BLE attorney admits

BLE attorney admits at NMB hearing that UTU
will protect engineers’ craft, seniority agreements

WASHINGTON (July 11) -- The historical craft of locomotive engineer is not threatened with going out of existence if it is represented by the United Transportation Union (UTU), the top attorney for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) admitted at the National Mediation Board (NMB).

During closing arguments Saturday at the NMB, BLE’s legal counsel, George H. Cohen, said that the UTU’s Constitution and Unification Agreement will protect locomotive engineers’ seniority and agreements if an election is ordered on the Union Pacific Railroad and the UTU wins the election.

Cohen’s admission during his closing argument burst the bubble on the BLE’s claim that the UTU is trying to "eliminate the craft of locomotive engineer."

"The BLE has been trying to whip up the false fear that locomotive engineers will cease to exist as a craft or class if the UTU wins an election on the Union Pacific railroad," said Byron A. Boyd, Jr., UTU Assistant President. "But their attorney told the NMB just the opposite. They have been misleading their members and all locomotive engineers."

Cohen said: "At the end of this procedure if this agency (NMB) were to grant this application (for a representation vote on the UP) and if this union, the UTU, was to win an election in a combined craft or class, at that point in time not only would all these seniority rosters and all these seniority rules remain in effect unchanged and therefore in our judgment effectively foreclose what anything could possibly constitute, quote, ‘functional integration’ but, as well, the historic craft autonomy would be applicable to the engineer craft, and Mr. Boyd was very clear, as indeed Article 80 of the (UTU) Constitution and the unification agreements spell out, what that means in the most simplistic terms is no collective bargaining agreement that affects the craft or class of engineers now internally within the governance of the UTU can be put into effect unless a majority of the engineers ratify that agreement. That was made crystal clear both in the document, the public relations piece, and the testimony of Mr. Boyd."

NMB hearings on the UTU’s application alleging a representation dispute on the Union Pacific ended on Saturday. The UTU and BLE will submit briefs by August 2, and reply briefs by August 9. A decision is expected sometime near the end of August.

When the hearings began on July 6, independent news reporters said that only about 300 persons attended the BLE rally to intimidate the NMB. The BLE had claimed up to 1,000 persons participated. Reporters observing the rally said that less than half of the 300 persons at the rally were from the BLE.