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BC Rail is making the news these days. The Budds, the Northwind and the Dinner train (and all the jobs that go with them) are to be discontinued. The mayors who represent the small towns that the railway has served—as an essential service--for many, many years are demanding that the BC Liberal government retain the BC Rail passenger service, but their pleas have been ignored. The railway, pleading poverty, has been no help. It seems the only chance now is for a private operator to pick up the pieces.

This issue features a story--provided by the Valhalla Wilderness Society--about park privatization. Although it is a about how the BC Liberal government is planning to give away our parks for profit, the privatization model detailed in the story has similarities to our situation, and to those of other BC Crowns and agencies. We urge you to write your MLA and voice your displeasure with their government’s treatment of the people they were elected to serve, and the land and services they were entrusted to protect.

Taxi 911

Six dangerous taxis taken off the road Reprinted with permission courtesy North Shore News Matthew Wild mwild@nsnews.comA spot check of 34 taxies operating on the North Shore revealed 31 of the vehicles breached safety regulations, according to the North Vancouver RCMP traffic section. Only three cars passed the test with six of the 31 failures deemed so dangerous the vehicles were taken off the road, according to North Vancouver Mounties. The inspection, held Saturday, was one of a number conducted throughout the year to ensure road safety, said Sgt. Bob Beaudoin, head of the traffic section. Beaudoin said the roundup included vehicles from North Shore taxi companies along with cars from Vancouver, Port Coquitlam and Surrey taxi firms that were picking up or dropping off in North Vancouver. The failures were from a variety of companies, he said, with tickets issued in 19 of the more serious cases of technical defects. "Six vehicles will not be on the road again," said Beaudoin. "They will not see the light of day again. "In these cases there might be total ABS failure, cracks in the frame or engine mounts rusted through with nothing holding the engine block in. "Some of these vehicles are retired police cars which have served the community well for upwards of 200,000 kilometres before becoming taxis. The mileage of these cars is amazing." He said operators of the remaining 25 failed vehicles were told to repair a variety of defects. In the case of five of these cars, operators were told they could not pick up passengers before an inspection confirms defects have been repaired, which must take place within 28 days, said Beaudoin. Problems included seat-belts that did not work. And drivers of taxis with minor defects, including things such as missing and broken lights - "Things you could fix at Canadian Tire," said Beaudoin - were told to make repairs later that day. "For the most part the drivers were surprised," said Beaudoin. "A lot are new to Canada and relatively new to driving and may not be all that familiar with American cars. "But as a professional driver they were required to do a pre-trip inspection to look for body damage and make sure brakes and lights are working. Two vehicles were identified as having no ABS, and that should have been obvious." He said police aim to check each of the 250 North Shore-registered cabs every two years along with other taxis doing business here.

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Dinner for twelve hundred guests

Report from New Orleans by Sylvia Leblanc

I recently had the privilege of attending the UTU 2002 Regional Meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, from August 15-17. Also attending from BCRail were Bob Sharpe, Brian Gleason and Terry Sawchuk. My husband, Frank, accompanied me along with another 1200 UTU members and their spouses from across Canada and the USA.The theme of this year's meeting was Remembering Our Roots and a special session of the workshop agenda was dedicated to that purpose. The seminar featured a lecture by Dr. James McDonnell who explained the history of rail labour dating back to 1840. He explained how events like the Pullman strike of 1894 and the seizure of the railways by the American government during the Civil War have influenced how railways operate. Today's railroads have maintained the same basic structure designed during the Civil War. The military systems of operations, administration and command directions are still in force. As Dr. McDonnell put it " We do everything but salute".Other workshops I attended were: the CSX Safety Model, Contract negotiation in today's political and legal climate and Asleep at the Switch (a seminar on fatigue, the number-one danger facing transportation workers today). While the content was predominantly American, the issues and how we deal with them are universal. There were also three Canadian workshops having to do with the duty of fair representation and medical standards in Canada. The third, a very interesting seminar entitled Enforcing Collective Agreement Compliance, was especially well attended by both Canadian and American members. Rex Beatty, the General Chairperson from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, has managed to add some innovative language into their contract with CN that allows for a "Remedy" to repetitive violations of the Collective Agreement.. The intent of the language is to ensure the company complies with the Collective Agreement and not to continually pay grievances because it becomes part of the price of doing business. The example Rex cited was the repeated practice of holding road crews over their hours before being relieved. This is something I think we can all relate to. The remedy provision is currently being tested and so far the results have been positive.I was kept very busy during the day but the evenings were much more relaxed. Every night, the staff at the Fairmont Hotel served up some of the best Louisiana cuisine to their 1200 dinner guests. It was an excellent opportunity to talk to fellow railroaders from across North America. I met many wonderful people and learned that we face many of the same challenges here in Prince George as they do in Windsor, Ontario, Beaumont, Texas or Canton, Ohio. It was a very memorable experience and I encourage anyone, who has the opportunity, to attend one of these meetings. I would also like to thank our executive and every member of our local for giving me this opportunity.Sincerely,Sylvia

Local and General Elections

In accordance with the provisions of the UTU Constitution, the election of the Chairperson of the General Committee of Adjustment must be held by referendum ballot. A petition nominating Bob Sharpe has been received by local 1778 at the Sept. 9 regular meeting. Local 1923 will be accepting petitions until their September regular meeting. After all petitions have been submitted, a mail ballot will be conducted by International Headquarters.Also, under the provisions of the UTU Constitution, elections of local officers -- President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Board of Trustees, Delegate and Alternate Delegate -- will be held in the month of November. Nominations must be filed with the local secretary not later than the last regular meeting in October. Where nominations are made by nominating petition, at least five members eligible to vote shall sign the petition. Nominations may also be made from the floor at the October meeting. Nominations do not require a second.

October meeting dates:

Local 1778    Tues., Oct. 15
(one day late account the Thanksgiving Day stat.)

Local 1923    Mon., Oct. 28

Masthead

Meeting Point is published four times yearly for the information and entertainment of the members of United Transportation Union Locals 1778 and 1923 (BC Rail).  The Editors of Meeting Point support the concept of free speech and welcome any submissions that may be of interest to our members. Submissions may be made to any Union Officer, E-mail editor@utubc.com or our Web page at http://www.utubc.com/

Adios Amigo

In like a lion and out like a lamb. “The Man With No Name”, who swaggered in here just a few months ago, has already been run out of town on a fast freight. He stuck around only long enough to change his name to “Mud”. Where did he come from, why was he here, where will he go? Some of the unanswered questions he's left in his wake. The Mole, between raspy cackles, told me tales of the Man With No Name And No Job being high stepped out the front door at high noon, tears streaming down his cheeks.There has to be a moral here somewhere, but what could it be? “Don’t get caught with your pants down”, comes to mind, or  “Please wipe equipment after use”. If he was a real railroader he should have known that you  "Do not use washroom when standing in station".All we can do now is wait and see who the wind blows in next.

Sign of the Times

From the Internet

Spotted in a toilet of a London office:TOILET OUT OF ORDER. PLEASE USE FLOOR BELOW

In an office:WOULD THE PERSON WHO TOOK THE STEP LADDER YESTERDAY PLEASE BRING IT BACK OR FURTHER STEPS WILL BE TAKEN

In an office:AFTER TEA BREAK STAFF SHOULD EMPTY THETEAPOT AND STAND UPSIDE DOWN ON THEDRAINING BOARD

Notice in health food shop window:CLOSED DUE TO ILLNESS

Spotted in a safari park:ELEPHANTS PLEASE STAY IN YOUR CAR

Seen during a conference:FOR ANYONE WHO HAS CHILDREN AND DOESN'T KNOW IT, THERE IS A DAY CARE ON THE FIRST FLOOR

Notice in a field:THE FARMER ALLOWS WALKERS TO CROSS THE FIELD FOR FREE, BUT THE BULL CHARGES

Message on a leaflet:IF YOU CANNOT READ, THIS LEAFLET WILL TELL YOU HOW TO GET LESSONS

On a repair shop door:WE CAN REPAIR ANYTHING. (PLEASE KNOCK HARD ON THE DOOR, THE BELL DOESN'T WORK


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Little Bones

By Junk Yard Dog

Lat 49,18’,72”N

Lon.123,05’14”W“

Ahoy, an warning. If yer trespassin’, or ye gots a weak stomach, turn the page an keep movin’, ‘cause thars piratin’ te be done!”Welcome to our humble abode. Kick the cat off the barrel of Jamaica’s finest, an’ grab yerself a mug. We was retrospectin’ a time on Fish’s boat. (A Chinese Junk --nicest one in the harbor. I gots boat envy something fierce).So there we was, buckin’ a nasty headwind. An’ Fish asked, “Who is at the tiller?”“You is Fish!?” I says.“No, JYD, I mean the company, who is callin’ the shots? Who is responsible for the mess? Not much of a shipping line anymore.” He muttered. I gots no answer fer ‘im, but our good pal Popeye piped in, “One thing te remember is we don’t work fer the pond-scum that’s doin’ the deep-sixin’, we work fer the company.”“We are all in the same boat”, said Seahound. All agreed. An’ we carried on te the issue of nationalism, an’ how we should all be singin’ “O Canada”, off the same songsheet. “Right on!”, said Seahawk, “Fit in or fuck-off!”Lucky dog pointed out that we may all be in the same boat. However, we are all individuals, distinct an’ different.“That’s right”, said Peg-leg, who gots a piece of Honduran mahogany, on account of one day a shark ate one of ‘is legs fer breakfast. We would like te feed the rest of Peg-leg te the fishes, but the fact is ‘e is one of us, an’ one of the best in the business.We chased the sun o’er the horizon, howled at the moon, an’ if we didn’t solve all the world problems, we took a run at ‘em. Popeye wanted me te remind ye te finich yer spinach.J.Y.D.

Financial and Retirement Planning Seminars Offered

Randy Gatzka met with Marg Gibson and Paul Strazack about his discussion at the last Job Security Fund meeting about providing seminars for Financial Planning / Retirement Seminars. They have contracted with Vancouver Financial Planning (Same group we used when we did the Operator buyout in 1991) to provide financial planning / retirement seminars. These seminars are going to be put on where there is perceived job loss due to Article 8 notices and running trades jobs lost.There are two phases to these seminars:1. Overall seminar to review the pension plan, life insurance, reverse mortgages. Everything people need to start to consider when looking at retirement. You do not have to be looking at retirement/buyout to attend.2 - Specific planning - This will be limited to those employees that will be affected by job loss, retirement, buyout etc, that want to use their $750.00 for planning purposes. Employees wanting to use this will be told what documents to bring in order to developed a comprehensive financial plan.The seminars will be approx 4 hours long and EVERYONE and their spouses can attend. This will include all unionized and management employees. You do not have to be losing your job to attend. You just have to be interested in looking after your best interest in order for employees to make informed choices about their future. These will be scheduled the last 2 weeks of September.See

Currently the railway is looking at 2 sessions in North Vancouver, 1 session in Squamish, 1 session in Prince George (maybe 2 if enough interest due to travel etc.) 1 session in Fort St John and 1 session in Fort Nelson. The Fort St John and Fort Nelson sessions may get delayed depending on the sale/lease of the Fort Nelson line.Employees will have to attend these sessions on their own time and expense.In Item 2, the Railway position is that they are not prepared to pay for this service twice ($750.00)2 - On the specific planning sessions, these will be limited to those employees affected by an Art 8 notice or Buyout/retirement (Running Trades). This will be case specific for each of those employees and the best options available for them in their own situation.Randy encourages all of you to get the word out to our members to plan on attending one of these 4 hour seminars. It is too often that we hear of people not having the knowledge to make the right decision. He believes that this is a very good start. If this is successful, he would think that we can move it to other terminals like Lillooet, Williams Lake etc.As it is now, the people wanting to attend will have to make their commitment if they want to attend. There will be a registration process thru the HR dept. Notices will be going out very quickly about these seminars. I have asked that the railway ensure thru their supervisors that all the employees are aware of them. Randy has committed that Union Reps would ensure our stewards etc. are aware and encouraging the membership to attend.

Death by a thousand cuts is not a plan

Bob Sharpe, General Chairperson, GO759

Sisters and Brothers:

Well, if we weren’t nervous before, I guess we should be now.  After watching and reading Finance Minister Gary Collins budget update, and adding that to what is happening at BC Rail, I think we should all be concerned.  Our shareholders (the Liberal Government) are looking toward the “balance point” – the budget for the financial year beginning April 1st , 2004.  Have you noticed how every plan or projection at BC Rail seems to end with “our 2004 plan”?  Is all this just coincidence?  Finance Minister Collins, in what he considers is an upbeat update, said BC Rail is in serious difficulty and “needs a big infusion of capital, which we don’t have.”  He also said with respect to the requirement to balance the budget that the Government would “remain vigilant” and “stay the course.”  I think the quote that bothers me the most is that BC Rail is in serious difficulty and “needs a big infusion of capital”.  Every time I have heard about a portion of the business needing a “big infusion of capital” to make it viable, we either sell or discontinue that portion of the business.  Here are just a few that come to mind: Westel, BC Rail Marine, Intermodal, the Royal Hudson, the Explorer, the Cariboo Prospector, the Northwind, the Dinner Train, and the Fort St. John to Fort Nelson operation.  Perhaps it’s just my paranoia, but I can’t remember anything positive coming after hearing the phrase “needs a big infusion of capital”.

We have been attempting to find out what the Government and BC Rail are planning and what our future holds.  We have explained that we don’t want a repeat of what happened to our Brothers and Sisters with the Teamsters – the death by a thousand cuts is not a plan that allows anyone to make proper decisions about their future. I think we have all heard enough about the 2004 Plan for BC Rail.  What we need to hear is the 2005, 2006 and future plan.  If there isn’t one we need to know what is going to happen.  Believe me, as soon as the Government and the Railway advise the Council and this General Committee of Adjustment what our future holds, we will be advising you.  For now we carry on doing what we have always done, keeping this Railway running in spite of what goes on around us.  Believe me, you don’t get enough credit for the job you do out there in the midst of the uncertainty and turmoil.

I want to bring you up-to-date on a few other things happening: §        

We were in arbitration with Mr. Vince Ready on August 21st and 22nd dealing with the Material Change on the Cariboo Prospector and Fort Nelson.  We are waiting for Mr. Ready’s decision at this time.  There is some question with regard to Fort Nelson at this time.  We hear rumours it may be delayed.  When we hear anything definite we will let you know. §        

We are in the open period for collective bargaining.  The Council of Trade Unions will be meeting on September 19th to deal with collective bargaining.  The CTU will be putting out updates as bargaining moves along. §        

Next month’s union meetings are the time for nominations for local officers.  I would like to take this opportunity to say “Thanks” and “Good Luck” to all of those who choose to run for office.Bob Sharpe

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