WASHINGTON, D.C. — Maintenance of way employees of the Stillwater Central Railroad in Oklahoma voted on January 4 to become members of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWED), a division of the Teamsters Rail Conference.
“We welcome our new brothers into the BMWED,” said Fred Simpson, President of the BMWED and Teamsters International Vice President. “More and more employees of short line railroads like Stillwater Central are looking to the Teamsters for strong representation to help them negotiate fair workplace contracts – and we are glad to help.”
Stillwater Central Railroad operates over 275 miles of track mainly between Stillwater and Lawton, Oklahoma. The main shipments on the railroad are mined, mineral and industrial products.
“These new members of the BMWED voted for union representation so that favoritism and low wages would be a thing of the past,” said Tim McCall, BMWED Director of Organizing. “Stillwater Central employees contacted us this summer and we began the organizing program in October. All along the way we had a great deal of enthusiasm – and now they are Rail Conference Teamsters.”
The BMWED, along with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen comprise the Teamsters Rail Conference, which represents more than 70,000 men and women. The Teamsters Union, founded in 1903, represents over 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.