BNSF NARS

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And as I mentioned in my post. The last two contracts HAVE been "force-fed" to us. On the previous contract, we sued to have our
Chicago locals enter into separate negotiations from the national and NCCC. Our law suit was denied,but only AFTER National had voted on the contract and ratified it. Another ratification vote was held for our locals and we overwhelmingly REJECTED the contract. However we were
forced to accept the NCCC/National agreement or have none at all.
As I mentioned, It was mostly all "give back" to the carrier and little gain to the rank & file. We STILL have the "Attendance Guidelines" and we still have the %age wage scale. And you are right, I probably wont
change my mind about contract negotiations since very little has been
gained through negotiation. I just wonder how much could be gained
by perambulation from the workplace????

CT

 

The carrier successfully sued the dispatchers and ligitgation is pending on whether or not they will pay for all of the delay caused on their illegal work stopage. That's right, illegal. Did it get the carrier's attention? Yup, but at what cost?

Your local may have voted against the contract, but all votes are put together in one box. The rank and file voted to accept the contract. It is called the "Democratic Process". As for you local issues, your local voted and the results were tallied. The rank and file spoke. Just because the outcome wasn't in your favor, you still have to accept the results. If you wanted to work a "cake" job, then you should have "gotten off the farm sooner".

The FRA has mandated quite a few things on the carrier. You should ask about "Emergency Order 24" That is only one of many FRA madates that the carrier has had to abide by!!!! "Alerters", "Ditch Lights", and many more!!!! I could go on and on, but won't.

I don't see how you can say rest cycle agreements don't help with the fatigue issue. But then you didn't have to work for years on end without them. Your union didn't sign the 10 day cancellation clause for those agreements, the CARRIER did.

The CARRIER felt that by default, everyone would keep working to avoid punishment for violating the "Availability Policy", NOT THE UNION! Did it work?

The unions cannot pull off a successful strike anymore. The office of the President of the United States of America has seen to that. Anytime there has been a strike, a "Presidetial Emergency Back to Work" order is signed. Again, ask the dispatchers if things have settled down over their "work stoppage". The union leadership did not want you to throw your perceived weight around because it would have been one more small fire to put out. You voiced your opinion, but it was not in the majority. Accept it.

The carrier was not involved in the NCCC because they felt they had no reason for even negotiating They threw thier offer out, and let the chips fall where they may. Two RRs already has settled on a contract, so all they had to do was sit and wait for the rest to come to the table and sign or risk going to a conservative PEB and possibly getting something worse! Unions held out, for awhile, but when the other unions in the US started giving concessions on healthcare, it set the stage for the others to follow and the boards to rule. The carrier tried it again this year not to participate in the NCCC but it didn't work. The unions let their feelings known. They had a plan and the membership stuck together, followed through and the carrier was all but forced to return to the negotiating table. Now with a "new" congress, the carrier is already beginning to back pedal.

To say your union is not working for you is not true. They are and they have a plan. You have to work within the plan and not go off in a different direction just because someone else thinks so. If they have to spend time chasing down rumor and inuendo, that is lost time focusing on the people they represent. I believe that what they want is a "united" front.

 

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In conclusion, I just want to say that I never said that the union was
not working for me. What I said is that they can do a LOT better than they are. If the unions have a "plan" then it is certainly a well-kept secret(which it probably should be)but then again a "plan" is of no use
unless you have some positive action within its parameters. You mention "chasing down rumor and inuendo"... LOL , Doofus, just how long have you been railroading anyway??? Is not "rumor and innuendo"
a part of everyday life on the railroad?? And since when does the union
have to "chase it down"? Hellzbellz, its right there in their faces every day!!!! Sheeeeesshhhhh!

"united" front.... Now thats a good one.

Lessseeee... The UTU and BLE want to merge in order to form a "united front" to the carriers. Somehow the two brotherhoods just don't seem
to communicate to each other. The UTU feels that the BLE wants to do
away with their crafts, the BLE doesn't want trainmen running their "store" and are fearful of the UTU "stealing" members from them.
The marriage is called off! The former President of the UTU pleads guilty to fraud. He goes to jail.

The BLE bolts the AFL/CIO...

The UTU bolts the AFL/CIO...

The BLE joins forces with The International Brotherhood of Teamsters(and the BLE thought that fellow railroaders were enemies and truck drivers their friends?!?!?!?!?)

The BLE suddenly decides they want to represent trainman and begin
recruiting measures they were accusing the UTU of using. Now suddenly
they are the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers AND Trainmen!

The UTU rejoins the AFL/CIO

Everybody keeping score?

In spite of it all I have faith in collective bargaining. I am proud to be a
union member. I am planning on going to the union meeting this week.
It is an 80 mile R.T.drive for me,but one I made daily(oftentimes more than once in a 24hr period).

Doofus, have a happy holiday period. As I mentioned before, you and I
are on the same page, we just see things a little differently. As we say
on one of the military veterans boards I belong to ... KTF! (keep the faith)
I will surrender the last word to you,and you are quite welcome to it.
I ,for one,have used enough cyberspace to state my position and probably bored far too many fellow board members with it. For that I apologize.

CT

 

You're entirely welcome Hemi!

What we have here is 2 rails just hashin' over the job. No two railroaders will ever have the same opinion. Thats just the way it is,but
they can still be pals and work together. Ideally you like to work a job
where you are with friends or at least know the work habits of the other people. I was fortunate in working a couple of commuter train jobs on a regular basis with my good buddies. I have worked many jobs with people I couldn't stand but that is not unique to my situation. Everyone has had the same experience. I have also worked a couple of
jobs off the extra list that I would have donated a major appendage to
be able to hold regularly. One has to learn how the "railroad game" is played and then work it to your advantage. Cicero Yard on the BNSF has what is known as a "hog board". These guys bid daily for the next
days assignment. Some of them have become quite adept at "sharpshooting" the board and catch a lot of "sour grapes" from those
who are not as adept. Hey, it's quite legal, learn how to do it and then
see how good you can become. Other guys will haunt the crew desk recordings to see what jobs are being posted so that they can gauge
when to tie up the job they are currently on in order to position themselves on the board. Crews from a certain Wisconsin terminal were
quite handy with that,drawing criticism from the other terminals and eventually the attention of crew management who then issued a directive as to the when,where,how and why you MUST tie up your job.
Some guys have curried favor with some of the crew callers, that is unethical,but it is still done.
I have digressed here, but as I mentioned, Doofus & I are on the same
page,just looking at different sides of it. That's all. No harm done, no harm intended. One always wishes a fellow rail to work safely,something
I wish for all the rails here. A thoroughly knowledgeable guy like Doofus
we have to keep around for a LONG while!

CT

 

There are many, many, FRA mandates that have come down the pike. Not all RR have the same SOP. It was just in recent history that the GCOR was consolidated amongst most class one carriers. "Engineer Certification" and "Decertifiable Offenses" are all FRA mandated.

The BLE did not want to merge with the UTU. It was voted down. There were talks. The only reason for the "mereger" talks were in case the courts ruled in favor of the UTU's proposed representation vote of all railroad operating crafts. They ruled in favor of the BLE-T

Your play-by-play of union events is not in chronological order. It was first that the UTU that was evicted from the AFL-CIO. Not until 2005 did the BLE-T leave the AFL-CIO on their own terms. When the BLE-T voted not to merge with the UTU, did they join up with the Teamsters. Once again, a plan to stave off a hostile represetation vote by the UTU. When the UTU signed an agreement regarding RCO, the BLE-T decided to offer represetation to trainmen. Once the UTU and BLE-T agreed to stop fighting amongst themselves they have decided to get down to business.

The unions constantly field questions about rumors. It seems that rumors spread like wildfire because people don't attend the meetings and get information firsthand. Stories get passed on down the line and in time get twisted. Rumors abound on the RR. It is up to the individual to become truly informed of the issues. The unions are always looking for help when trying to resolve issues. They would gladly welcome constructive input. However, it is ultimately up the membership to either vote for or against proposals. Seems people have certain "sources" they go to for their information rather than getting it straight from the top. This is the person they have to constantly correct. And they tell one person who tells another who tells another............................

The unions can help if a person will just ask for the help. It is the person who takes the carriers advice at will and doesn't follow through that gets in trouble and ends up in an "investigation". They try to resolve the issue without any help. Only after they have dug themselves a hole so deep, they cannot get out of it, do they ask for assistance. There are ways to avoid being in "violation", but you have to ask. If an issue is "scary" wouldn't you want to educate yourself about it and stay out of trouble? Again, you must follow through. It seems as though the stories with "bad" endings get heard alot more than the stories with "happy" endings.


Playing the game can get you what you want in the short run, but in the end it will only hurt you. You will get caught by the carrier or your peers. Either of which, has a venemous bite!!