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Washington,
D.C. Regional Meeting
Opening Speech
By Byron A. Boyd, Jr.
UTU Assistant President
July 12, 1999
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Good morning, brothers and sisters, my name is Byron Boyd and I want to welcome you to Washington and the third Regional Meeting of this summer, and the last Regional Meeting of this century.
I am told that this meeting is the largest in UTU history. A few weeks ago in St. Louis we had more than 1,000 people at our Midwestern Meeting. Last year in Toronto we had more than 1,200 members. Here in Washington, I am told that we have more than 1,300 UTU members coming together in a show of solidarity at a critically important time in this union’s history.
Being here in such large numbers shows me the strength and vitality of the UTU.
Last week, when the National Mediation Board began it’s hearings on whether there will be a representation vote on the Union Pacific Railroad, I saw only around 30 protesting outside the Board’s building.
Independent news reporters said the BLE only had about 300 persons total at its rally. That’s a lot less than the 1,000 they claimed participated -- and at least half were not BLE members.
Well, we have about 1,500 UTU members here. I think that shows the true UTU spirit! I applaud all of you who are here this week. I applaud all of you who care so much about your union.
Brothers and sisters, I talked to my friend and your President just before I came up here this morning. Charlie’s at home and as feisty as ever. He told me to tell you that he is feeling great. And he asked me if Broken Rail had bought me lunch in Washington this week.
Charlie is lucky because he is smart in more ways than one. He’s smart because he believes in regular medical checkups, and that’s why his doctor told him that he is now cancer free following surgery for colon cancer. Take this as an example for yourself and your family -- regular medical checkups and early detection does save lives.
I know all of you join me in wishing Charlie a speedy recovery, and I know he’s looking forward to seeing many of you in Miami Beach in August.
Usually at this time, I turn it over to Charlie and take a seat and listen. For those of you here who were also in Los Angeles or St. Louis, Charlie told it like he saw it.
He didn’t mince words or shy away from any controversy. I intend to follow in that tradition.
But before I do, I want to thank all of those people from the host committee who have worked so hard planning this Regional Meeting.
Special thanks go to members of the local planning committee headed by Steve Fritter along with members of the Bus Department, Canadian Rail Members, and rail members from this area.
I thank all of you for your dedication and hard work on the UTU’s behalf.
I must tell you that in St. Louis a few weeks ago, I heard a few things that made me very proud of the UTU.
First, I heard Missouri Governor Mel Carnahan call the UTU the "preeminent rail and transportation union in North America."
Think about what he said for a moment?
One of this country’s most-respected governor’s said the UTU is the Number One union in all of North America representing rail and transportation workers.
It made me feel proud, and I hope it makes you feel proud, too.
Then I heard President Emeritus Tom DuBose stand up and say that Charlie Little is the right man and has the right plan for the UTU's long-term future.
Now, four years ago in Chicago, Tom and Charlie fought it out to see who would lead the UTU -- and everybody knows that UTU politics can be pretty rough.
But here was this labor statesman from Georgia telling 1,000 people that he had come full circle and that his former opponent, and I quote, "has the ability, courage and foresight to lead the UTU into the 21st Century."
Here was Tom DuBose saying that he "has never been prouder of this union."
Brothers and sisters, this is one gentleman from Georgia who tells the truth and works to make this union better. Tom, why don’t you stand and be recognized.
Now, I see Former President Al Chesser out there, too. Any one who knows Al knows that he is a fire-and-brimstone speaker and has told a few colorful stories over the years. As many of you know, we have dedicated our new Washington, D.C. National Legislative Headquarters Building to Al H. Chesser in his honor. Al, stand up and take a bow.
Having heard both Al and Tom talk in Los Angeles and St. Louis this summer, I took a few notes and learned a few things about what I should do up here this morning.
What I learned is that you should tell it like it is, and don’t hold back, which leads me to the Number One headline in the UTU today.
You know what it is: The UTU takes on BLE at the National Mediation Board."
I was there all last week, and I intend to give you an update on what happened
I’m not going to repeat old news about why we are back at the Mediation Board.
By now most of you have heard and read about the reasons both sides claim unification fell apart.
Many of you have probably read that the BLE’s First Vice President accused the BLE President of deliberately provoking the UTU into going back to the National Mediation Board because of a recall election.
The BLE admitted it themselves. They scuttled unification because of internal politics. It had nothing to do with finances or what a future dues structure would be. So, the UTU had no other place to go but to the Mediation Board.
Last Tuesday, July 6, through Saturday’s closing arguments, the UTU and BLE presented their cases at a formal hearing of the Mediation Board.
I believe that the UTU presented a powerful and convincing case that shows one union should represent the employees who work in the engine cab.
There has been a lot of BLE hoghead hogwash saying that the UTU is trying to do away with the craft of locomotive engineer.
Well, I’m an engineer from the Union Pacific Railroad and there is no way the UTU is going to do away with the craft of locomotive engineer -- or any other historical craft. Our Unity Agreement and Constitution prohibit it.
In fact, during the BLE’s closing argument on Saturday, their legal counsel, George Cohen, admitted that the UTU’s Constitution and Unification Agreement will protect engineer’s seniority and agreements if UTU wins the UP election if an election is ordered by the Mediation Board.
That’s a very different tune than what the BLE’s propaganda machine has been spewing out about the UTU trying to destroy the historical craft of locomotive engineer.
Once again, the truth is out there.
The UTU wants to make sure the historical crafts continue well into the 21st Century, as I testified to last week.
What we want to do away with is paralyzing union politics that’s keeps all historical crafts from being represented the way they deserve.
What we want to do away with is the BLE selling out thousands of conductors and trainmen to put a few more dollars in their members’ back pockets…like they did on VIA Rail, Soo Line, and the Montana Rail Link.
What we want to do is protect the jobs of members in every historical craft, not to enrich one craft at the expense of others.
Think about when you fly in an airliner on American or Delta or United or another airline.
What if that plane was flown by only a pilot because his union went to the airline company and told them that the pilot would do the co-pilot’s job for an extra $50 a trip and would fly the plane alone?
How would you feel?
Or would you feel better knowing that there was both a pilot and co-pilot in the cockpit because both jobs are necessary for the safe and efficient operation of an airliner, and the single union that represents both workers cannot sell one out for the other?
Sounds like the right thing to do, doesn’t it?
That’s what we want to do.
We believe it is in everyone’s long-term best interest for one union to represent railroad operating employees in the cab as we enter the 21st Century.
It’s about time…and now is the time for it to happen.
The UTU believes there should be at least two persons operating a train – a locomotive engineer and a conductor working in close partnership.
What does the BLE believe?
Just ask those former conductors who worked on VIA Rail, the Soo Line and the Montana Rail Link.
The National Mediation Board will ultimately decide whether rail labor should step forward into the 21st Century, or remain trapped in its 19th Century roots.
We know that 19th Century-minded union leaders want to keep things the same forever. You know who those people are.
But both Charlie Little and I decided that we needed to be 21st Century union leaders and challenge the status quo.
Because this union -- and all unions -- have to change with the times or perish. There are better ways to represent working people more effectively.
We could have stood pat and slapped backs with the guys at the AFL-CIO and in the other rail unions.
We could have huffed and puffed and rattled the sabers and do what they do.
But that’s not Charlie’s style, it’s not my style, and it’s not this union’s style. We are not defenders of the status quo.
The UTU was born 30 years ago because it was in the best interests of the members in many crafts.
We believe that for your sake, and for the sake of all historical operating crafts, the National Mediation Board should do what’s best for 21st Century union operating rail workers -- not 19th Century-minded labor leaders.
We believe they should authorize a representation election on the Union Pacific Railroad and let the rank-and-file decide their future.
Charlie said it in Los Angeles and St. Louis, and I am saying it here -- UTU intends to win that election!
We are united on that issue from coast to coast.
At our Los Angeles Regional Meeting, the International Officers unanimously passed a resolution to "stay the course with our Union Pacific representation petition to the National Mediation Board."
You know, I’ve heard a lot of talk about where the UTU stands with the AFL-CIO today.
The BLE is trying to make a Federal case about it.
So, let me ask you a question.
Where do you think the Air Line Pilots Union stands with the Federation?
How about the Carpenter’s Union?
Both are members of the AFL-CIO. Both pay their dues and take part in Federation activities across the country. And both have had Article XX sanctions leveled against them recently just like the UTU.
The UTU and BLE have a long history of disputes with each other at the AFL-CIO. We’ve won some and we’ve lost some.
Disputes inside the Federation are sometimes messy, but the UTU is still at the labor table. Just like the Air Line Pilots and Carpenters and a few other unions.
It’s too bad that some union leaders don’t like us. But Charlie and I are not here to be buddies with those guys.
We’re here to represent you.
We’re here to protect your jobs.
We’re here to protect your future.
We’re here to make sure that no other union sells out your job and your craft as the BLE has done on VIA Rail, the Soo Line and the Montana Rail Link.
We expect the NMB to make a decision by the end of August. Then we will know if there will be a winner-take-all representation election, we hope, this fall on the Union Pacific.
That election would be followed by other representation elections on other railroads.
And at the end of day, we expect that the UTU will represent all of the historical crafts equally and honestly as our Constitution and Unification Agreement pledge.
It’s no secret that this is an election year in the UTU. One sure way to tell is to see how outrageous some union politicians will become just to get elected. This time is no exception. But I believe in my heart that UTU delegates and members know how to separate fact from fiction.
They know who truly has the UTU’s best interests at heart, and they know in their hearts who is truly honest and who is not.
Four years ago in Chicago, and I’m sure some of you remember it was the worst heat wave in the Windy City’s history, the delegates elected a new leadership team.
They embraced the "Blueprint for a New Beginning" and the promises made by a talented team lead by Charlie Little.
I am proud to report that we have lived up to the Blueprint and kept those promises.
We are financially strong and stable with more than $44 million in assets compared to only $16.7 million for the BLE.
While the UTU’s assets are increasing, the BLE’s are declining, and their strike fund is nearly depleted.
On the other hand, the UTUIA has record assets of more than $221 million and record reserves of $35 million.
Our membership is growing and we are organizing in the airline industry to spread our umbrella over other transportation modes.
We’ve restructured, automated and computerized the International to make it more efficient.
We’ve boosted our political clout across the U.S. and Canada, and here in Washington.
Our voice is the most listened to in this city’s corridors of power when it comes to transportation issues.
That’s why we will be visited at this meeting by Vice President Al Gore, Minority Leader Richard Gephardt and Minority Whip David Bonior.
With our support in the 2000 elections, I hope we will invite back President Gore, Speaker Gephardt and Majority Leader Bonior in 2001.
Under Charlie Little’s leadership, we have set a proactive and positive agenda for the 21st century.
It is gratifying to be recognized as North America’s Number One rail and transportation union.
Notice I emphasized transportation. The UTU’s roots are in rail labor, but it’s future lies in also representing workers in other transportation industries.
The UTU is proud to represent bus operators, like those here from SEPTA in Philadelphia and from Charlotte. We are proud to represent our school bus drivers.
We are continuing to expand our organizing efforts at bus operations nationwide, and we have been successful at organizing van services like Renzenberger out west that transport rail crews.
We have built up a head of steam that has resulted in many positive results for our union.
The UTU is prepared to represent you effectively in the 21st Century. We are a union of Brothers and Sisters of many crafts in various transportation modes who look out for each other and do what is right.
In Los Angeles and St. Louis, Charlie took a time to recognize those UTU leaders who have done so much to make this union better every day. I want to do the same thing today.
With only one exception, I am honored to tell you that every International officer stands united.
With only one exception, I am honored to tell you that every International officer has poured his heart and soul into protecting your future and your job.
With only one exception, I am honored to tell you that every International officer is working with your best interests at heart.
With only one exception, the leadership of your union is working diligently every day to make the UTU the best it can possibly be.
So, just as we did in Los Angeles and St. Louis, I want to acknowledge those who have made the UTU their life’s work.
At the head of that list are two people who are not here today. You know about Charlie Little. The other is Vice President Dan Johnson whose passion for the UTU and integrity are second to none.
Please permit me a moment to acknowledge our International officers and in other leadership positions this morning. But before I do, I want to thank everyone who helped us prove our case beyond a doubt last week at the Mediation Board.
I know some of them have gone home, but let me thank Paul Thompson, Arty Martin, John Babler, David Hakey, Lavon Nelson, Bob Carter, and Sammy Rudel who did an outstanding job on the witness stand.
Assisting our General Counsel Clint Miller was Jim Linsey of the New York firm of Cohen, Weiss and Simon. Also working with us is one of the great Labor Secretaries, Ray Marshall, who held that job in Jimmy Carter’s administration.
Brothers and Sisters, I can’t tell you how impressed I was with this team and what they did. And I must tell you how fortunate the UTU is to have Clinton J. Miller as our General Counsel.
I’d like all of you here to stand and be recognized.
Now let me acknowledge our International officers and other leaders.
Once again, get on your feet Paul Thompson. Then there’s Larry Davis, who announced in St. Louis that he is retiring at the end of the year. Thanks for all you’ve done, Larry, and we will miss you.
I’d like Al Smith, Bruce Wigent, Kim Thompson, Pete Patsouras, Rick Marceau, Guy Scarrow, and John Armstrong to get on your feet.
Now, I’d like Bernie McNelis and Percy Palmer from the Bus Department to stand. Don Carver and Jerry Martin from the Yardmasters Department, get on your feet.
It’s time to recognize some of our outstanding legislative directors, and stand when I say your name -- Jim Stem, Steve Fritter, Bill Thompson, Dan O’Connell, Sam Nasca, Richard Jeskey, David Brickey, Jim Carrico Don Beavers, Carl Cochran, J.P. Jones, Don Dunlevy, Tom Dwyer, Sam Arrington, Larry Foster, Dale Wheeler, Don Lindsey, Tyrone Boudreaux, Larry Kasecamp, Bobby Marshall, Jack Shaver, Joe Szabo, Ray Lineweber, George Casey, John Smullen, Fran Marceau, John Risch, Ken Minard, Jack Ramsey, Rick Davids, Jerry Anderton, Jack Pennybacker, David Slavin, George Bagby and Scott Belden.
I’d also like to acknowledge Danny Boyles from Georgia. Danny is filling in for Wiley Vaughn, who passed away last week. Wiley was one of the UTU’s great statesmen and we will miss him. In honor of Wiley Vaughn, and since we already had a moment of silence in his honor, I ask that we all give him a big round of applause.
Now, I know that many of you Canadians are wondering when I was going to get to Tim Secord. So, get on your feet, Tim. You do one hell of a great job for the UTU in Canada.
And then there’s Broken Rail. Get up on your feet, James. I want to thank you for all of the hard work you do day in and day out here in Washington. It’s a major reason why 98 percent of UTU endorsed candidates won their races in the last elections.
All of you also should know that our TPEL is the Number One labor transportation PAC in the U.S., and has helped put us at par with the carriers in Washington.
I thank all of you for your hard work and dedication.
It’s nice to stand up and take a bow, but we still have a lot of hard work to do.
In a speech given in April, U.P. CEO Dick Davidson acknowledged that it was rail labor, primarily the UTU, that saved the U.P.’s bacon.
Well, once again there is a major railroad merger and once again the bacon is frying.
I have to tell you that we have been working closely with CSX and hammering away at Norfolk Southern to try to help straighten things out.
We have told NS in no uncertain terms that it must change its culture or face failure.
We have told the Surface Transportation Board the same thing.
NS knows that if the Conrail carve-up fails the railroad industry may very likely be re-regulated to death by Congress.
So, NS is facing a two-edged sword: Do they change their culture, or do they risk having Washington re-regulate the railroad industry?
We are watching Norfolk Southern and CSX very carefully.
So is the news media.
So are the shippers.
So are the truckers.
So are the politicians.
If things don’t get cleared up in Elkhart and Cleveland and Toledo and Harrisburg and Chicago and in the other trouble spots soon, we may have a meltdown that affects the whole country.
It could make the Union Pacific meltdown look like small potatoes.
We’ve been to this dance before and the music gets old real fast.
These next few weeks are critical while the auto industry is retooling for the 2000 model year, and the coal mines slow down.
Nobody can afford a long, hot summer on America’s railroads and more gridlock and confusion.
If NS is ever to change its ways and follow the trend to better working relationships with its union workers, like we now have with CSX, they should seize the opportunity before it is too late.
They know they don’t have much time to turn things around.
They should learn from the Union Pacific’s mistakes and not let corporate ego damage their business and long-term financial health.
If the UTU was a company traded on Wall Street, some financial gurus might say that the UTU is at a triple witching hour in the last six months of this century.
First, we have the Mediation Board action and a possible representation election this fall on the U.P.
Second, we have the quadrennial election of International Officers in late August in Miami Beach.
And third, we will be negotiating a new national agreement.
One of our major goals is ending the entry-rate pay and dual basis of pay for post-1985 members.
Our intention is to make sure that the most productive rail workers in the world are paid accordingly.
I believe that we finally have the leverage to accomplish these goals.
After decades of declining railroad employment, thousands of new operating employees are being hired.
Now, more than at any other time in the last 30 years, the carriers need our expertise to keep pace with truckers and other forms of transportation.
The carriers know they need experienced union operating employees to compete in the 21st Century. They know they need the skills and ideas of the "new" UTU.
Norfolk Southern and CSX need you – and the UTU – more than ever.
Today, every North American railroad is learning the true value UTU members bring to the job every day.
I have had the privilege of attending about 17 question-and-answer "shoot-outs" with Charlie Little all across the country.
We’ve had them in Chicago, Memphis, Seattle, North Platte, Des Moines, Cheyenne, Denver, Houston, Kansas City, Nashville, Jacksonville, Toronto, Vancouver, Victoria, New Orleans, Los Angeles, Roseville, Massillon, Ohio, and three in Cleveland.
We answer every question asked, and the reception has been very positive.
Brothers and sisters, this union and the International officers who stood before you a few moments ago have nothing to hide.
This union has no secrets.
This union has nothing to be ashamed of.
In my opinion, there is only one officer who should be ashamed of his conduct in office, and all of you, and he, knows who it is.
A few people have asked me about allegations recently published on a web page by a certain candidate for high office in this union.
Because it is so important that our membership maintain confidence and trust in this organization, I want to address the matter directly.
Since the termination for good cause of a relative of that candidate who was employed at the International, this union has probably been the subject of more investigations than any other organization in America.
In each case the UTU cooperated fully with Federal authorities. The allegations were proved to be without merit, and in each case we were given a complete bill of good health. We are absolutely confident that the same will occur again.
Our operation is an open book, and we have been thoroughly audited annually by the nationally prominent certified accounting firm of Ernst and Young.
I suggest that no union is as well documented and exact about its finances as we are.
However, on a personal level I must say that it is the height of reckless and irresponsible conduct to follow a pattern that each time you seek high office you make allegations against your union that are knowingly false in an effort to smear honest and hardworking union officers for a selfish short-term political agenda.
It also appears that by spreading these falsehoods he hopes to give aid and comfort to a competing labor organization, the BLE.
However, I am confident that the government, and as importantly the membership, will again reject such unethical and immoral conduct.
In the meantime, we must respect his and every other UTU members’ right of expression.
Believe me brothers and sisters, the truth will ultimately win out.
This union is doing things the right way for its memberships’ future.
In St. Louis, Tom DuBose said that President Little is on the right track with the BLE.
Tom said he knew that Charlie was committed to a peaceful merger.
And he said that "for some reason, the BLE doesn't understand that unification is coming, with or without them."
I agree with Tom DuBose and Governor Mel Carnahan and all of the others who say that the UTU is the top union in its field on this continent.
The UTU will be the cornerstone of rail and transportation labor in the 21st Century.
We will be the model of what a progressive and passionate union should be in the 21st Century.
We have only one true mission.
To protect your jobs.
To ensure the continuity of all historical crafts.
To better your livelihoods.
To better your working conditions.
To improve your safety.
To help you support your families with a stronger sense of security for the future.
Together we can do it.
Together we can write a new chapter in the history of transportation labor.
Together the UTU can fulfill the century-old promise of Eugene Debs.
Together we will march into the 21st Century as a union ready to take on the world.
God Bless You.
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Last modified: May 25, 2000
