CLEVELAND, March 6 — Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers continued informational picketing for the second day in a row along the route of a train carrying CSX Transportation’s Board of Directors from New Orleans to Nashville.
The purpose of the informational picketing is to remind corporate officers that locomotive engineers are the rail industry’s most highly trained and productive workers — they are the true professionals whom the railroad should be relying upon to operate cutting-edge remote control technology that it introduced earlier this year.
Overall, approximately 300 BLE members have participated in the campaign. At key points along the 600-mile route, including New Orleans, Birmingham, Mobile, Montgomery and Nashville, BLE members lined the tracks with picket signs and large banners. Yesterday, the banners carried messages pointing out the role professional locomotive engineers play in the day-to-day safe operations of the railroad. Today, the banners emphasized the significant economic impact the craft of locomotive engineer has on the railroad’s bottom line.
These positive messages drew considerate hand waves and responses from passengers on the Board of Directors Special.
At Birmingham and Nashville, leaflets were distributed to managers explaining many of the advantages engineers bring to the railroad’s operating plan to increase productivity and safety.
In New Orleans, BLE members participated in a Town Hall meeting with railroad management, the first such meeting along the route. Discussions at the New Orleans meeting were direct and to the point regarding remote control technology.
Management responses to BLE questions were direct. Jobs will be lost as result of remote control, and CSXT said remote control was not the end of their search for cost-cutting measures. Managers said the railroad will activate approximately 85 remote control units on CSXT property during 2002.
At a similar town hall meeting scheduled for Birmingham, BLE General Chairman Cleatus Roy, CSXT-Western Lines, and General Chairman Tony Smith, CSXT-Eastern Lines, will attend in support of their members’ efforts. General Chairman Smith stressed that the CSXT Eastern and Western Lines pooled their resources and worked collectively to make sure that the informational pickets were a success.
Organizers of the event, members of the BLE’s National Mobilization Team, want to send the following message to members of CSXT’s Board of Directors:
“It is time for CSXT to acknowledge its engineers and the contribution they make to the total operating success CSXT has experienced in the past years,” their statement reads. “CSXT is now number one in customer service, number one in reduction in derailments and fast closing in on Norfolk Southern in safety statistics. All these improvements are a direct result of locomotive engineers meeting the challenges of today’s railroad by increasing productivity while — at the same time — improving safety. Acknowledgement in this case means factoring locomotive engineers into their operating strategies for the future.
“(Remote control) is a matter of safety that cannot and will not be ignored,” their statement continued. “It is also a matter of jobs and family security for many BLE members and railroad employees. It is the obligation of BLE leaders to resolve this issue and to preserve the rich tradition and future of locomotive engineers.”
The BLE’s International Division and all CSX General Chairmen would like to express their appreciation to the hundreds of BLE members who took their personal time to participate in this mobilization, and to General Chairman Gil Gore, Union Pacific-Southern Region, who opened his office and resources to make this project a success.
The wording of select banners used in today’s informational picketing are published here, along with a brief explanation of why the banners were created:
- Trains—Engineers—Profits
and
Economics Include Engineers
Including engineers in the equation involving the use of future technology will result in increased profits for industry shareholders. Engineers offer the flexibility of having qualified people available to operate trains by reducing productivity lost during communication lapses and equipment failures.
Is Your Train Remote Controlled?
Is the public ready to accept trains loaded with hazardous materials being operated through their communities, past their churches, schools, hospitals or day cares without a qualified locomotive engineer at the controls? Would your neighbors feel safe with airplanes flying over their communities without pilots? Maximum safety precautions must be taken when it comes to community safety, and having a professional locomotive engineer at the controls of a train makes good, common sense.
Leaders in Safety
Locomotive engineers set the standards in rule compliance and safety.
Negotiate
CSXT has delayed and been reluctant to negotiate with the BLE on remote control and current contract issues. Throughout history, locomotive engineers have been one of the most constant providers of stability during the toughest of times for the railroads. Engineers responding to new demands have often been key factors in the basic survival of the industry. Locomotive engineers still offer valuable contributions to the future of railroading. We simply ask the carriers (CSXT) to include engineers in their plans for the future by negotiating today.
(Photos of the informational picketing are available on the BLE website by clicking here.