Meeting Point #17

Well, it’s that time of year again. Time for merriment, good cheer, and impending negotiations. Of course you can only be merry if you can get any time off.

This has also been a time of both local and general elections. The International couldn’t get it together enough to get any changed addresses correct, so the General Chairperson’s ballot tally was delayed to allow the changes to go through. Then, of course we’re into a run-off, which should go smoothly. The suspense should be over on Jan. 4, 1999

A lesson to be learned from all this is to keep your personal information current with your local secretaries. Forms for this purpose are in your UTU terminal books.

On the local level, 1923 ran off for Delegate, and 1778 received resignations from two positions just after elections were completed.

Nominations and elections for Local Vice President and Alternate Legislative Rep. will be held at the January regular meeting, Jan. 11, 1999.

Congratulations to all the new local officers. It takes the right stuff to hold executive positions--which can sometimes be thankless jobs. Please do your best to support and encourage them.

Now to our latest issue. This is the time of year for song, hymn and prayer, good will toward men and loving and giving. We don’t have much of the latter, but we do have some of the former.

Our northern correspondent finally got a new tape and also seems to be spending some of his time watching re-runs. Norm is back and so is Junk Yard Dog. We have a report from Phil Mason of the BLE, as well as articles from our usual correspondents. Happy Holidays from all of us at Meeting Point.

Here is an update on the creation of shortlines in B.C. Since I last wrote, it has been announced that Rail America will be taking over CP operations on Vancouver Island, and Omnitrax is about to take over operations of the CP Okanagan Subdivision from Sicamous to Vernon.

Effective November 7^th, Omnitrax will take over operation of the CP Okanagan Branch from Sicamous to Vernon, with trackage rights over the CN to Kelowna and Lumby. The railway is to be called Okanagan Valley Railway, Kalamalka Sub.

At present, two CP crews are based at Vernon to operate the Okanagan Subdivision. The current CP jobs in Vernon are Mon-Fri 0800 Vernon-Lumby-Kelowna roadswitcher and Mon-Fri 2000 Vernon-Sicamous roadswitcher.

Omnitrax has chosen to honour the BC Labour Code, and successor rights have been granted the UTU, BLE and BMWE (Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees). The current employees have the right to assume the same jobs with Omnitrax, except that trainpersons will not be used on Omnitrax, whereas both CP crews include a trainperson. CP has made a provision for employees transferring to Omnitrax to "roll over" their pension money into an Omnitrax pension scheme.

Employees transferring to Omnitrax must resign from CP employment, and those doing so will be paid up to $65,000 depending on years of service. The transfer agreement does NOT include the ability to "bridge" to pension between 50 and 55. As a result only one running trades employee will leave with his CP pension. By contrast, all the Vernon section crew (3 people) will retire.

Omnitrax will base two crews at Vernon, with a fifth spare person (engine qualified) receiving 40 hours pay per week. Four of the five train crew members are ex-CP employees who chose to stay on.

UTU Local 501, BLE Division 657 and BMWE Local 318 will represent the Omnitrax employees. The UTU and the BLE signed a collective agreement based on other Omnitrax Canadian agreements. The BMWE signed as site specific agreement.

The OVR General Manager is Brooke Ruskin, formerly of Omnitrax’s Hudson Bay Railway in Manitoba, and before that an RTC manager on CP Rail, Toronto. He started with CP as an operator at Mission City B.C.

OVR has three locomotives , ex-Illinois Central GP9’s (1750 hp. roadswitchers) painted in dark blue, red and white

Omnitrax is based in Denver, Colorado and operates several shortlines in the U.S. In Canada, Omnitrax operates the Carleton Trail Railway between Saskatoon and Prince Albert, SK., and the Hudson Bay Railway from The Pas to Churchill MB. Both are unionized.

Rail America of Boca Raton, Florida has purcheased the CP Port Alberni Sub. from Parksville to Port Alberni and has leased the CP Victoria Sub. from Victoria to Courtenay. Handover is anticipated by the end of the year.

Via Rail will continue to operate trains 198-199 between Victoria & Courtenay (likely with Via Rail employees).

47 CP employees based on Vancouver Island will be effected. Freight train and engine crews are based at Wellcox yard in Nanaimo. A single passenger train crew is based at Victoria.

Oddly, the lifeline of CP’s Vancouver Island operations, Coast Marine Operations (formerly BC Coastal Steamships) has been sold to the Washington Corporation, a Montana Corporation which also operates Southern Rail Link and Cates Towing. With the sale of CMO, over a hundred years of CPR marine operations will close, with the displacement of yet another group of railway employees.

An interesting item from another newsgroup especially in light of the CUTE vs UTU issue on CP Rail.

The State of California has been very supportive of both commuter and long distance passenger train operations. The operation of these trains is put out to public tender. Amtrak has been the usual successful bidder, and UTU and BLE represented crew people employed by Amtrak operate Metrolink commuter trains in Los Angeles, and Caltrain commutes in San Francisco, plus Coaster commutes north of San Diego.

Recently a new commuter operation between Stockton and San Jose has been inaugurated, ACE or Altamont Commuter Express. Instead of Amtrak getting the bid, Herzog Corporation was the successful bidder. Herzog is better known for contract ballast cleaning trains on the main lines. For a while, it looked as if ACE would be a non union operation but the ACE employees have chosen who they will have represent them, the Carpenters Union!

Heaven forbid that you get injured at work. But if you do, make sure that you follow the correct steps to ensure timely processing of your WCB claim.

If you are injured--no matter how minor—make sure that both pages of the 67E form are filled out in conjunction with your supervisor. That way you both will have a clear understanding of the circumstances that caused the injury, the severity (whether it is a minor, doctor’s visit or lost time), the immediate cause, basic cause and the recommended action to prevent reoccurrence. Many times the supervisor is not clear on the circumstances, so investigation of the cause is left to guessing, or not filled in at all. Your supervisor is obliged to submit this form for claims processing before the end of his or her shift.

If the severity of your injury increases from a minor or doctor’s visit to a lost time, be sure to let your supervisor know immediately so that your injury report can be amended to reflect its true nature. This will speed processing by WCB. A properly filed injury claim takes a minimum of seventeen days before WCB will process the first payment. Any glitch in the reporting process will invariably delay payment—and nobody wants to go without a paycheck. So make sure all the "I"s are dotted and "T"s crossed.

After an injury, don’t leave the property without an Occupational Fitness Assessment form (easily recognized by the full-body diagram on the left hand side). Ensure your doctor fills out the form completely and make sure your return it to your supervisor as soon as possible. There is no charge to you for the form, BC Rail pays the doctor directly.

Because no candidate secured a majority, there will be a run-off election in progress by the time you read this. Tallies will be done in late December or early January.

The return rate was about 73%, which is very good. However, spoiled ballots are wasted votes. Be sure to follow the instructions for voting EXACTLY when returning your run-off ballot—place no identifying mark on the ballot itself, enclose the ballot in the envelope marked "A" and include your name, address and local number on the return envelope.

Unfortunately, the election was delayed due to problems at the International office. Address changes submitted by your Secretaries were not processed in time for the election. We have been assured that this will not happen for the run-off.

Twas the night before New Years And at the Bridge Yard The switching was easy And not even hard	Chuck picked up the spike maul He’s ready to go We found a bent spike In six inches of snow
When out of Track Six There arose such a clatter Chuck jumped in the van To see what was the matter	They pounded that bent spike And on looks Dale Berry His lower lip trembling He looked not too merry
Chuck looked at his buddy His pal and his mate He said, "What’d you do With that green main-line gate"?	Visions of hearings Entered his head He should have got drunk And stayed in his bed
He looked at the damage And noted with detail That the cars with momentum Had jumped the derail	And out of the woodwork Officials were heard They huddled in circles White hats on their heads
Six cars they were standing We looked all around Then noticed each one Were all on the ground	Trucks, vans and pickups Showed up at a hop Even a squad car With Jamie the cop
Six box cars they were And that was a-plenty Lucky for us They were all quite empty	On Larry! On Chuckles! And on Janis Russel! We’ll make up some stories To solve this rare puzzle
The Foreman was angry He threw down his mitt The Hog-head disgusted Said, "There goes the quit!"	Officials watched on As they walked ‘round a-treading They looked so damn useless Like spare cocks at a wedding
Mack switcher was called For fifteen-oh-five Yardmaster exclaiming "Oh heavens alive!"	At the hearing the boss He said, "Larry you ought’ta’" Not get yourself into Such bloody hot water
The coal train was ordered For eighteen o’clock If we cancel it now There’s no wages to dock	The days with good merits What I recommend Since it’s Christmas, we’ll just scold you And call it the end
We made a light joint North end of track six We cleaned out that track Now we’re able to switch	'

"Ho, Ho Ho, it’s another dandy fine issue of Meeting Point, don’t ye know. Loaded full of truth, lies, whale tales and general bilgewater.

Ye may ‘ave noticed that I missed another issue, ‘an whot can I say except fer a dry inkwell ‘an the fact the ye can never find an octopus when ye’ need one. Harrr.

Teday I want te rant an’ rave about the Golden Rule. That is te say that thems that got the gold make the rules. Right now there is an enormous amount of gold in the form of the company pension plan, which is a bit of a misnomer, because it is not the property of the company, but the employees. This could all change if management can convince the Council of Trade Unions that it is a good idea. They have tried twice. They’re technique is excellent, and quite frankly who can blame the cutthroats fer tryin’? However, when yer a company slave fer decades, an’ yer lucky enough te live te a ripe old age an’ retire in one piece, ye expect te be kept in dog bones.

We enjoy an excellent pension plan today thanks to a number of employees (led by a Conductor, now retired, named Ron Bowles) who turned it around in 1967.

While I’m frothin’ at the mouth, lets talk about the retirement party that was started by employees, taken over by the company, and cancelled altogether.

Now that it looks like we’re gonna get keel-hauled fer the third contract in a row by a company that has no soul, an’ yer mother in law ain’t that happy with ye, even though I don’t see ye every issue, remember Junk Yard Dog still loves ye.

First off I would like to wish you and your families a Very Merry Christmas and all the Best in the New Year.

I just got back from our meeting in Lillooet and was glad to see a good turnout from the members in that terminal. (good show guys)

I would like to congratulate Brother Couch and Brother Gleason on their election.

Issues coming up in the New Year are negotiations tentatively set for Jan 11.1999 and the belt pack issue will be dealt with in the very near future.

It’s kind of strange that the labor relations department is crying recession and down turn in business at the bargaining table. Operations is patting themselves in the back for record car counts and the word I got today is the safety blitz is put on hold so it doesn’t interfere with productivity.

There have been quite a number of run-arounds filed under article 212 (B) conductor pilots, we are actively grieving this issue. If you see self propelled equipment switching out on the main track or in the yard, or handling more than the prescribed number of cars please document the time place and car numbers by way of a run-around claim to the Crew Supervisor, copy you Local Chairperson.

News out of Cleveland is that the UTU and the BLE have agreed in principle to form a new labor union. So I guess that CUTE is raiding a union that probably won’t exist. I wonder how their members feel about the disbursement of their funds used for this exercise. ‘Twas not the giant who cast the first stone.

On Dec., 18th, Bro. Moorhouse and the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen Archives Committee received five cardboard boxes from the UTU national headquarters containing a collection of collective agreements, contracts, rule books and an assortment of various stuff pertaining to almost every railway in Canada. Included are contracts from the PGE railway going back to 1925 and 1927.

There is a lot of interesting reading. One particular constitution is from the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen convention held at Miami Beach Fla. in1954. Inside, Rule No. 8 said, "No electricity or other dangerous practices shall be used in initiation ceremonies".

Well, Sister and Brothers, by the time you read this article, all of our elections should be over. The ballots for General Chairperson won't be counted until January 4, 1999, and you will be notified at that time as to the successful candidate. I would like to personally take this time to congratulate our newly elected officers and delegates. I would also like to thank all members who took the time to run for all elected positions and encourage those who got involved, to stay involved, regardless of the outcome of the elections.

I would also like to thank all the members who took the time to vote. Some of the elections were very close, and so you can see how important it is to participate in this democratic process. The strength of the United Transportation Union lies in you, the members. The members you have recently elected to represent you will need all of your backing to carry out their duties on your behalf.

We would be very foolish to think that 1999 will not be a continuation of the assault by BC Rail on our wages, benefits and working conditions. The provincial government of the day has placed severe restrictions on our ability to achieve a fair share of the profits this railway has earned over the past six years (PSEC), but we have continued the fight despite the odds. The railway continues to shed alligator tears and tell us they want to share with their workers, while at the same time they are doing everything in their power to gut our collective agreement and get rid of you, the members, who supply the labour that keeps the railway running. We, like the running trades on every other railway in North America, have gone through reduced crew consist, conductor only, and have seen a further loss of jobs with the elimination of conductor pilots. You and I both know that this attack is not going to stop any time in the near future, and it will take a united effort from each member to defend our rights as working people.

BC Rail management seems to think they can go out and talk to you, the members, directly and get the feel from you as to how far they can go. They also have a great knack for telling you half truths and blaming your elected officers for the railway's failures. When this happens, don't take what they say at face value. Question everything and then contact your elected union representatives for the full story. Enough of my ranting for now. I do become frustrated though, when a member calls and advises me that he has been given information by railway management that is a complete distortion of the true facts.

In the New Year we will be back into collective bargaining with the Council. The issue of the belt pack will be one of BC Rail's priorities for early 1999. We also have the MBR and conductor pilot issues to go back to Mr. Ready. As well, BC Rail still has appeals at the Labour Relations Board regarding union consolidation and Mr. Hope's award on the BC Rail - CN interchange. These issues alone will keep your officers very busy, especially when you add the constant abuse and misinterpretation of the collective agreement by management on a day-to-day basis. I know that you, the members, have the ability to give the required support when necessary to turn these issues into a positive for all of us. If and when it becomes necessary we will call upon you for the strong support you have provided in the past.

On a lighter note, you are probably all aware by now that the UTU and BLE have agreed to a merger in North America. The work on a full agreement and constitution should be complete by October 1999 and there will be a ratification vote at that time. If accepted by the members of UTU and BLE, the new union will take effect on January 1, 2000. I, For one, believe this will go a long way to strengthen the running trade unions in North America. As many of the members have said, we can put our infighting away and unite to deal with our real problems. I'm sure your delegates will have lots of information for you when they return from the UTU Convention in August.

I hope all of you and your families had a very Merry Christmas and would like to wish you All The Best for 1999.

TROY, Ohio (AP) -- Rob and Brian Yantis are used to trains shaking their duplex. Crashing into it is another story.

The brothers were home watching television Saturday night when an empty rail car from a CSX Corp. freight train derailed, jumped the tracks and ran into their front porch.

"Trains always shake the house when they go by here. This was a little different," he said.

The rail car came to rest on the porch that it had destroyed, but there was no other damage to the house. No one was injured.

Only the 24th car of the 29-car freight train derailed, police Sgt. Chuck Adams said. There was no damage to the track.

HAMILTON, Ohio (AP) -- Two boys who said they sipped beer to survive while locked inside a railroad boxcar for eight days admitted Friday to criminal trespassing and were ordered to home confinement for an indefinite period.

Billy Ray Grimes Jr., 12, and John Wayne Riley, 15, each were also sentenced to court-supervised community work programs to pay off $500 in restitution apiece to the CSX Railroad, in whose boxcar the boys were found Dec. 1.

Magistrate Michael Braun also said both boys will remain on juvenile probation for having violated terms of probation from previous, undisclosed juvenile offenses.

When rescued, the boys said they had been locked up in the boxcar for eight days when employees of a Trenton beer brewery heard them shouting and freed them. The boys said they sipped beer from the rail car’s cargo in order to stay alive.

Well last time I was passin’ through Mayberry not much had happened since the last sheriff was thrown out. Barney’s bin in charge and he’s got er all under control. It appears they don’t need a sheriff "ya just gotta deputize the locals". He’s gone and deputized Gomer, Goober, Otis and Floyd.