CLEVELAND, May 27 — The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen is asking all members to call their Senators and ask them to oppose the Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009.
In letters to the Senate Commerce, Science & Transportation Committee, Senate Judiciary Committee, House Judiciary Committee, and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, the BLET opposes the Act, which would put railroads under the same antitrust laws that apply to most types of business instead of sending rail mergers and customer-carrier disputes to the Surface Transportation Board. Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) is working on legislation that would comprehensively reform the STB and has asked the BLET to support his efforts.
Last week, the BLET received word that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) made pending business a motion to proceed to consideration of the Railroad Antitrust Bill, S. 146. A vote on invoking cloture on a motion to proceed to the bill will be held June 2.
Please call your Senators today and ask them to oppose the cloture vote and vote no on the motion to proceed on the anti-trust. To contact your Senator, go to http://www.bletdc.org and click on “Take Action” and then click “Contacting Congress.”
“While carriers, labor and shippers have not been uniformly satisfied with all processes and decisions of the STB, we believe that this oversight has served its public purpose well, as evidenced by the industry’s renaissance over the past decade,” BLET National President Ed Rodzwicz wrote.
Instead of passing the Act, the BLET encourages increased cooperation between labor, the government, shippers and carriers.
“A short-term gain for some shippers could result in crippling the industry just as the nation’s dependence on railroads becomes critical,” Rodzwicz wrote. “To the extent the Congress believes that the ability of STB to vigorously oversee the railroad industry should be strengthened, we strongly urge you to sit down with the railroads and the shippers and work out the necessary reforms. The BLET supports such a plan of action because it would address legitimate grievances shippers may have without jeopardizing the stability of the industry. Unfortunately, the Act would have the opposite effect. Under these circumstances, we have no option but to oppose passage.”
A PDF of the BLET’s letter to the House is here:
https://www.ble-t.org/pr/pdf/Conyers-Oberstar.pdf
A PDF of the BLET’s letter to the Senate is here:
https://www.ble-t.org/pr/pdf/Leahy-Rockefeller.pdf
Please support Senator Rockefeller and urge your Senators to vote no.