L&DRR workers finally win pact
LAFAYETTE, La. -- The employees of the Louisiana & Delta Railroad (L&DRR) waited seven years for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE) to get them a contract.

Then they gave up and turned to the UTU.

The result was that the UTU got them a contract in eight months, and a good one at that.

In 1992, the BLE won representation rights over the 18 train and engine service workers on the L&DRR, which operates about 100 miles of track between Lafayette and Thibodaux, La. But for more than seven years, the BLE left the workers in limbo, never bothering to hammer out a pact with the carrier.

Fed up with seven years of BLE inaction, the L&DRR employees approached the UTU and went to the National Mediation Board for permission to hold another representation election. Of the 16 workers on the L&DRR eligible to vote, 15 cast votes for the UTU. The BLE did not receive one vote.

The new contract, negotiated by Vice President Pete Patsouras and L&DRR employee and new Local Chairperson Chris Varisco, became effective September 1. Highlights include an almost 10% wage increase over the next three years, the implementation of a formalized grievance procedure, and other benefits.

"I wouldn't treat my dog like we get treated from the L&DRR," said employee Francis Poirier. "The wages and working conditions are terrible. I have more respect for animals than they have for us."

Poirier continued: "From everybody over here, you all are a godsend to us. I've been railroading for 20 years, and I don't know everything about it, but I know the difference between right and wrong, and we've been treated unjustly wrong. I speak for everybody when I say thanks. We wouldn't be where we are now, and it would have been the same for the next 10 years, without the UTU."

"We are proud to be part of the UTU. We have a voice now," Varisco said. "I go with the 'Power of One' union. We are all engineers and conductors, and we all feel that way down here.

"We thank the UTU for everything it has done. We are proud to be members. I'll tell you, we have come a long way," he added.

(Click here to return to Page One)