Martin, 56, succumbs to cancer
CLEVELAND, Ohio ­ UTU Alternate Assistant to the President-Yardmasters Jerry D. Martin, 56, succumbed to cancer March 14, 2001, at All Saints Hospital in Fort Worth, Tex.

"Those of us who worked with Jerry over the years knew him for his dedication as a unionist, were impressed by his loyalty to the membership, and greatly respected his abilities as a knowledgeable representative," said UTU International President Byron A. Boyd, Jr. "Our sympathy goes out to his wife and son. Jerry will be missed, not just by the yardmasters he worked with and represented, but by all who had the privilege to know him."

A member of Local 1974 in Fort Worth, Tex., Brother Martin began his rail career in 1963 with the Texas & Pacific Railroad Company in Fort Worth, Tex., and was promoted to yardmaster in December 1970.

Four years later, Martin was elected to the office of local chairperson in the former Railroad Yardmasters of America (RYA), a post he held through 1978. He also served the RYA as a vice president and a member of the executive board. Briefly a member of the Transportation Communications Union (TCU), he also held the post of local secretary and treasurer for UTU Local 1974 from 1972 to 1999, and served as general chairperson of GO-343 on the Union Pacific Railroad's (UP) former Missouri Pacific property from 1978 to 1999. He was the first yardmaster general chairperson to win a Scope claim in arbitration, and never lost one subsequently.

He was selected to serve as the UTU Yardmaster Department's assistant director in May 1999 following the retirement of his predecessor, Robert C. Arthur. He was subsequently elected by acclamation to that position by delegates attending the UTU's Eighth Quadrennial Convention in Miami Beach, Fla., in August 1999.

In late 1999, Martin was appointed by retired former UTU International President Charles L. Little to serve on the UTU National Negotiating Committee, which began pursuing a new national rail contract in November of that year.

Martin's skills as an organizer served the craft well, and in 1997 he played a key role as one of the founders of the Union Pacific Union Yardmaster Council (UPUYC), a coalition of yardmasters employed on the UP and represented by the UTU and the Transportation Communications Union (TCU). The UPUYC includes the former Missouri Pacific yardmasters (GO-343) and the former Chicago & North Western yardmasters (GO-CNW), as well as the Western Rail Supervisors' Association of the TCU on the former Southern Pacific.

"Any member who met or dealt with Jerry knew him for his personal concern for, and desire to assist, the membership," said Don R. Carver, UTU assistant to the president-yardmasters. "He was one of the best, and I'll greatly miss him."

Martin is survived by his wife, Catherine P. Martin, and a son, James C. "Chris" Martin.

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