Locals 1778 & 1923
North Vancouver to Ft. Nelson, BC, Canada
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Cabooseless Operation Bunkhouse Dreams Ask Axel Junk Yard Dog Engine Cab Conditions Committee CCO ! Welcome to Issue 2. Please accept my apologies for the appearance of the first issue, it was a little rough around the edges. I assure you that I will endeavor to improve this and future issues as my experience grows. You too can help improve this newsletter by contributing a little something. Deadline for submissions for the next issue is July 15th. The time has finally come; CCO has been implemented and the long awaited buy-outs granted. As there were so many leaving en-masse some did not get the recognition they deserved for their long service. I'd like to take this opportunity to wish all who have departed a long and happy retirement. Thanks fellas! Until now, we've been doing things the way they have been done for the last 100 years. We have to accept the changes in operations and technology that have been instituted; we are dealing with a new reality. Our ranks are thinning and we must endeavor to spread what work is left as much as possible. As Trade Unionists we have a responsibility to keep all our members working; this can't happen if we have people working the equivalent of 15 months a year. It is time to embrace the concept of One Man, One Job. We must work towards civilizing this job, providing regular days off, implementing scheduling standards and a workplace environment recognized as healthy and safe. It is up to us to take this job through the 90's, to the next century and beyond. -D. Moorhouse Local Chairman's Report Well the time has come to turn yet another page in the history of UTU railroading. It doesn't seem that long ago we were faced with the same picture with the Reduced Crew Award. We must now focus on the present. Thanks to the committees who worked hard and long trying to get us the best agreement, although our pleas to our "labor friendly" government went unanswered. We have been under a great deal of uncertainty the last 5 years which has caused stress and dismay among the membership. Lets start this CCO with a positive and professional attitude; we can learn from the past. I hear some brothers saying we don't have a collective agreement anymore; if that's the way they feel I hope they've applied for their FSP. We still have a good agreement which each and every one of us are bound to uphold. We must show unity and solidarity like we have in the past few months. Remember, short term personal gain causes the membership long term pain; lets protect the jobs we have and work to create new ones so that all our members, present and future may benefit. -Steve Edgar Vice Local Chairman Ask Axel This year is a time of profound change at B C Rail, we are loosing some of our oldest and most experienced brothers to early retirement. Collectively, they take with them hundreds of years experience. Here we attempt to distill some of their collected knowledge so that younger generations may benefit. Axel--conductor emeritus--is an imaginary character, any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental. MP: Tell us a little bit about your career. Axel: Well, I started way back, I was 14 years old. I worked every summer on the section, pulling weeds from between the rails. Four years later I entered train service, I paid my dues working long, hard hours on the spareboard. MP: You mean you worked the spareboard for the first 10 or 15 years of your career as we do now? Axel: Oh, no. I wrote up the following summer and have held a conductor's job ever since. MP: Tell us a little about the state of labour relations back in the old days. Axel: I tell ya' sonny, it was the worst. Company labour practices were held over from the turn of the century, the supervisors were all self-centred, pompous asses, working conditions, pay and benefits were at an absolute minimum. The company did as they pleased; they twisted the Collective Agreement to their advantage, not caring about whether we lived or died as long as they had the men to run the trains. Things have changed now, of course--we get more benefits. MP: Long road trips and long layovers were common in your day as they are today, do you have any tips to pass on to help today's train crews to get through those agonizing 14 hour layovers? Axel: In my day, we didn't worry or complain about long layovers as you young whippersnappers do now, sleep was never a problem. We arrived in town, washed up and headed straight for the hotel beverage room. There we sat swilling cheap draft beer for hours, then we'd stagger back to the caboose where we immediately fell into a deep sleep. I haven't been to the hotel for some time now, since my liver gave out.
Axel: Well, my first wife never had any complaints, neither did my second or third. The kids? I never worried about them, the wife did all the up-bringing. Sex has been a bit of a problem since the prostate operation though. MP: And your friends? Axel: My friends never had any complaints about my lifestyle, they moved away in '54 though, haven't seen them since. MP: How do you feel about the no-smoking policy in the bunkhouse? Axel: How DARE they tell us we can't (cough, cough) smoke in the bunkhouse! It's a downright denial of my right to (Hack, hack! Wheeze, hawk, hawk! Ptooie, ptooie!) smoke. Who do they think they...(the interview stops at this point while Axel hawks repeatedly into a wadded handkerchief, wipes his streaming red eyes and catches his breath) Who do they think they are taking away my right to smoke? Everyone is so namby-pamby these days! Of course, I haven't smoked since the emphysema set in. (Hack, hack- phew!) MP: What do you do about food on the road? Isn't it hard to eat a healthy diet working day and night? Axel: I've eaten the same thing at work for 30 years: white bread, bologna and tomato soup. There is nothing wrong with good old-fashioned food. Unfortunately, since the colon therapy I'm on a restricted diet. MP: What about excercise? How do you keep fit?... Axel: Why would I need exercise if all I do day after day is sit on my ass? Besides, I developed a bad back soon after I entered train service and haven't been able to move around too much. MP: What do you regret most about working here? Axel: Never got to see Led Zepplin, Pink Floyd, The Stones or Elvis; I had tickets for all- but I had to work. FROM THE APRIL EDITION OF UTU NEWS ONLINE -Pint brings pink slip......................... A British railway worker was fired three days before he was due to retire after 44 years of service because he had a pint of beer on the way home from work. He was returning from a union meeting when he stopped for dinner. Regulations forbid drinking at work, and technically he was on official paid duty as a union representative at the time. --College offers railroading degrees............ Johnson County Community College in Overland Park, Kans., is offering degrees in railroading. Areas of study include conducting, dispatching, mechanics or maintenance-of-way welding. The program is said to be the first of its kind in North America. --Ohio PUC report condemns emote engines..... In response to complaints by the UTU's Ohio Legislative Board and many UTU members in the state, the Ohio Public Utilities Commission has issued a report condemning remotely controlled locomotives as unreliable, unpredictable and dangerous to workers and the public. "It is the opinion of the inspectors that a person operating a locomotive from other than the engineer's position in the cab has limited overall vision at road crossings and the general switching area he may be servicing. An operator's range of vision from the locomotive platforms or the ground does not equal that of the engineer's position in the cab," the report said. "In addition, the access to locomotive controls is not the same and remote-controlled locomotives over public crossings create a more hazardous condition to the traveling public and the railroad employees as well," the report concluded. --Diesel fumes reported cancerous................. The draft of a government report being circulated within the transportation industry reportedly describes diesel exhaust emissions as a probable carcinogen. The Environmental Protection Agency report says there will be about 122 deaths in the U.S. this year caused by exposure to diesel exhaust. A recent California Air Resources Board study was more damning, finding diesel exhaust "100 times more risky than the EPA did." Rail and trucking interests are expected to seek to discredit the findings before the final report is used as a basis to restrict diesel-fuel usage or promote engine modifications or alternative fuels. BUNKHOUSE DREAMS I spent 17 hours in the Lillooet bunkhouse last week. Sleeping fitfully, awaiting my call, I began to have wild fantasies: I'm an expert in Occupational Hygiene- someone who studies workplace health and its maintenance. I'm given the task of designing living quarters for those who spend long periods away from home, someone whose employer considers it essential they are well rested, comfortable, and healthy for them to do their job safely and happily. These lucky folks work at night--mostly--and sleep during the day. The climate is semi-desert: cold, dry and windy in winter, hot and dry in summer. Sometimes it is unavoidable these employees stay here for nearly a day, I decide comfort is top priority. I locate the building far from any source of loud noise. I imagine the decor pleasing, reminiscent of a well-appointed rec-room. There are separate common rooms for eating, entertainment, smoking, and non-smoking, rooms for quiet work or reading and for private telephone conversation. The job these people do requires they spend much time sitting; for them to get enough exercise to remain healthy, a fully equipped exercise room is included, as are hot tub, showers and sauna. I concentrate on the sleeping quarters; most sleeping is done during the day so lighting is subdued and windows blacked out. It is impossible to tell from inside if it is day or night. Lighting in bathrooms and hallways is indirect, creating a night-time atmosphere. Insulation is heavy between rooms, windows triple-glazed to eliminate stray noise. The humidity here is low year- round. I know low humidity causes increased risk of infection, dry skin and sinus discomfort. I provide a high quality humidifier with an electrostatic filter. Blankets are cleaned regularly to reduce the concentration of dust and pollen in the air. A fresh air heat exchanger is installed to provide a steady supply. An intercom system delivers calls quietly, without stirring others. The building I designed is respected and enjoyed by all. Suddenly, I'm jolted awake by the earthquake-scale noise of the yard smashing one empty chip car into another less than 100 yards from my bed. Heart pounding, I open my eyes wide to see the four walls of a prison cell sized room. It's all been a dream! My nose is bleeding slightly, my eyes dry from the forced air heating system being on all night. I'm momentarily blinded as I stagger into a hallway lit by banks of fluorescent fixtures. Confused, I wander downstairs to find soup bowls full of stale cigarette butts on the kitchen table, brushing these aside I call the station to see when my call is expected--0515, just three more hours away. Fully awake now, I wander listlessly back to my room, hoping to continue my dream... Last issue, Brother Coleman wrote of us developing a taste for a certain kind of sandwich, having eaten them for so long. I think we've been eating bunkhouse-on-a-bun long enough and I, for one, am sick of the taste. It is time the Railway replaced the Lillooet bunkhouse with something more than a box full of beds. If we are going to spend a third of our working life--unpaid--in Lillooet, we deserve a place we can get a decent sleep; a quiet, comfortable, healthy environment. The Railway's capital budget runs into tens of millions of dollars annually, I'm sure they could find a few hundred thousand for a new bunkhouse. We'd all be healthier for it. -DLM amenity n. 1. pleasant quality; attractiveness 2. a) an attractive or desirable feature, as of place, climate etc. b) anything that adds to ones comfort; convenience The Union met with the company Apr. 11 to discuss engine cab amenities as mandated by V. Ready in his "award". The meeting was attended by representatives of Mechanical, Operations, Labor Relations, UTU and CUTE 1. From this meeting a consensus was reached on the following points: Next meeting is May 15 in Prince George. Any suggestions, comments etc. to be directed to Brian Gleason, David Moorhouse, or Harry Ulch.
By Junk Yard Dog Ahoy ye scoundrels! Here pull on this, no it's not a trick rope, it's an anchor line, and as soon as we get a few more knotheads we'll shove off. Meanwhile, my old shipmate, Sea-Hound just staggered on board with a keg under his arm and half the contents under his belt. "Sea-Hound", I says, "You knows I don't like to imbibe 'fore the sun goes over the yard-arm, and here we stand not yet high noon. Ye think we live in a submarine?" Anyhow, me buckos, ye knows I hate to see a lonely man drunk, so I takes a break from me chores, fetch a couple o' mugs from me cabin, and listen to me bro'. "Dog-face", he says, "The company is sucking the life out o' me. I'm working longer, harder hours and the company is profiting millions of dollars, but after expenses and King George takes 'is cut of me pay packet, I'm seeing less and less of the booty." As Sea-Hound takes a big draught I point out to him: "You know, when you start spouting off is most likely when yer gonna get harpooned!" "Ya, ya, yap, yap, yap", he says. "But the boys are calling me at all hours, disturbin' the peace, houndin' me during R 'n R, you know I cherish me labor and duties and this is a good outfit to slave for." "Now hold it right there, Sea-Hound!", I bark at 'im. "This used to be a well respected shipping line, once upon a time, what before the pirates and the sharks got to her. Why just the other day one was heard to say, "I don't care what it costs to get rid of the caboose, lookit all the coin we'll save." "How many fatalities have they budgeted for in the first two years? I would not want that grim bean-counting task." I says. "Now you have to respect that business these days is getting down-right cut-throat, and you cannot blame the business-sharks for trying to streamline things, but you do not owe them yer soul, only an honest days work (or a reasonable facsimile), like you said you could do when you signed on. In return the main thing what's owed you is a pay packet that won't bounce like a rubber plant." Hark, what was that bump? Ahhr, the anchor is up off the bottom and the breeze seems to be picking up. Gotta go! Maintain decorum. - J.Y.D. Meeting Point is the official newsletter of the United Transportation Union Local 1778. It is published quarterly in North Vancouver by volunteers. The Editors of Meeting Point support the concept of free speech and welcome any submissions of interest to our members, preferably in plain text format on 3.5in. floppy disk --although any and all forms are welcome: stone tablet, crayon on toilet paper, or Sanskrit scroll! Submissions can be made to any Union Officer or to David Moorhouse at N. Vancouver yard office, Fax # 984-0452 or E-mail utu@telus.net. We reserve the right to edit submissions for brevity and clarity. The opinions contained herein are not neccessarily those of the Editors or the United Transportation Union. Deadline for submissions: 15 th of Jan., Apr., July, Oct General Chairman's Column
As you are all well aware, on April 1st we had thirty members retire with the implementation of Phase One of CCO. The buyout offers are out now for Phase Two and I suspect we will see another forty brothers taking the money and heading for parts unknown. From all reports, our brothers in the North have done a very professional job implementing Phase One of CCO operations. I understand that there have been the normal start-up glitches but most are technical or equipment problems. I told the Railway that I am not the least bit surprised to hear that our members are responding in a professional manner and that they can look forward to the same in Phase Two if they treat their employees as professionals. Phase Two of CCO which covers North Vancouver to Williams Lake is still scheduled for June 1st. When you see this paper I will be in the middle of a trip over the property with B.C. Rail holding meetings in each terminal re. change of card for Phase Two of CCO, I encourage everyone to attend these meetings so you have a good understanding of what you are bidding and what the ramifications of the Ready Award are. The GCA has been busy with the Railway over the past few months and I feel we have resolved a lot of outstanding issues. We are continuing to work at improving the grievance procedure and avoiding long drawn out disputes. The Union will be coming out with a form for submitting runarounds and I would encourage you to use these forms whenever possible. As you have pointed out to me on numerous occasions, the big issue still to be dealt with is the eighty hour guarantee on the spareboard. I am aware, as is the Railway, and we are continuing to work at a solution to this matter. I have fully explained that this issue will be first and foremost at the bargaining table come contract negotiating time. Speaking of which, September isn't that far off, so if you have things you want dealt with or have any suggestions for collective bargaining, get them into the Union. The New Cab Conditions Committee had their first meeting on April from the reports I got back from our reps, H. Ulch for 1923 and D. Moorhouse for 1778. It appears to be a step in the right direction. They feel that there is a lot to do and would like feedback from the members whenever possible. You can contact; H. Ulch, Local 1923; B. Gleason, Local 1778; or D Moorhouse, Local 1778. Their next meeting is scheduled for May 15 and we are hoping to see a schedule for implementing the required changes on the engines. If you have concerns or suggestions let you reps know. I would like to thank Dave and the people helping him with this newsletter. As you know, communication is one of our big problems and I hope this is going to help. If you let me know what you want to hear about, I will try at address it in future issues. I just want to say, be careful and work safe out there and if you figure out how to get some time off, have a great summer. -R.W. Sharpe PARTY ON DUDES! Well it's spring, almost time to start our annual CHRISTMAS PARTY ticket drive! Expect to hear from a Recreation Commitee member in the near future. Party date this year is Sat. DEC. 9, mark your calendar! We are also considering a KIDS CHRISTMAS PARTY, news to follow. The 4th ANNUAL SUMMER PICNIC is tentatively scheduled for Sat. JULY 8 at Haywood Park, North Vancouver. Rec. Committee members will soon be in your face with 50/50 tickets in support of this event, please help out by spending a buck or two. Tec-know ToddHi readers welcome to my news column on computer talk. The computer Today computers are an unavoidable part of our lives--from our bank machines, VCR's and watches to the black box that will soon be on the end of our train--plus not forgetting our home computers. Making the big purchase. Probably the most important thing you can do when buying your computer is to first talk to some computer-friendly friends; they are the best people to get advice from. They will offer you valuable advice as well as tell you were not to go to buy your PC. Generally, try to stay with large stores such as London Drugs, Computer City & Doppler Computer Superstores. These Stores may not have the same services of the small stores but they will most likely still be around next year. The next step is picking out the right computer for you. Today, brand name is the way to go- such as IBM, AST, NEC, Compaq etc.. These computers usually come loaded with major software, and the warranties are good, with the first year on site warranty and a 1-800 number for support. The price may vary from store to store but on average starts at around $2500.00 with the sky being the upper limit. Now if you have any extra money to spend, consider upgrading the following:
Now that we have your computer this is a good time to take a course on how to used some of the software the manufacturers provide. More later on software...keep you posted. Question or Problems :if you have any, please write me at Tec-Know Todd PO Box 86249 North Vancouver, BC. V7L-4J8 or Fax Me at 986-1261 or My Temp Email address Is thickey@direct.ca Tec-Know Todd Todd J Hickey
Comments? utu@telus.net Feb. 13, 1996 |
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January 9, 2002 |
