Here's What Happened at the Meeting on Monday, September 15, 2003

Meeting opened by the President in due form.

Members present: D St John, R. Etienne, R. Balkowitsch, B. Knowles, C. Nibbler, D. Kautz, P. Fahey, R. McCartney, R. Reams, T. Reddish, G. Bryson, H. Bailey, M. Cousineau, D. Green, B. Olmstead, C. Atwood and S. Barnes.

Minutes of the July meeting were read account no meeting was held in August. Several questions were asked from the floor. No corrections were made. Motion to accept as read by Brother Barnes, seconded by Brother Green. Motion approved.

Reports of Committees:

Budget Committee: No report made.

Finances: Presentation of current status made by sec/tres. Current membership is 110 plus two trainmen. The current balances of accounts were discussed and several questions were asked from the floor. The bills due for payment were presented and discussed. Presentation of International Legislative Board financial report was made and copies made available. Motion to pay the bills by Brother Bryson, seconded by Brother Reddish. Motion passed.

Nominations for Officers:

President - R. Balkowitsch nominated by Brother Nibbler, seconded by Brother Knowles.

Vice President - P. Fahey nominated by Brother Kautz, seconded by Brother Reddish, S. Cordes nominated by Brother Reddish, seconded by Brother Fahey.

Secretary Treasurer - D. St. John nominated by Brother Barnes, seconded by Brother Knowles.

Alt, Secretary -Treasurer - C. Nibbler nominated by Brother St. John, seconded by G Brother Bryson.

Chairman LCA - R. Etienne nominated by Brother Bailey, seconded by Brother Atwood.

Member LCA - D. Haney nominated by Brother Bailey, seconded by Brother Barnes. H. Bailey nominated by Brother Knowles, seconded by Brother Bryson. C. Nibbler nominated by Brother Reams, seconded by Brother Kautz. D. Richardson nominated by Brother Bryson, seconded by Brother McCartney.

Guide - S. Barnes nominated by Brother Nibbler, seconded by Brother Knowles.

Chaplain - D. Lathim nominated by Brother Nibbler, seconded by Brother Green. R. Etienne nominated by Brother McCartney, seconded by Brother Reams. P. Paterson nominated by Brother Etienne, seconded by Brother Knowles.

Delegate to Leg Board - B. Knowles nominated by Brother Reddish, seconded by Brother Fahey. C. Nibbler nominated by Brother Bryson, seconded by Brother Kautz.

Alt leg board. - C. Nibbler nominated by Brother Barnes, seconded by Brother Reddish. B. Knowles nominated by Brother Kautz, seconded by Brother Barnes.

Delegate to ID - R. Etienne nominated by Brother Barnes, seconded by Brother Nibbler.

First alt to ID - R. Balkowitsch nominated by Brother Barnes, seconded by Brother Knowles. H. Bailey nominated by Brother Etienne, seconded by Brother Knowles.

Seconded alt to ID - D. Haney nominated by Brother Bailey, seconded by Brother Kautz. M. Cousineau nominated by Brother Etienne, seconded by Brother Barnes.

Motion to close nominations by Brother Barnes, seconded by Brother Knowles. Motion passed.

Local Chairman: The following topics were discussed:

W&P Railroad - Problems with W+P regarding crews they have banned. It is suggested that we don't use cell phones to copy warrants anymore in order to protect ourselves.. They don't have the ability to record conversations, so we need both crewmembers to hear conversation. Protect yourself. The W&P timetable has a frequency to use to get a dial tone to call them on the radio. 

Remotes in Vancouver - Due to grain surge, remotes won't' be until next year. Probably April or May. They are planned for both leads, one at t-6, 305G and 225G.

Vacation Requests - Probably come out 1^st of October, Please continue to turn them in to this committee, We don't want to use computer.

Netsim - Is now in and are trying to get them to put Fallbridge on it. Currently, one size fits all as far as the run is concerned. Engineers who have used it seem to like it better than the old 100 question rules test.

Cell Phones - Warning given from to GCA about audits by carrier, The carrier is supposedly calling cell phones of those on duty to see if they answer them. Remember, current rules do not allow phones to be used while train is moving. Again, protect yourselves.

Crew office refusal to do things for Employees - Crew office has told the crew tech. they will be disciplined for helping us do things we should use VRU for. Document and leave note each time they refuse to do something for you. Be sure to document when VRU doesn't allow you to do something. As usual with TSS, quite a lot of the new innovations don't work. If they don't allow you to do something, and it costs you  money or restricts your seniority, keep documentation on it and give to this committee. Be thorough with the documentation, however.

Grain Push - First we were told Sept. 1. Now first part of October. There is supposed to be a big rush in grain, lots of trains are expected. We should see an increase in pool turns.

LOC and EMC - Carrier is sending out notices for employees laying of on call and missed calls when you are first out. There will be some poster children. Perhaps a good idea to lay off before call rather than try to save guarantees. It is a System wide problem and the carrier is going to come down hard. Gotta love it. They caused the problem with their "attendance policy (oops) guidelines". Now, they are upset because the troops are trying to beat the system. Guess they want it both ways.

664 Assigned car - Track work is going to make the PASINB run very early in the AM. Carrier is wondering what to do.. In the meantime, we will keep track of the assigned car. If they don't put them on the INB, and run them before 1201, there is a run-around for the first out rested crew at Pasco.

Advanced Layoffs - Crew is getting lax on advanced layoffs. They don't have any people to let many off. The GCA won't let me send letters to anyone above General Manager of Division level. This committee has not been ignoring it. The situation seems to be better, but will be monitored. We need a heads up when they don't approve them within 48 hours.

Contract - Have not been released from national handling. Don't know when or where this is going to happen, stay tuned. There is a tentative agreement that has been put out but remember, this is only tentative and is subject to change.

Rules tests - Again, make sure and take your rules by the due date.

New Business - A700 rules, why can't we bid vacancies on extra board? 
BLE International has been asked time and time again to allow TVA's on the extra board. They constantly refuse to open the A-700 rules up for change. They feel the carrier will make unreasonable demands for changes to the temp vacancy rules

How do you get bumped from temp vacancy?
Since TSS is habitually flawed, no software enhancement they make will really work. Right not, TSS is unable to tell the difference between someone coming off vacation going to a layoff, days off, PL day etc. or vice versa. This means TSS pulls people off rules when they shouldn't be. Each engineer needs to keep track of their TVA and let this committee know in a timely fashion when they are displaced in error. There is a difference when an engineer comes back to their assignment, stays marked up for a day or so, then lays off at the last moment.

The floor was opened for discussion.

Motion to close by Brother Haney, seconded by Brother Atwood. Motion passed.

Here's What Happened at the Meeting on Monday, October 20, 2003

Meeting opened by the President in due form.

Members present: D St John, R. Etienne, R. Balkowitsch, T. Reddish, P. Patterson, D. Haney, S. Hill and special guest P Bovarnick.

Minutes of the September meeting were read. Several questions were asked from the floor. One correction was made; Brother Haney was not present at that meeting. Change made with no objections. Motion to accept as changed by Brother Haney, seconded by Sister Hill. Motion approved.

Reports of Committees:

Budget Committee: No report made.

Finances: Presentation of current status made by sec/tres. Current membership is 108 plus one trainman. The current balances of accounts were discussed and several questions were asked from the floor. The bills due for payment were presented and discussed. Presentation of International Legislative Board financial report was made and copies made available. Motion to pay the bills by Brother Reddish, seconded by Brother Patterson. Motion passed.

Ballots are printed and will be out by the 30^th of October. Please inform us by that time if you have any change in address.

President - RRB meeting will be held on Friday from 0830 to 1230 at Portland Airport, Hilton Garden Inn. Please notify him if you want to attend account this is by invitation only.

We have received a letter from Mr. Ness concerning Alex transportation. Please document all issues you have. They must have specifics to act on the issues you may have.

Discussion followed.

Safety Representative Terry Reddish - Presented a brother's keeper handout. If you are interested in being a mentor, please let him or a union rep know. It is not a paid position but will involve extra pins etc. Remotes are on the way and now they are predicting the end of December. He would also like to ask anyone not giving to the BLE PAC to please do so. We are currently seeing a huge loss in worker protections and labor unions. They have done a great number of things and have helped us and will continue to do so.

Guest Speaker - Paul Bovarnick, designated council for the BLE. Spoke briefly on the Family Medical Leave Act, protections when injured and who to talk to and not. The FMLA is an act to allow you to spend time with someone in your family who is ill. The act does say that you have 12 weeks available. The railroads are trying to limit the time people are taking with this and the time at which they use it. Legally you cannot be punished for using this act. Anyone who feels they have been harassed because of this act. You should remember that this is a Federal Law, just because the railroad says it is so, doesn't make it so. Presented cards explaining to medical personnel why they can't give your records to the railroad. The floor was opened for questions.

Julie Young - Running for Vancouver city council was allowed to address the meeting shortly and asked us for our support. Her brother (Craddock) is a LC on the UP and she briefly discussed the remote control issue and asked for information and our concerns. There was a brief discussion with questions asked from the floor. There were several excellent questions with good response to each.

Local Chairman: The following topics were discussed:

W&P Railroad - Again, you need to protect yourselves if you are working this territory. They will not record conversations between crews and dispatcher this year.

Vacation Requests - These are due back by November 15^th. Please continue to turn them in to this committee. We don't want to use the computer.

Problems with Crew Office - Be sure to document any problems with crew. Note the time of day you call for having tapes pulled. Be sure to document when VRU doesn't allow you to do something. If you are forced to do something against our agreements, document and notify this committee.

Grain Push - We should be strong with this into December and maybe into January.

LOC and EMC - They are citing employees for Laying off on Call and Employees missing calls, watch yourselves.

664 assigned car - Carrier is pushing for changes in the assigned car agreement. Each time we agree in principle, they change things. Push seems to be to get rid of assigned cars. They are focusing on one specific train and not making the effort to fix their problems. Term supt. in Pasco is not helping, we have asked for a meeting with all the appropriate officers but it has not happened yet.

7am Markup - When will it happen and should it.

Gates and derails - Too many gates have been hit. Many gates don't have stops to keep them open. Make sure you ask your crew if they secured the gate. Derails and wheel stops are also being shoved over. Make sure crews walk shoves in to stub tracks. Also too many red flags (8) in 8 track have been shoved over. Please make sure you communicate with your crews.

Winter Action Plan - We are still waiting for the carrier to submit their plan. Be very careful with the vans, check them very carefully and make sure they have appropriate tires etc. Make sure and check you insurance to insure that they have 1million dollars limits on uninsured and underinsured liability and coverage at work. This is the only way to cover yourself at the present time.

Operation Stop - Discussed at the safety meeting, do we want to restart this program. The carrier has curtailed this program at this time and we need to decide if we want to get it going again. Let Rick or Ron know if you have interest in this program. This program could be of help to many of our members.

Rules tests are due by your due date. Make sure you get them in.

New Business - What is the plan for running the Z trains through Pasco? Nothing happening at this time. Will let you know if there are any other changes. Why are we getting a clear block going east at Eavan on main 2? Have been told this is a valid signal but will look into closer. Why did we not get better information on the changes to the Eavan signals? Will look into it. Twice have seen the same guy in Pasco yard in the engineer's seat. They have gotten a board award that allows them to occupy the cab but not operate any of the controls. Safety issue brought up concerning flat cars with steel plates on them. Noise levels in the older engines seems extreme, can we measure this and track it. Discussion of decibel level and monitoring occurred.

The floor was opened for discussion.

Motion to close by Brother Haney, seconded by Brother Hill. Motion passed.