UTU asks NMB to reinstate petition for election on UP as BLE talks collapse (10/6/98)

UTU asks NMB to reinstate petition for election
on Union Pacific Railroad as BLE talks collapse
BLE pushed for "phony" federation contrary to Montana agreement;
attempted to stage trumped up strike on Union Pacific to embarrass UTU

CLEVELAND (October 5) – The United Transportation Union (UTU) is asking the National Mediation Board (NMB) to immediately reinstate its petition to hold representation elections on the Union Pacific and other railroads for all operating employees.

The UTU request is being made after negotiations with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) regarding forming a new labor organization to represent all operating railroad employees failed to produce an acceptable plan.

In addition, the UTU cited the BLE’s bad faith by attempting last week to "foment a strike" on the Union Pacific Railroad "without basis" to "attempt to embarrass UTU."

The UTU said that reliable reports it received late last week about an attempt to create a strike situation for "no stated reason" on the Union Pacific while final negotiations were ongoing was an attempt to "put UTU in a ‘trick bag’" and embarrass it.

The UTU said in a letter to BLE International President Clarence V. Monin that it doesn’t "see any point in going forward. We simply cannot trust any commitment you would make on the basis of your actions to date."

In its letter sent to the NMB today, the UTU said, "The time has simply passed for continuing to work on this fruitless enterprise."

The letter also says, "The May 21, 1998 Joint Statement of UTU and BLE amounted to a letter of intent to unify and contained a commitment ‘to exert every effort to conclude the examination of all issues and negotiations by September, 30, 1998.’ BLE has failed to live up to that commitment."

The letter concludes, "Therefore, the United Transportation Union respectfully requests that the Board immediately reopen this matter . . . The Union Pacific should be ordered to immediately supply the list of potential eligible voters . . . and the election should be ordered forthwith."

Charles L. Little, UTU International President, said, "We regret an agreement to create a new labor union that would benefit all railroad operating employees could not be reached. We, therefore, are asking the National Mediation Board to immediately sanction elections on the Union Pacific and other railroads."

On May 21 in Livingston, Mon., the UTU and BLE agreed to "explore the creation of a new organization, uniting the two rail operating unions." Under the direction of former AFL-CIO President Tom Donahue, the unions agreed to "exert every effort to conclude the examination of all issues and negotiations by September 30, 1998."

Little said that the BLE reneged on the Montana Agreement and instead pushed to form a "phony federation" between the two unions. That option was rejected in Montana, said Little, and both unions agreed to talk about "creating a new union" over the summer. Five committees were appointed to explore creating a new union.

In a letter sent today to the BLE, Little and Assistant President Byron A. Boyd Jr. said, "Our proposal provided for continued progress on a true unification of our two unions, and your reply indicates insistence on the status quo with a phony federation structure that is meaningless."

The letter also said, "To begin with, despite all the time devoted to BLE-UTU Unification, it still appears that you want a federation, instead of a new union, and we cannot proceed with this matter on that basis . . . because it is not a meaningful unification that will address the problems that divide us and cause problems in the workplace for our respective memberships."

In regard to a trumped up strike on the Union Pacific, the UTU’s letter to the BLE’s Monin said, "Equally as disturbing are reports we began to receive after our meeting on September 29 about your threatened strike of the Union Pacific Railroad. Those reports indicate that you approached your ‘mobilizers’ last week on Union Pacific and told them to request strike authority, which you would grant to put UTU in a ‘trick bag,’ apparently meaning we would tell our members to cross your picket line. Both of our fathers were trade unionists and they would turn over in their graves if we would do so."

The letter continues, "UTU has never ordered a BLE picket line crossed in its history, not even in the BLE 1982 National strike where the chief issue was more compensation for engineers than conductors. It was BLE, however, that ordered its membership to cross the firemen’s picket lines in the 1965 National strike and in UTU’s 47-day strike on the Soo Line in the summer of 1994. Finally, as we understand it from reports, there was no stated reason for the strike and your General Chairmen knew nothing about it, which, if true, shows its purpose was to try to embarrass UTU."

On January 12, the UTU asked the NMB in Washington, D.C., to rule that a "representation dispute" exists rail industry-wide among operating employees in a single craft or class of Train and Engine Service employees. Concurrently, the NMB was asked to "order elections" among union employees on the Union Pacific railroad represented by the UTU and BLE.