Unification Update
BLE sell-out of conductors, brakemen exposed in California

Editor’s Note: The following article is one of the hottest e-mail’s speeding across the country, and has already been read by thousands of railroad workers. It shows incontrovertible proof that the BLE is currently making deals with carriers for one-man crews that use remote controls in order to put other operating crafts out of work. The article and supporting Pacific Harbor Line letter are reprinted in their entireties (including misspellings in carrier letter) from the September/October issue of The REPORTER: the Official Publication of the UTU California State Legislative Board.)

  

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) Gives Away
Conductors and Brakemen Position in the Rail Industry

If you have any doubts about the interest the BLE may have in preserving conductor and brakemen positions in the rail industry, that doubt will be removed when you read the letter on the following page.

The UTU California State Legislative Board continues to push for enactment of Senate Bill 200, by Senator Jack O'Connell, which will require two qualified operating personnel on all trains, one of which will be a conductor.

In writing in opposition to SB 200, the Pacific Harbor Line Railroad (former Harbor Belt Line in the Los Angeles area) writes the following in paragraph two of their April 12, 1999 letter: "Pacific Harbor Line employees are represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. OUR LABOR CONTRACT EXPRESSLY PROVIDES FOR THE USE OF ONE-PERSON CREWS, IF REMOTE CONTROL TECHNOLOGY IS USED." (Emphasis added.)

Read the enclosed letter in its entirety. These are YOUR jobs the BLE is giving away.

BLE is simply bad for railroad operating employees.

 

PACIFIC HARBOR LINE
[Logo not reproduced]

April 12, 1999

Senator Hilda Solas
Chairperson
Senate Industrial Relations Committee
Sacramento CA 95814

Dear Senator Solas:

I am writing to you regarding SB 200, the two man railroad crew bill. Pacific Harbor Line is a switching carrier located in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. We serve approximately 30 industries as well as all major ocean container terminals. We presently operate nine switch crews per day. While some of our trackage has been in existence for some time, much of our railroad has been rebuilt or built new by the two ports at public expense. When completed, nearly $500 million will have been spent to construct railroad that is devoid of highway grade crossings and automated with power switches controlled from a centralized location. These new or reconstructed routes are ideal for the implementation of one-person crews. This bill as written would deprive PHL and its customers of much of the efficiencies that this tremendous investment was designed to foster.

Pacific Harbor Line employees are represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. Our labor contract expressly provides for the use of one-person crews, if remote control technology is used. We do not use remote technology at the present time, but plan to do so after the infrastructure improvements are further along. In many switching applications, a one-person crew is actually safer than two persons, as the person who may be on the ground in between cars is the same person controlling the locomotive. No inadvertent movement can occur if there is no second crewmember at the controls.

As for having two persons for over the road movement, freight trains operate the world over with one person, with enviable safety records.

Pacific Harbor Line opposes this legislation. In our view, the bill is poorly drafted because it considers all railroad freight operations to be the same. There may be certain situations where one-person operation makes sense and other applications where it is unwise. In our experience, the Federal Railroad Administration is best equipped to make these determinations.

Sincerely,
Andrew C. Fox
President

 

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