CLEVELAND, June 7 — While the BLET does not expect the National Mediation Board to rule in favor of the United Transportation Union’s request for a single-craft representation election, the Brotherhood is still prepared for an all-out campaign to protect its membership and the historical operating crafts at the Union Pacific Railroad.
BLET National President Don Hahs today said that one of the reasons the BLET merged with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters nearly two years ago was the inevitability of another UTU attack upon the BLET’s membership.
“At last count, the Teamsters’ Strike and Defense Fund stood at $48 million,” President Hahs said. “The Fund will be used for the purpose of defending ourselves from attacks by the UTU and for aggressive organizing campaigns.”
President Hahs noted that the UTU has unsuccessfully searched for a merger partner in recent months. Leaders of the former BLE ended merger talks with the UTU several years ago after questions regarding the UTU’s finances were brought to the forefront.
Currently, the BLET is responding to demands from UTU members to take over the trainmen’s contract at Norfolk Southern.
“We have committed to the trainmen that any changes to their contract will be voted on by the crafts affected by those changes,” President Hahs said. “The UTU’s 1996 national agreement, which was overwhelmingly rejected by UTU membership, was still put into effect when the UTU’s President overruled the vote and agreed to binding arbitration. So even though they had rejected it, the contract was forced on the membership by arbitration. That would not be possible under the BLET.”
President Hahs noted that the BLET’s organizing drive at NS is vastly different from the UTU’s raid at Union Pacific. While the BLET’s NS campaign merely seeks to alter union representation, the UTU’s single-craft campaign recklessly seeks to alter the basic structure of the operating crafts.
“The UTU is taking a dangerous gamble that is not worth taking,” President Hahs said. “The UTU is seeking to combine existing operating crafts to form a new operating craft — and there are no contract agreements in place for that new craft. Do you trust the carriers to simply abide by the current contracts for the new craft? I, for one, do not.”
The UTU also claims that its crew consist agreements would not be affected by the single-craft ruling.
“That’s pure speculation,” President Hahs said. “I am sure the Carrier has a different point of view.”
President Hahs said that contrary to UTU’s allegations, the BLET has done more to protect Federal Employers’ Liability Act than the UTU ever has.
“We have flatly refused to discuss with the Carriers their proposal to alter FELA,” he said. “UTU leaders have already done enough to damage FELA’s reputation.”
President Hahs also stood firmly on the position of separate operating crafts in the rail industry.
“UTU couldn’t care less about operating craft autonomy in the railroad industry,” President Hahs charged. “As evidenced by their Letter of Intent regarding Seniority Maintenance and Seniority Retention fees, they are only concerned about collecting your dues money and the almighty dollar.
“How can they keep a straight face and claim that their campaign is all about preserving craft autonomy when they are asking the NMB to abolish historical operating craft lines? It’s a joke and all rank-and-file members are insulted by UTU’s pandering and spin doctoring.
“Regardless of UTU rhetoric, engineers are engineers and trainmen are trainmen. They’re separate crafts. It’s as simple as that.”