July 2001 Meeting

Here's What Happened at the Meeting on July 16, 2001

Meeting opened by the President in due form.

Minutes were read and accepted.

Legislative Rep: Attending meetings in Reno, hosted by the International. Discussions were held concerning the ability of the various legislative boards in their efforts to sway legislation. It was discussed further how local and state boards can help affect politicians. One example is for local legislative boards to shun the big ticket political dinners that invite the elite, and focus more on local "hot dog feeds" and barbecues, etc. This will allow more bang for the buck with politicos. 

Discussions about the current 60-30 bill. Seems the Speaker of the House is sitting on the bill. He won't let it come to the floor. Efforts are being made to see exactly what he wants in return for allowing the bill to come to the floor.

Discussions on harassment by the UPRR. Seems that in California, several employees, including the state legislative rep were cited and dismissed for "bringing discredit on the employer". Their offense? They held an informational picket concerning problems with the UPRR. Gotta love it.

Bill also discovered the difference between a law being passed (by congress, also when the Supreme Court upholds such), and Administrative Law (when a board makes the rules to administer those laws). 

Our FRA glazing on our windows are not bullet proof. They are designed to withstand contact with a cinder block at 25 mph. Amtrak has glazing that allows contact with a cinder block at 70 mph. Be careful out there.

Finances: Presentation of current status made by sec/tres. The current balances of accounts were discussed and several questions were asked from the floor. The bills due for payment were presented and discussed. Bills were paid.

Local Chairman - Discussion once more on tie up times. Be sure to either tie up or call your tie up in upon completion of shift. Carrier may start citing for failure to follow instructions. There is no reason to wait until the next day to tie up at least by phone.
Discussions again were held on judiciousness on tie up times for road trips. If you are DHOS, you are not allowed to update rule books, etc. You need to tie up and go home.

The issue of the restaurant at the Doubletree at Pasco was discussed. Letters by both BLE and UTU were sent out concerning our unease at this decision. At this time. it seems their plan to close the restaurant during night hours has been placed on hold. Stay tuned for more.

OE Proposal- A new proposal for the OE that includes an option for rest days has been initialed by the carrier. This agreement was discussed, and will be posted until the next regular monthly meeting, where it will be voted on for ratification. Please check it out, and plan to attend the meeting on August 20 to vote on it. It is like our extra board proposal, in that it allows an employee to take any or all or none of the days off. For those that wish to have a family life, this will allow that. For those that want to work all the time, this will also allow that. Something for everyone.

FRA- It was discussed to invite the FRA to attend either the Sept. or Oct. monthly meeting to instruct members in how to perform a proper locomotive inspection. We will let everyone know well in advance as to which meeting they will attend.

Extra board regulation. The carrier is claiming manpower shortages in the entire Pacific 5th district. This is why our extra board is so short. Unfortunately, the figures don't support that claim. While our cycle time is hovering around 11.5 hours for engineers, and 11.3 hours for conductors, elsewhere in the pacific 5th, conductor and brakemen cycle times are in the low to high 20s. Hmmm. This committee is keeping up the pressure on the carrier to do something about it. It is mentioned many times by us (and our UTU brothers) that this problem was presented to them last November. The results? You can see for yourself. Once again labor was ignored.

Meeting was closed in due form.

August 2001 Meeting

Here's What Happened at the Meeting on August 20, 2001