenger
train.
“Each and every day, weare on the front lines of thenation’s
transportation systemand see the woeful lack of se-curity on our
railroads,”Tolman said. “This lack of se-curity is more than just
trou-bling; it is tragic because wehave seen the damage that canbe
done by accidents on therailroads and shudder to thinkof the damage
that could bewrought by terrorism or sabo-tage.”
He noted that there havebeen more than 250 terror at-tacks on
railroads world widefrom 1995 until June of 2005.Since June 2005,
there havebeen major attacks perpe-trated in London, Madrid,
andMumbai, India. In the UnitedStates, plans were recently
un-covered to attack the New Yorksubway system on three differ-ent
occasions. An act of terror-ism in Hyder, Ariz., killed oneAmtrak
employee and injured
BLET testifies rail workers arekey to national security
plans
See Rail Security, Page 7
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Page 2 Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen News · October
2006
BLET NEWS
List of BLET-endorsed candidatesDue to FEC regulations, the list
of BLET-endorsed candidates is available tomembers only. Please
visit the BLET website at:
http://www.ble-t.org/members/2006endorsements.asp
-
Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen News · October 2006 Page
3
BLET NEWS
List of BLET-endorsed candidatesSome Americans don’t vote
because they think their vote doesn’t mat-
ter. That couldn’t be further from the truth! Throughout
history, many im-portant elections were decided by a single vote.
Here’s a list to considerwhen deciding whether or not to vote:
• One vote gave Oliver Cromwell control of England in 1645.• One
vote caused King Charles I of England to be executed in 1649.• One
vote gave America the English language in 1776 instead of German.•
One vote margins in our Electoral College first elected Thomas
Jeffersonand then John Quincy Adams as President of the United
States.• One vote elected Marcus Norton as Governor of
Massachusetts in 1839.• One vote brought Texas into the Union in
1845.• One vote also admitted California, Oregon and Washington to
statehood.• One vote defeated President Andrew Johnson’s
impeachment in 1868.• One vote needed when the House of
Representatives voted in 1876 toelect President Rutherford B.
Hayes.• One vote changed France from a monarchy to a republic in
1876.• One vote elected Adolph Hitler as leader of the Nazi Party
in 1923.And…• John F. Kennedy’s margin of victory over Richard
Nixon in 1960 was lessthan one vote per precinct.
As you can see, one vote is important! Be sure to do your part
and getout and vote!
Does one vote really matter?
Edit ’ N t Th f ll i C Di t 35 M i W t (D) I di Di t 8 Mi h l
C
Due to FEC regulations, the list of BLET-endorsed candidates is
available tomembers only. Please visit the BLET website at:
http://www.ble-t.org/members/2006endorsements.asp
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Page 4 Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen News · October
2006
SOUTHEASTERN MEETING ASSOCIATION
From left: BLET Vice Presidents Dale McPherson and Merle
Geiger.
BLET members enjoyed a scenic dinner cruise aboard this
sternwheeler. BLET members alsovisited the renowned Tennessee
Aquarium (background) as part of their SMA experience.
From left: BLET Vice President Steve Speagle; Vice President
Paul Sorrow; NationalSecretary-Treasurer Bill Walpert; First Vice
President Ed Rodzwicz; and National PresidentDon Hahs.
Travis L. Reed served as chairman of the 79th annual SMA, which
was held at the Marriotthotel in Chattanooga, Tenn. He received a
lot of help and support from his wife anddaughters.
Bettye Dollar, Treasurer of the Grand International Auxiliary
(GIA), tells members andspouses attending the SMA about the
“Mainline Cooking” cookbook available from the GIA.
In addition to leisure time activities, BLET regional meetings
offer an abundance ofeducational workshops for the benefit of the
membership. Here, BLET members pay closeattention during one such
educational workshop offered by the National Division during
theSMA.
BLET regional meetings offer members the opportunity to spend
time with their families.Here, retired Vice President Paul Wingo
and General Chairman Ray Wallace (NorfolkSouthern-Southern Lines)
enjoy time with their grandsons.
-
Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen News · October 2006 Page
5
JUNE 4-9, 2006
BLET National President Don Hahs gives his state of the union
address during the SMA’sopening ceremony. President Hahs provided
BLET members with an update on collectivebargaining, regulatory,
and legislative issues during his presentation.
The area around Chattanooga, Tenn., boasts many natural wonders
and breath taking viewsof the Appalachian Mountains. BLET members
enjoyed sight seeing tours of Ruby Falls andRock City during the
annual SMA.
From left: K.A. Chancey of BLET Division 547 (Etowah, Tenn.),
and Kevin Peek, LocalChairman and Secretary-Treasurer of BLET
Division 456 (Norfolk, Va.).
BLET Vice President Paul Sorrow, a member of BLET Division 498
(Abbeville, S.C.), enjoys awarm welcome from members at the
SMA.
SMA Chairman Travis L. Reed, center, with members of his
Arrangements Committee.Representatives from Division 198 and
Division 205 pitched in to help Chairman Reed withthe
convention.
From left: BLET General Chairman Dennis Pierce (BNSF-MRL) and
General Chairman M.D.Priester (CP Rail/U.S.).
Mark your calendars for the 80th Annual SMAJune 10-15, 2007 •
Walt Disney World • Orlando, Fla.
Hosted by Michael Tanner and Earl Karper Sr.
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Page 6 Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen News · October
2006
BLET NEWS
The Nevada AFL-CIOpassed a Safe Rails, SecureAmerica resolution
at its con-vention on August 25.
Joe Carter, Chairman ofthe Nevada State LegislativeBoard, wrote
the resolution aspart of an on-going campaignto bring awareness to
railsafety and security deficien-cies.
“I think it is sad when —here in Nevada — casino park-
ing lots are moresecure that ourr a i l r o a d s , ”Brother
Cartersaid. “The rail-roads haverecord profits butseem unwilling to
make secu-rity improvements.”
The resolution is critical ofthe Union Pacific Railroad
forfailing to “live up to its respon-sibility to the communities
for
railroad security in the Stateof Nevada and the nation
atlarge.”
There are five Union Pa-cific Railroad yards in theState of
Nevada. None of them
are fenced for secu-rity, nor do they havea significant
securityforce, or lighting.
According to theresolution, “Thesefive railroad yards
have limited security, two rail-road policemen in Las Vegasand
one railroad policeman inSparks. There are no railroadsecurity
police stationed inElko or Winnemucca.”
Brother Carter was not atthe convention, held in Las Ve-gas, but
he credited several ofhis Vice Chairmen for its pas-sage,
including: John Passi ofBLET Division 158 (Sparks,Nevada), Matt
Parker of BLETDivision 158, and Jerry Coon ofBLET Division 766 (Las
Ve-gas).
“These guys really steppedup and did a great job,”Brother Carter
said. •
Nevada AFL-CIO passes resolution supporting ‘Safe Rails Secure
America’
By Becky B. SchneiderNational President, BLET Auxiliary
With every election comes the callto exercise your right to
vote. Onceagain, we are at a pivotal point in ournation’s history
to restorethe balance and representa-tion our forefathers
envi-sioned. Over the last sixyears, our government hasbeen
controlled by oneparty, and the effects of thatideology have taken
theirtoll across a broad spectrumof our society. There seemsto be
no end in sight for ourmounting budget deficits;record trade
deficits; ero-sion of our middle-classstandard of living, while the
super richget super richer; and erosion ofworker’s rights to some
of the lowestpoints in recent history. Many of thegains labor made
over the last hundredor so years have vanished with thestroke of a
pen, and if a change is notmade, they will continue to
disappear.
It is said that voters have shortmemories. We as Auxiliary and
BLETmembers need to keep fresh the memo-ries of those politicians
who have votedto undermine issues that are importantto railroad
employees, retirees, andtheir families. If your Senator
foughtagainst Railroad Retirement or Amtrakfunding, make sure you
repay his or her
kindness at the ballot box. If your Rep-resentative or Senator
failed to allow abill to move out of committee, tried toattach
restrictions on collective bar-gaining or unrelated bills for the
solepurpose of defeating a measure, or out-
right voted against bills thatwould provide some relief
torailroad workers and theirfamilies, also rememberthose
individuals at the bal-lot box.The most important tool we
have is information aboutthe candidates. We must doour homework,
especiallywith incumbents, to deter-mine on which side theirbread
is buttered. Some-times, it is hard to separatethe candidate from
the po-
litical party. If there is one issue youare particularly
passionate about, findout whether the political party’s viewis the
same as the politician’s view.
For us to have any hope of bringingour issues before the 110th
Congress,we must see a change in the leadership.A total gain of 15
seats will be neededin the House of Representatives, and 6seats in
the Senate. While daunting,these achievements are not impossible.If
the majority make-up changes, thenso will the leadership, the
committeechairs, and our ability to have impor-tant legislation
actually make it to thefloor for vote. Issues such as: rail
safety,
including fatigue and hours of service;rail security, including
the issuance offederal regulations for remote controloperations and
positive train controlsystems; and other issues important tothe
working class of America, such asan increase in minimum wage not
heldhostage by a “pet” tax cut.
A good example of what looms onthe horizon if the majority
retains thestatus quo concerns national contractnegotiations. The
carriers have alreadyshown their hand as to their intentions,and
are just waiting until after the elec-tions to try it again. No
railroaderwants Congress deciding the NationalContract by way of a
Presidential Emer-gency Board. A change in leadershipwould help to
foil the Carriers’ plans.The Administration has already an-nounced
that if they retain the major-ity, efforts will be once again made
toprivatize Social Security, which will di-rectly affect Railroad
Retirement TierI. Social Security needs to be strength-ened, not
privatized. The only benefitsfrom privatization would be to
planadministrators and brokers, while ei-ther additionally driving
up the deficitor raising the retirement age to pay forthe change.
For retirees, a changecould mean revisiting the disasterMedicare
Prescription Drug Benefit,eliminating the “donut hole” that
hastaken so many seniors by surprise. Ofcourse, I am certain that
the FederalEmployees Liability Act would once
again be on the radar for termination.There are many issues that
directlyaffect us, or our families, that would bestymied if the
leadership does notchange in November.
Since no substantive campaign fi-nance reform was passed even
thoughscandals abound, we must do our partto counter the obscene
amount of fund-ing being poured into key races thisyear by the RNC.
There are a numberof ways to accomplish this, which arerelatively
easy. For instance, BLETmembers could pick up a few voter
reg-istration cards from their Division Leg-islative
Representative, and ask co-workers if they are registered to
vote.Auxiliary members and spouses canmake sure members of their
family arealso registered. If they are not, providethem with a
registration card. Mostimportantly, whether your State pro-vides
absentee ballots, or early votingperiods, be sure to take advantage
ofthat access to the polls. Everyoneknows railroaders can never be
surewhether they will be in town on elec-tion day, so this is the
easiest, surestway to make your vote count.
Bottom line, your vote counts.Please exercise your right to
vote, andwith a little luck and strong candidates,we can once again
see a Congress thatwill work for all of the people, not justfor
corporate America or the privilegedfew. •
Make your vote count on November 7!Auxiliary Update
Copies of the BLET Auxiliary’s cookbook,“Mainline Cooking,” are
still available and wouldmake an excellent gift for the upcoming
holidayseason.
Containing recipes submitted by railroadersfor railroaders,
“Mainline Cooking” is being soldas a fund-raiser for the BLET
Auxiliary. The bookis chock-full of delicious recipes submitted
byBLET/BLET-A members and their families from allparts of the
United States and Canada.
It contains more than 300 recipes and is boundin a hardback
three ring binder (7" x 9 1/4") thatopens easily for adding or
removing recipes.
“This book will make an excellent addition toyour cooking
library as well as a great gift ideafor young and old alike,” said
Becky Schneider,National President of the BLET Auxiliary.
The book also contains humorous quotes, a sec-tion on
railroadese, railroaders’ stories, and greattips on eating healthy
while working on the railroad.
All proceeds, except postage and handling, ben-efit the BLET
Auxiliary. Each book is $15. There is acharge of $5 shipping and
handling for U.S. orders(Hawaii, Alaska and international orders
should e-mail the GIA for shipping costs.)
Please make your check or money order payableto the “BLET
Auxiliary,” and send it along with yourname and address to:
Becky Schneider515 West Redd RoadEl Paso, Texas 79932-1909
Email: [email protected]
‘Mainline Cooking’ available for the holidays
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Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen News · October 2006 Page
7
BLET NEWS
Locomotive Engineers & ConductorsMutual Protective
Association
535 Griswold • Suite 1210 • Detroit, MI 48226-3689(800) 514-0010
• (313) 962-1512
FAX: (877) 633-1910 • E-MAIL: [email protected] •WEB:
www.lecmpa.org
Job Protection Headquarters for Transportation EmployeesSince
1910
The Rank-and-File Vote for IBT International Officers — Starting
in October 2006, each and every IBT member,including members of the
newly merged BLET, will receive a mail ballot to cast votes for IBT
International officers. Voting forInternational officers is every
member’s democratic right and responsibility: it is your union.
Every member has the oppor-tunity to campaign in support of, or
opposition to, any candidate in the election. Every member has the
right to receivecampaign presentations and information.
A ballot will be mailed to you on October 6, 2006. In order to
be counted, your voted ballot must be received byNovember 14, 2006.
If you believe you are eligible to vote and do not receive a ballot
by October 19, contact 1- 888-428-2006 to request a ballot.
Every member has the right to vote their own ballot in secret.
It is a serious violation of the Rules for someone to solicit,mark,
or mail another member’s ballot. For example, protest rulings
issued in two different delegate elections found thatballots had
been collected in violation of the Rules. Go to www.ibtvote.org to
read 2006 ESD.
The ballot count site is in Alexandria, Virginia. All candidates
and their designated observers are permitted to observeall phases
of the ballot counting process. Additional information about
balloting and the count is available at www.ibtvote.org.
Candidate Forum — The 2006 IBT International Officer Candidate
Forum took place on August 25, 2006 in Washington,D.C. The
participants in the Candidate Forum were General President
Candidate Tom Leedham and General Secretary-Treasurer Candidate C.
Thomas Keegel. General President Candidate James P. Hoffa exercised
his right to designate theGeneral Secretary-Treasurer Candidate on
his slate as his representative to appear at the forum. A panel of
journalistsposed questions to the candidates. You can watch the
Candidate Forum at any time from any computer with an
internetconnection (cable modem, DSL, or dial-up with at least a
56K modem). The full video recording can be viewed
atwww.ibtvote.org OR at www.teamsters.org. At less than 56K, you
can still listen to the forum over the internet, but you willnot
see the video. Anyone may link to or promote www.ibtvote.org as a
source for the Candidate Forum. You can read ordownload a
transcript of the Candidate Forum at any time from any computer
with an internet connection. The completetranscript is available at
www.ibtvote.org OR at www.teamsters.org.
Each General Committee has three copies of a DVD recording of
the Candidate Forum, which it must make available uponrequest to
any member, or group of members, for viewing or copying. At least
one copy of the Candidate Forum DVD must bemaintained at the
General Committee through November 14, 2006.
Any IBT member can get a DVD recording and/or a transcript of
the Candidate Forum, free of charge, by calling theElection
Supervisor’s Office at 888-IBT-2006 (888-428-2006) or, in the
Washington, D.C. area, 202-429-8683; or by sending anemail with the
member’s name, local union number, and mailing address to
[email protected]. Additionalinformation about the
election of IBT International officers is available at
www.ibt.vote.org
Richard W. MarkElection Supervisor
Election Supervisor’s Report to BLET Members
1. Employees Rightsa. Any employee covered by a union
or agency shop agreement in the UnitedStates has the legal right
to be or remain anonmember of the Union. Nonmembershave the legal
right (1) to object to payingfor Union activities not related to
collectivebargaining, contract administration andgrievance
adjustment, and to obtain a re-duction in fees for such activities;
(2) to begiven sufficient information to intelligentlydecide
whether to object; and (3) to be ap-prised of internal Union
procedures for fil-ing objections. Employees who choose toobject
have the right to be apprised of thepercentage of the reduction,
the basis forthe calculation, and the right to challengethese
figures.
b. To the extent permitted by law, non-members may not
participate in Union elec-tions as a voter or as a candidate;
attendUnion meetings; serve as delegates to theConvention, or
participate in the selectionof such delegates; or participate in
the pro-cess by which collective bargaining agree-ments are
ratified.
2. Publication of PolicyThe fees objector policy shall be
pub-
lished annually in the BLET’s newsletter inthe month preceding
the objection noticeperiod and mailed annually to each objec-tor.
It shall also be provided to each newemployee when s/he first
becomes subjectto a union shop agreement.
3. Making Objection KnownObjecting nonmembers shall provide
notice of objection by notifying the NationalSecretary-Treasurer
of the objection by first-class mail postmarked during the month
ofNovember preceding the calendar year towhich s/he objects, or
within (30) days afters/he first begins paying fees and
receivingnotices of these procedures. The objectionshall contain
the objector’s current homeaddress. Nonmembers wishing to
continuetheir objection from year to year must re-new their
objection each year as specifiedin this paragraph. Objections may
only bemade by individual employees. No petitionobjections will be
honored.
4. Major Categories of Chargeable Ex-penses
All objectors shall pay their fair shareof expenses germane to
collective bargain-ing including:
2006 BLET FeesObjector Policy
a. All expenses concerning the nego-tiation of agreements,
practices and work-ing conditions;
b. All expenses concerning the admin-istration of agreements,
practices and work-ing conditions, including grievance han-dling,
all activities related to arbitration, anddiscussion with employees
in the craft orclass (or bargaining unit) or employer
rep-resentatives regarding working conditions,benefits and contract
rights;
c. Conversion expenses and otherunion internal governance and
managementexpenses;
d. Social activities and union businessmeeting expenses;
e. Publication expenses to the extentcoverage is related to
chargeable activities;
f. Expenses of litigation related to col-lective bargaining,
contract administrationand internal governance;
g. Expenses for legislative and admin-istrative agency
activities to effectuate col-lective bargaining agreements;
h. All expenses for the education andtraining of officers and
staff intended to pre-pare the participants to better
performchargeable activities;
i. All costs of strikes and other lawfuleconomic actions;
5. Determination of Chargeable ShareThe BLET shall perform an
indepen-
dent audit of the records of the National Di-vision. The BLET
shall determine the per-centage of expenditures that fall within
thecategories specified in Section 4. Theamount of expenditures
that fall within Sec-tion 4 shall be the basis for calculating
thereduced fees that must be paid by the ob-jector. The auditing
firm conducting the an-nual audit of the BLET National
Divisionshall give an opinion concerning the ad-equacy of the
escrow amounts maintainedpursuant to Section 10, and later will
verifythe existence and the audits of money in anyescrow
account.
6. Report of Chargeable Share and Basisof Its Calculation
The BLET shall report the determina-tion no later than September
30. This reportshall include an analysis of the major cat-egories
of union expenses that are charge-able and nonchargeable. A copy of
the re-port shall be sent to all nonmembers whosetimely objections
have not been revoked.
7. Challenge ProcedureEach person entitled to receive the
BLET’s report may challenge the validity ofthe calculations by
filing an appeal with theNational Secretary-Treasurer. Such
appeal
must be made by sending a letter to the Na-tional
Secretary-Treasurer postmarked nolater than October 31.
8. Arbitration of Challengesa. After the close of appeals
period, the
National Secretary-Treasurer shall providea list of appellants
to the American Arbitra-tion Association (AAA). All appeals shallbe
consolidated. The AAA shall appoint anarbitrator pursuant to its
Rules for Impar-tial Determination of Union Fees. The AAAshall
inform the National Secretary-Trea-surer and the appellant(s) of
the arbitratorselected.
b. The arbitration shall commence byDecember 1 or as soon
thereafter as the AAAcan schedule the arbitration. The arbitra-tor
shall have control over all proceduralmatters affecting the
arbitration in order tofulfill the need for an informed and
expedi-tious arbitration.
c. Each party to the arbitrator shallbear their own costs. The
appellants shallhave the option of paying a pro-rata portionof the
arbitrator’s fees and expenses. Thebalance of such fees and
expenses shall bepaid by the BLET.
d. A court reporter shall make a tran-script of all proceedings
before the arbitra-tor. This transcript shall be the officialrecord
of the proceedings and may be pur-chased by the appellants. If
appellants donot purchase a copy of the transcript, a copyshall be
available for inspection at the Na-tional Division during normal
businesshours.
e. Appellants may, at their expense, berepresented by counsel or
other represen-tative of choice. Appellants need not appearat the
hearing and shall be permitted to filewritten statements with the
arbitrator in-stead of appearing. Such statement shall befiled no
later than fifteen (15) days after thetranscript becomes available,
but in no casemore than thirty (30) days after the
hearingcloses.
f. Fourteen (14) days prior to the startof the first hearing,
appellants shall be pro-vided with a list of all exhibits intended
tobe introduced at the hearing and a list of allwitnesses intended
to be called, except forexhibits and witnesses that may be
intro-duced for rebuttal. On written request froman appellant,
copies of exhibits (or in caseof voluminous exhibits, summaries
thereof)shall be provided to them. Additionally, cop-ies of
exhibits shall be available for inspec-tion and copying at the
hearing.
g. The National Division shall have theburden of establishing
that the reduced feesset forth in the report are lawful.
h. If the arbitrator shall determine that
more than one day of hearings is necessary,hearings all be
scheduled to continue fromday to day until completed. The parties
tothe appeal shall have the right to file a briefwithin fifteen
(15) days after the transcriptof the hearing is available, but in
no case nomore than thirty (30) days after the hearingcloses. The
arbitrator shall issue a decisionwithin forty-five (45) days after
the submis-sion of post-hearing briefs or within suchother
reasonable period as is consistentwith the rules established by the
AAA.
i. The arbitrator shall give full consid-eration to the legal
requirements limiting theamounts that objectors may be charged,
andshall set forth in the decision the legal andarithmetic basis
for such decision.
9. Payment of Reduced FeesObjectors shall pay reduced
monthly
fees based on the most recent report pend-ing determination of
the objection year’schargeable ratio.
10. Escrow of Disputed FundsAll monthly fees paid by objectors
shall
be placed in an interest-bearing escrow ac-count pending final
determination of thechargeable share. Escrowed funds shall
bedisbursed to objectors and the Union uponissuance of the
arbitrator’s decision or fif-teen (15) days after the conclusion of
theappeal period if there are no challenges tothe
determination.
78 people on October 9, 1995.That case was never solved.
“The frequency and sever-ity of the attacks on
railroadsworldwide and here at homedemonstrate the urgency
forchange in the way our rail se-curity system works,” he said.
Tolman also discussed thedisparity between airline secu-rity
funding and rail securityfunding. He observed that theDepartment of
Homeland Se-curity and the Transporta-tion Security
Administrationspends $9 per airline passen-ger on security, but
only spendsone penny per rail/mass tran-sit passenger.
In addition to Vice Presi-dent Tolman, the following
in-dividuals testified before thesubcommittee: John
Sammon,Transportation Sector Net-work Management, Transpor-tation
Security Administra-tion; Terry Rosapep, DeputyAssociate
Administrator, Of-fice of Program Management,Federal Transit
Agency; Will-iam Fagan, Director of Secu-rity, Federal Railroad
Adminis-tration; Edward Wytkind,President, TransportationTrades
Department, AFL-CIO;Chief Polly Hanson, MetroTransit Police
Department,Washington Metro Area Tran-sit Authority; and
EdwardHamberger, President & CEO,Association of American
Rail-roads.
Rail SecurityContinued from Page 1
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Page 8 Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen News · October
2006
LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS AND TRAINMEN NEWSBrotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers and TrainmenA Division of the Rail Conference,
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
BLET Publications Committee:Don M. Hahs, National
PresidentEdward W. Rodzwicz, First Vice-President & Alternate
PresidentWilliam C. Walpert, National Secretary-TreasurerJohn P.
Tolman, Vice-President & U.S. National Legislative Rep.John V.
Bentley Jr., Editorwww.ble-t.org • (216) 241-2630Kathleen Policy,
Associate Editor
COPYRIGHT 2006, ALL RIGHTS RESERVEDVOLUME 20 • NUMBER 10 •
October 2006
LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS & TRAINMEN NEWS (ISSN 0898-8625)is
published monthly by theBrotherhood of Locomotive Engineers &
Trainmen,1370 Ontario Street, Cleveland, OH 44113-1702.Periodicals
postage paid at Cleveland, OH.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes toLocomotive Engineers &
Trainmen News — BLETRecords Department, 1370 Ontario Street,
MezzanineCleveland, OH 44113-1702.
PERIODICALS
POSTAGE
PAID AT
CLEVELAND, OH
1006
BLET NEWSOCTOBER 2006CALENDAR & EVENTS
Advisory Board September ActivityIn accordance with the BLET
Bylaws, summaries of BLET AdvisoryBoard members’ activities are
published monthly:
NOVEMBER 17... U.S. Railroad Retirement Board Informational
Conference, Metairie, La.At the Plumbers & Steam Fitters Union
Hall, Service Road West (corner of Severn and I-10 Service Rd.).
TheU.S. Railroad Retirement Board offers free informational
conferences for elected officers of the BLET through-out the
remainder of 2006. Registration for all informational conferences
begins at 8 a.m. The programsbegin promptly at 8:30 a.m. and end at
12:30 p.m.
DECEMBER 8... U.S. Railroad Retirement Board Informational
Conference, Tampa, Fla.At the Crown Plaza, Sable Park (10221
Princess Palm Avenue). Registration for all informational
confer-ences begins at 8 a.m. The programs begin promptly at 8:30
a.m. and end at 12:30 p.m.
MAY 20-24, 2007... 67th International Western Convention,
Tacoma, Wash.Hosted by David Beech and the members of Division 238.
More details to come!
JUNE 10-15, 2007... 80th Annual Southeastern Meeting
Association, Orlando, Fla.Hosted by Brothers Mike Tanner and Earl
Karper Sr., the 80th annual SMA will be held at Walt Disney Worldin
Orlando, Fla. More details to come!
AUGUST 20-23, 2007... 69th Annual Eastern Union Meeting
Association, Traverse City, Mich.Hosted by Don Zatteau and the
members of Division 286, the 69th annual EUMA will be held at the
GrandTraverse Resort and Spa in Acme, Mich. More details to
come!
OCTOBER 7-11, 2007... 72nd Annual Southwestern Convention
Meeting, Shreveport, La.Hosted by Bud Pickett and the members of
Division 599, the 72nd annual SWCM will be held at Sam’s Townin
Shreveport, La. More details to come!
National President Don M. Hahs—National Division office: General
supervision of BLET activities; General office duties; AnnualLabor
Day Parade in Toledo, Ohio, with Divisions 4, 385 and 457; BLET-UTU
wage negotiation mtg. w/ NCCC, Kansas City, Mo.; RailLabor
Bargaining Coalition wage negotiation mtg., Washington, D.C.;
Division 255 mtg., Beatrice, Neb.; Mtg. w/ Harold A. Ross
andGeneral Chairman Finamore, Cleveland; Teamsters Canada Rail
Conference convention, Ottawa, Ontario; Kentucky State
LegislativeBoard mtg., Frankfort, Ky.; Sherrod Brown Fundraiser,
Washington, D.C.First Vice-President & Alternate President
Edward W. Rodzwicz— Assisted President in general operation of
National DivisionOffice; Vice President assignments; Organizing
department; Shortline department; Passenger department; Various
correspondence &phone calls; President-IBT Rail Conference;
South Buffalo RR; BLET-UTU-NCCC mtg.; IBT General Executive Board
mtg.; IBT Women’sConference; Illinois State Legislative Board mtg.;
BLET-BMWED Rail Conference planning mtg.National
Secretary-Treasurer William C. Walpert—General supervision of BLET
financial, record depts.; ND office; BLET Educa-tion & Training
Dept.; Internal Organizing, Mobilizing & Strategic Planning
Dept.; Safety Task Force; Meetings with vendors andfinancial
institutions; Midwest Rail Craft Scholarship event, eatrice, Neb.;
Joint Division meeting, Lincoln, Neb.; Teamsters Canada
RailConference convention, Ottawa, Ontario; Illinois State
Legislative Board mtg., Peoria, Ill.; Mtg. w/ BMWED, Washington,
D.C.Vice-President Paul T. Sorrow—Assigned to CSX, NS and GTW
general committees of adjustment; Attended GTW informationalmtg.;
Negotiations w/ CSXT and CSXT General Committee in connection with
single agreement; Contract negotiations w/ CN onbehalf of GTW
engineers; Informational mtg., Moberly, Mo.; Division mtg.,
Moberly, Mo.; Attended informational mtg. CSX WesternLine divisions
(Greenbo State Park); Work on Public Law Board awards and general
office duties.Vice-President Richard K. Radek— ND Office; BLET
Decertification Helpline services; Director of Arbitration Dept;
National RailroadAdjustment Board (NRAB); Illinois Central;
Wisconsin Central; Indiana Harbor Belt; METRA; Belt Rwy. of
Chicago; Chicago Central &Pacific; Iowa, Chicago & Eastern;
U.S. Court of Appeals, Settlement Conference, Chicago; New
arbitrator orientation mtg., Chicago;NRAB, admin. & arbitration
assistance, BRC and Metra, Chicago; Prep. mtg. to discuss NARR,
Chicago; Arbitration, NRAB, UP-West;Labor-Arb. review board mtg.,
Chicago; National Association of Railroad Referees conference,
Chicago; SBA-NY Dock arbitration,KCS and MidSouth Rail, Chicago;
Illinois State Legislative Board mtg., Peoria; Section 3 (RLA)
Committee, Washington, D.C.; Arbitra-tion at NRAB, CP Rail, UP, CN,
et al; NRAB annual board mtg., Chicago; FRA Part 240.409 dockets
this month: EQAL 00-84 (UP), 00-41 (NS), 01-29 (UP), 01-06
(CSX).Vice-President Dale McPherson — CP Rail; Port. Term. RR;
Longivew Portland & Northern; Longview Switching Co.; Indiana
RR;W&LE RR; Utah Railroad; UP Eastern Dist.; UP former CNW;
DM&IR RR; Portland & Western RR; Great Western RR;
Appalachian &Ohio RR; Public Law Boards 5604, 5681, 5721, 6040,
6281, 6449, 6558, 6589; SBA 585; UP work/rest projects; RSAC
positive traincontrol cmte.; National wage/rules; General office
duties, telephone, correspondence; BLET First Quadrennial
Convention, Las Vegas;Rail Conference First Quadrennial Convention,
Las Vegas.Vice-President Merle W. Geiger Jr.— Assigned to: BLET
Trainmen’s Department; Kansas City Southern; Gateway Western;
MidsouthRail; Southrail; Texas-Mexican Rwy.; Springfield Terminal,
Delaware & Hudson; Indiana & Ohio RR; Louisville &
Indiana RR; St. Lawrence& Atlantic RR; Indiana Southern RR;
Prep. for Special Board of Adjustment and New York Dock
arbitration; SBA (MidSouth) and NewYork Dock arbitration
(KCS-MidSough), Chicago; Numerous conference calls; Holiday;
Research, correspondence and general officeduties.Vice-President
Stephen D. Speagle—Assigned to Burlington Northern Santa Fe,
Montana Rail Link, Pacific Harbor Line, Missouri &Northern
Arkansas (M&NA), National Wage/Rule Committee; Labor Day mtg.
and picnic, Div. 155; National wage/rule mtg. w/NCCC and UTU,
Kansas City; Mtgs. for Wabash Hospital Assoc., Decatur; Annual mtg.
of Railroad Referees, Chicago; Mtg. w/ G.C.Cole Davis and Illinois
LC’s; Illinois State Legislative Board mtg.Vice-President E.L.
“Lee” Pruitt — Assisted general chairmen & members of:
UP-Western Lines; UP-Western Region; UP-CentralRegion; UP-Southern
Region; UP-Tacoma Belt; General office duties, telephone
paperwork.Vice-President & National Legislative Representative
John P. Tolman — Assigned to BLET Washington D.C. office; BLET
SecurityOfficer; General office duties, telephone, correspondence;
Mtg. w/ AAR; Mtg. w/ Senator Voinovice; Mtg. w/ Snowe; Mtg. w/
GCAmtrak Kenny; Amtrak Rail Labor mtg.; Congressional Black Caucus;
Homeland ecurity; NMB mtg.; State Leislative Board mtg.,Kentucky;
Mtg. w/ Senator Kennedy, Mass., Harkin, Iowa, former Senator
Culver, Iowa, and candidate for governor Culver; Fundraiserfor
Brown, with Kennedy (MA), Schumer (NY), Brown (OH); Change to Win
mtg. and open house; Testify in the Economic
Security,Infrastructure and Protection and Cybersecurity Committee,
a subcommittee of Homeland Security; Chair Lungren and
RankingMember Sanchez; General office duties;
Interviews.Vice-President Marcus J. Ruef — Assigned to Amtrak Long
Island Railroad; Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation
Authority;New Jersey Transit; Port Authority Trans Hudson; Norfolk
Southern (Northern Lines/W&LE); Norfolk Southern (Eastern
Lines); NorfolkSouthern (Southern Lines); Union Railroad; Allegheny
Ludlum Steel Co.; and Birmingham Southern; SEPTA general
assistance; As-sisted various GCofAs at meetings in Cleveland,
Pittsburgh and Brackenridge, Pa.; NYS&W conference; SEPTA
hearings, Philadelphia;NS-Eastern general assistance; Allegheny
Ludlum general assistance.
A message from Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa
Get out and vote on Nov. 7!
Rail Security TrainingOur government recently approved
legislation that includes $3.5 billion forstate and local first
responders such asfirefighters and emergency workers.Although a
good step, it only allocateda small fraction of that amount,
$13.5million, for inspectors and explosivedetection on the rail
system. BLET-Teamster members and the public de-serve so much more.
Its been shownthat five-times as many passengerstravel daily on our
rail transit systemcompared to airlines. And, we knowthat
locomotive engineers, trainmenand maintenance of way workers
arealways among the very first to respondto an emergency rail
situation. Yet, therail corporations are still turning a deafear to
requests for emergency drills andhands-on training.
Some of the rail corporations havedistributed a video program
that theycontend is adequate for training em-ployees on how to
handle emergencysituations. A videotape is no substitutefor an
on-site instructor and an emer-gency simulation. Our members
de-serve to have the training and equip-ment necessary to perform
in emer-gency situations — and the public re-lies on us to know how
to do our jobs.One of those jobs is having responsi-bility for the
safety of a train’s passen-gers. We won’t forget that, even whenthe
chairmen of the rail corporationscan’t come through with the type
oftraining we need.
Mid-Term ElectionsThe mid-term elections will impact
every state in one way or another andwill affect unions and
working Ameri-cans dramatically.
In the United States Senate, 33 ofthe 100 seats are being
contested. Theelection for members in the House ofRepresentatives
is scheduled for thesame day, as well as many state andlocal
elections, including those for 36state governors.
These elections are critical to ourfuture. We must remind
lawmakers thatthey represent us — working people —not Big Business
and CorporateAmerica. Politicians must be held ac-countable for the
actions they take andthe votes they cast. If they do not standwith
us, we should not stand with themon Election Day.
I urge you to make sure your bal-lots are cast for pro-labor
candidates.Study the issues and see where candi-dates in your area
stand on issues suchas jobs, pensions, health care and
railsecurity. Support candidates that sup-port working
families.
We have a chance to send a mes-sage to our election
representatives onNovember 7, but we can only do it if weremember
to Get Out and Vote!
James P. HoffaGeneral President
DecertificationHelpline
(800) 393-2716The railroad industry’sfirst and only hotlinefor
engineers facingpossible decertificationevents, offeredexclusively
by theBrotherhood ofLocomotiveEngineers and Trainmen
