Dear RWU Members & Supporters:

We have won a great victory today! More news forthcoming. See the official email below from SMART GO-001 announcing the vote results. The rank and file has defeated the BNSF attempt to institute single employee train crews! It is our day to celebrate. Our movement has power. And we remain steadfast: No single employee train crews!!

Railroad Workers United


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Crew Consist and Wage & Rule Settlement Voting Results
Date: 2014-09-10 23:38
From: SMART GO-001 <GO-001@SmartUnion001.org>
To:

GO-001 Local Chairpersons (and members)

Brothers and Sisters,

Please be advised that we have completed the tabulation of ratification ballots for the tentative Crew Consist Agreement and Wage & Rule Settlement, and neither agreement was ratified. A more complete summary of the vote will be forthcoming in the next several weeks but we felt it was important to provide you and our members with immediate notification that these agreements were not ratified.

Moving forward, this office will notify BNSF Labor Relations that we remain open to informal conversation regarding these matters, but will oppose any formal attempt by BNSF to serve notice to change our existing crew consist agreements prior to the attrition of all protected employees.

Fraternally,
Randall Knutson
General Chairperson

Thanks Mary, good news is hard to find.

http://static.squarespace.com/static/505b96a8c4aa40a37a143c49/t/53df755de4b06270d7dc47f0/1407153502627/?format=750w

http://static.squarespace.com/static/505b96a8c4aa40a37a143c49/t/518a9e4be4b084489d64e553/1368038989361/2013%20Cartoon%20Single%20Crew%20Graphic%20alone.jpg?format=750w

Railroad Workers United - Statement of Principles”


(as adopted 11-13-07)

Unity of All Rail Crafts: For decades, the carriers have played one craft off against the other to our mutual detriment. This lack of unity has contributed greatly to our lack of power, which has in turn hampered our ability to negotiate and enforce good contracts. We are unable to effectively confront the carriers on issues of vital concern to our membership—attendance, crew fatigue, discipline, safety, etc.—because we are divided. The carriers are degrading and deskilling our crafts, implementing new technologies that threaten our jobs, our safety and livelihoods, propose the dismantling of FELA, demand drastic health care concessions, and more. In the face of this aggressive attack, is there any doubt of the need for the greatest possible cross-craft unity? Therefore, Railroad Workers United supports the greatest possible unity and cooperation between all rail crafts and unions both at the leadership level and among the rank-and-file.

An End to Inter-Union Conflict: We condemn any and all hostilities between the rail unions. The open warfare between the UTU and the BLET is especially to be condemned. We demand an immediate halt to the irresponsible and reckless name calling, mud slinging and finger pointing that the leadership has long engaged in. We favor neither union in this – or in any other -- destructive fratricide between brothers and sisters who are each others' natural allies. Rank-and-File Democracy: Union leadership is all too often out of touch with the needs and issues of the membership. We need unions that are built upon democratic control by their members, unions that are not simply dues collection agencies for a few highly paid officials with jobs-for-life. We need constitutional provisions that include, but are by no means limited to: direct election of officers at all levels, including General Chairmen; the right to recall of officers; salary and expenditure limits; an end to special perks and privileges; proportional representation at conventions; and guarantees of protection for minority and dissenting views.


Membership Participation and Action: In addition to building unity and democracy, it is of equal importance that we build a rail labor movement based on the mass action of the members themselves. For too many years we have allowed our unions to be "led" by a small handful, while the average union member has remained uninformed, uninterested and uninvolved. In order to effectively stand up to the carriers, we must overcome the cynicism, apathy and despair of the ranks, and build in its place a union of inspired, educated, and active members who are willing to take action on the job in defense of our jobs and our unions.

Solidarity: For years, we have allowed the Carriers to whipsaw craft against craft, member against member. It's time we returned to the labor standard of "An injury to One is an Injury to All!" Only when we stand up for each other, go to bat for each other, and take action on the job in defense of each other, will we have a strong union. Remember, this is how unions were built in the first place! If the carmen on the BNSF in Seattle are under attack, we ALL are under attack. When UP engineers are threatened, we ALL are threatened. Railroad Workers United strives to rebuild this spirit of solidarity.

No to Concessionary Bargaining: After decades of concessionary bargaining, rail workers have practically come to expect lousy contracts. We say NO! to further give-backs at the bargaining table. If the union cannot at least maintain the current standard of living and working conditions for its members, it will become increasingly irrelevant in their lives. We are committed to a coordinated bargaining strategy of all rail unions. We pledge ourselves to oppose any and all concessions at the bargaining table, and pledge to build a fighting movement of rank-and-filers that includes all railroad crafts to take the necessary action to defend our jobs, our livelihoods, our rights and our union!

VOTE NO FOR ONE MAN CREWS

ON TENTATIVE SMART001 CONTRACT
Railroad Workers United (RWU) is a caucus of rank-and-file railroaders in North America that has campaigned against the implementation of single-employee train crews since the organization was founded in 2008. The 24-hour, safety-sensitive nature of railroad operations makes single-employee train crews a potential danger to the environment, to railroad workers and the general public. The recently announced tentative agreement between BNSF Railway and the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Union (SMART) would implement engineer-only operation of mainline freight trains on portions of the BNSF railway system.

In the aftermath of recent rail disasters in North America, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has demanded wide-ranging changes in safety measures for trains carrying hazardous shipments. The FRA has also recommended that a minimum crew size of two persons is essential for safe operation of through freight trains. Following the announcement of the tentative agreement between SMART GO-001 and BNSF Railway, SMART-TD President John Previsich reiterated that it is the official position of the union’s leadership that safe operation of trains requires a minimum of a two-person crew. RWU agrees with both of these recommendations and urges all BNSF employees who would be affected by this agreement to vote "No"!

This tentative agreement would create a new position of "master conductor," who would be notified when a train is stopped and requires assistance. In these cases the master conductor would drive to the train and perform the normal duties of a conductor on the ground. But unlike the current conductor, the master conductor would no longer be on board the train to oversee operation of the train along with the engineer from the cab of the locomotive when the train resumes its trip. Master conductors would no longer perform what is currently the primary responsibility of a conductor - supervising the safe operation and administration of the train. Without an on-board conductor, there is no one to assist the engineer to observe wayside signals and to watch other trains for defects, no one to remind him/her of impending speed restrictions or other hazards ahead, no one to keep him/her focused and alert. And the inability of a traveling "master conductor" to arrive on scene in a timely fashion in the case of an emergency presents a serious threat to the safety of the engineer, emergency response personnel, and the public in the event of a derailment, grade-crossing accident, or other emergency.

For years the railroad carriers have been trying to implement single-employee train crews to cut labor costs with total disregard for the safety of its employees and the communities that are affected by railroad operations. RWU strongly urges railroad workers to stand strong against BNSF Railway’s efforts to undermine the safety of its operations in the interest of cutting costs at a time when the company -- under the ownership of Berkshire Hathaway -- is enjoying all-time record profits generated by the hard work and dedication of its workforce. This tentative agreement is an attack on the safety of our workplace and our communities -- RWU urges all effected BNSF employees to vote ‘NO!

This one-man-crew is the speed-up on steriods. Capitalism is insatiable in it's consumption of the working class. And when something goes wrong it's always the fault of the workers.

This one-man-crew is the speed-up on steriods. Capitalism is insatiable in it's consumption of the working class. And when something goes wrong it's always the fault of the workers.

You would think everyone involved understood the divide and conquer tactics being used, but I guess its something like the old Prisoner's Dilemma. Somebody's probably gonna cave.

What I didn't see mentioned in the articles (admittedly, I only skimmed and looked at the pictures) is the fact that the companies have been stalling interminably over the mandates that require GPS/satellite control of trains to prevent disasters akin to the recent catastrophic crashes they've had.

Which, as you say, were blamed on the workers.

You guys ever look into how one worker is supposed to control the a whole train yard already? Its unreal and is fraught with opportunities for accidents and mistakes.

You would think everyone involved understood the divide and conquer tactics being used, but I guess its something like the old Prisoner's Dilemma. Somebody's probably gonna cave.Foster talked and wrote a lot about that. I was going to post his comments but most of the articles are PDF format and "copy" is disabled for some reason.


In the existing status of railroad unionism the companies readily divide and defeat the workers. The alliance between the four brotherhoods, the federation of the shop unions, and now the new national co-operation among all the sixteen unions, are still far from constituting a really compact form or organization. The companies have the key to unlock such combinations. They know how to cut the heart out of loose alliances and federations. From long experience with railroad federations they have learned that these bodies do not set up a genuine solidarity of labor; that the unions composing them are still upon a craft basis and in a pinch will put their particular interests above that of the federation. Upon this inherent short-sighted selfishness of craft unionism the companies constantly play with success. They habitually direct their attacks against one particular group of unions, when the others, not recognizing that the interest of one is the interest of all, and content that they themselves are not under fire, pull back into their shells and leave the attacked ones to their fate.

This has gone on since the inception of federation on the railroads and it must go on until federation is through with. Many’s the time the companies, negotiating with the shop men’s system federations, have practically destroyed the effect of these organizations by offering concessions to some of the trades, and thus enlisting their support in forcing into line the other trades to whom little or nothing was conceded. The present onslaught against the unions is being conducted in accordance with this historic strategy. Aiming to split the new national co-operation, the companies are directing their heaviest fight against the shop and miscellaneous unions, trusting that the brotherhoods will remain quiescent, as they seem likely to do. The destruction of the national agreements is sought so that the various system and divisional federations can be used against each other in the tragically ridiculous way of former years. Amalgamation alone can meet the situation.

If in negotiations with the companies federation is only a makeshift, it is even worse when things come to a strike. Take the present situation, for instance. Suppose that should result in a rupture, as well it may. In that event it would surely provoke one of the most vital struggles in labor history. For such a battle the federated railroad unions are not properly prepared. They could not throw their united strength against the tremendous capitalistic combination certain to be opposed to them. Chronically divided by their craft character and incapable of real solidarity, the unions would have to go into the strike at a fraction of their efficiency. In the first place, the chances are that some of the organizations, pursuing the usual selfish policy, would stay at work and destroy the whole lineup. But even if this customary crime against Labor were not committed, even if the whole sixteen unions, rising superior to every attempt to separate them, all struck together and tied up the roads, still they would be far from developing their maximum power.

Sixteen autonomous organizations, each with its own set of prejudices and each with its own arbitrary will. Sixteen sets of organizers working at cross-purposes with each other and creating a world of trouble. Sixteen different strike relief systems, with the richer organizations paying high benefits and the poorer ones paying none. Sixteen headquarters in as many parts of the country all dabbling in the management of the strike and quarreling with each other.

Under such circumstances, inevitable in the present state of organization, endless confusion, disharmony and weakness would surely result. A properly constructed strike, one that would bring out the real power of the workers and give them better than a fighting chance against their antagonists, would be impossible. It would be the steel strike and the Harriman Lines-Illinois Central strike all over again, only this time on a manifold larger scale. Of course, such a strike might be won. But if victory did come it would be due to the weight and strategic position of the workers, and not to the skill shown in organization. And the winning would amount to only a fraction of what it would were the workers really united. But the strike might also be lost. This is the chance that cannot be taken.

https://www.marxists.org/archive/foster/1921/rrns.htm



You guys ever look into how one worker is supposed to control the a whole train yard already? Its unreal and is fraught with opportunities for accidents and mistakes.Automated "hump" yards are more and more common. I can remember when "switching on the fly" was a big problem for management and workers were disciplined if they were caught doing it. But management's "hump" yards are "switching on the fly" taken to an extreme. "Switching on the fly" was technique whereby if cars needed to be sorted on different tracks rather than taking each car one at a time and dragging it to its location, the crew would get multiple cars uncoupled from one another and rolling at the same time and assign one crew member to the switches changing them back an forth as each car rolled toward him. It was poetry in motion to watch a crew do this. An especially skilled engineer could put just the right momentum on a car so that it rolled exactly to the spot required and came to a stop there. A not so skilled engineer meant that the brakeman would have to climb onto the rolling cars and set the hand brake when the car reached its proper location. The switchman had to be agile and alert, know which car went where and then run back and forth between several switches throwing them this way and then that as different cars approached him. That is deemed "good" now by management when it saves them labor, while it was deemed "bad" by management back when it saved the crew time.

I can remember many times back in the day when all 5 crew members were very busy, doing a simple operation such as adding 10 cars enroute to a 100 car train, for example. More and more now I see trains that are commodity blocks rather than mixed merchandise. Shipping coal and gas and oil are the most profitable runs for management. The old roads with coal mines on their lines - Union Pacific, Chesapeake and Ohio, Norfolk and Western - have gobbled up all of the other lines and then eliminated ancillary services and lines wherever possible, deferring right of way maintenance, evading equipment safety regulations, and eliminating labor as much as they can. Rolling stock and right of way maintenance are largely outsourced to contractors with scab labor. The result is vastly greater risks and worse service to the public.

You would think everyone involved understood the divide and conquer tactics being used, but I guess its something like the old Prisoner's Dilemma. Somebody's probably gonna cave.Foster talked and wrote a lot about that. I was going to post his comments but most of the articles are PDF format and "copy" is disabled for some reason.


In the existing status of railroad unionism the companies readily divide and defeat the workers. The alliance between the four brotherhoods, the federation of the shop unions, and now the new national co-operation among all the sixteen unions, are still far from constituting a really compact form or organization. The companies have the key to unlock such combinations. They know how to cut the heart out of loose alliances and federations. From long experience with railroad federations they have learned that these bodies do not set up a genuine solidarity of labor; that the unions composing them are still upon a craft basis and in a pinch will put their particular interests above that of the federation. Upon this inherent short-sighted selfishness of craft unionism the companies constantly play with success. They habitually direct their attacks against one particular group of unions, when the others, not recognizing that the interest of one is the interest of all, and content that they themselves are not under fire, pull back into their shells and leave the attacked ones to their fate.

This has gone on since the inception of federation on the railroads and it must go on until federation is through with. Many’s the time the companies, negotiating with the shop men’s system federations, have practically destroyed the effect of these organizations by offering concessions to some of the trades, and thus enlisting their support in forcing into line the other trades to whom little or nothing was conceded. The present onslaught against the unions is being conducted in accordance with this historic strategy. Aiming to split the new national co-operation, the companies are directing their heaviest fight against the shop and miscellaneous unions, trusting that the brotherhoods will remain quiescent, as they seem likely to do. The destruction of the national agreements is sought so that the various system and divisional federations can be used against each other in the tragically ridiculous way of former years. Amalgamation alone can meet the situation.

If in negotiations with the companies federation is only a makeshift, it is even worse when things come to a strike. Take the present situation, for instance. Suppose that should result in a rupture, as well it may. In that event it would surely provoke one of the most vital struggles in labor history. For such a battle the federated railroad unions are not properly prepared. They could not throw their united strength against the tremendous capitalistic combination certain to be opposed to them. Chronically divided by their craft character and incapable of real solidarity, the unions would have to go into the strike at a fraction of their efficiency. In the first place, the chances are that some of the organizations, pursuing the usual selfish policy, would stay at work and destroy the whole lineup. But even if this customary crime against Labor were not committed, even if the whole sixteen unions, rising superior to every attempt to separate them, all struck together and tied up the roads, still they would be far from developing their maximum power.

Sixteen autonomous organizations, each with its own set of prejudices and each with its own arbitrary will. Sixteen sets of organizers working at cross-purposes with each other and creating a world of trouble. Sixteen different strike relief systems, with the richer organizations paying high benefits and the poorer ones paying none. Sixteen headquarters in as many parts of the country all dabbling in the management of the strike and quarreling with each other.

Under such circumstances, inevitable in the present state of organization, endless confusion, disharmony and weakness would surely result. A properly constructed strike, one that would bring out the real power of the workers and give them better than a fighting chance against their antagonists, would be impossible. It would be the steel strike and the Harriman Lines-Illinois Central strike all over again, only this time on a manifold larger scale. Of course, such a strike might be won. But if victory did come it would be due to the weight and strategic position of the workers, and not to the skill shown in organization. And the winning would amount to only a fraction of what it would were the workers really united. But the strike might also be lost. This is the chance that cannot be taken.

https://www.marxists.org/archive/foster/1921/rrns.htm



You guys ever look into how one worker is supposed to control the a whole train yard already? Its unreal and is fraught with opportunities for accidents and mistakes.Automated "hump" yards are more and more common. I can remember when "switching on the fly" was a big problem for management and workers were disciplined if they were caught doing it. But management's "hump" yards are "switching on the fly" taken to an extreme. "Switching on the fly" was technique whereby if cars needed to be sorted on different tracks rather than taking each car one at a time and dragging it to its location, the crew would get multiple cars uncoupled from one another and rolling at the same time and assign one crew member to the switches changing them back an forth as each car rolled toward him. It was poetry in motion to watch a crew do this. An especially skilled engineer could put just the right momentum on a car so that it rolled exactly to the spot required and came to a stop there. A not so skilled engineer meant that the brakeman would have to climb onto the rolling cars and set the hand brake when the car reached its proper location. The switchman had to be agile and alert, know which car went where and then run back and forth between several switches throwing them this way and then that as different cars approached him. That is deemed "good" now by management when it saves them labor, while it was deemed "bad" by management back when it saved the crew time.

I can remember many times back in the day when all 5 crew members were very busy, doing a simple operation such as adding 10 cars enroute to a 100 car train, for example. More and more now I see trains that are commodity blocks rather than mixed merchandise. Shipping coal and gas and oil are the most profitable runs for management. The old roads with coal mines on their lines - Union Pacific, Chesapeake and Ohio, Norfolk and Western - have gobbled up all of the other lines and then eliminated ancillary services and lines wherever possible, deferring right of way maintenance, evading equipment safety regulations, and eliminating labor as much as they can. Rolling stock and right of way maintenance are largely outsourced to outside contractors using scab labor. The result is vastly greater risks and worse service to the public.

Thanks to all, I had more, but my mom has been in and out of the hospital, ICU, and rehab, getting better, but I lost track of the other articles! I knew TA would be coming through…

Any way, there have been a lot of accidents due to rr yard staff cuts in my neck of the woods, one guy lost a leg in the yard when he got caught between cars. They tried to blame an inspector, but luckily he kept copies of all his reports and he had reported on an area that needed repair, the management had stuffed it, not him.