OVER A CENTURY OF UNITY: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SMART-TD

Provided by the SMART-TD Ohio State Legislative Board

By: Ryan J. Fitzpatrick First Vice Chairman – SMART OSLB Legislative Representative – Local 1397 OVER A CENTURY OF UNITY: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SMART-TD

THE HISTORY OF YOUR UNION

So, you’re a member of SMART-TD, just what does that mean?

Being a member means a number of things – you belong to a union that has a long and proud history of service to its members, a union that has played an important role in the development of the United States and Canada, and a union that has influence in what goes on in great world bodies.

As a member, you will want to know many things about your union: its history and what it stands for; the services that it can perform for you from the negotiating of collective bargaining agreements to the procession of your claims and grievances; the role that it plays both at home and abroad in helping and keeping our countries strong and prosperous.

The Transportation Division of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Union has its roots deep in the history of railroading and unionism in North America. In a very real sense, a pioneer in the labor movement.

Let’s look at where we started.

The Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen

In September of 1883 – and there are only a handful of American unions that can boast of going back that far – eight brakemen founded Lodge Number 1 in Oneonta, New York, and named it Eugene V. Debs Lodge as a token of appreciation for the guidance and assistance given by Debs in the formation of the BRT. The idealistic principles upon which the pioneers laid the foundation may seem rather eccentric now, but the society in which they lived forced them to meet in secret and carry on the work of cooperating with their fellow workers under conditions which are hardly believable today.

Discovery by management of any effort to organize meant the loss of jobs. This was the terrific sacrifice made by many of the early workers in the railroad industry. It also resulted in the creation of a class of early railroaders known as the “boomers,” men who migrated from one railroad property to another in order to follow their chosen employment. Some even adopted aliases in order to escape discovery because they were blacklisted for attempting to band together with their fellow workers. It was an uphill battle all the way to reach the heights in the realm of organized labor which has finally been obtained by SMART- TD. Today, to honor the ideals which founded this organization is a shrine of the caboose in Neahwa Park in Oneonta, New York.

Order of Railway Conductors and Brakemen

In the spring of 1868, T. J. “Tommie” Wright and a small band of Illinois Central Gulf conductors formed the first conductors’ union, known as “Division Number 1 Conductors’ Brotherhood” at Amboy, Illinois. Word spread quickly, and by November 1868, the union’s first convention was held in Columbus, Ohio, where conductors from the U.S. and Canada adopted the name “Order of Railway Conductors of America.”

In 1885, the ORC directed its leaders to aid in negotiating agreements with

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carriers, a revolutionary idea for the time. In 1890, the ORC adopted a strike clause and began a militant policy of fighting for the welfare of conductors.

In 1942, the Order of Sleeping Car Conductors amalgamated with the ORC, and in 1954 the organization was renamed the Order of Railroad Conductors and Brakemen to reflect its diverse membership.

Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen

Lodge No. 1 of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen was organized by Joshua Leach and 10 Erie Railroad firemen at Port Jervis, N.Y., in 1873. The following year, delegates from 12 lodges met and formed the “BLF Insurance Association” to provide sickness and funeral benefits for locomotive firemen.

In 1906, BLF changed its name to Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen and joined in bargaining with the three other major railway unions.

In 1919, with 116,990 members, the BLF&E led the fight for an eight-hour day for rail workers, and in 1926 pressed successfully for passage of the Railway Labor Act.

Switchmen’s Union of North America

In the year 1870, switchmen employed on the railroads around the city of Chicago worked 12 hours a day every day in the month for $50. Realizing their helplessness in bargaining with their railroad employers on an individual basis, switchmen began to band together in an organization of their own in the Chicago yards.

In August 1877 these Chicago switchmen formed a Switchmen’s Association.

As the need for a national organization became evident, a large number of representative switchmen met in Chicago in February 1886, and formed the Switchmen’s Mutual Aid Association of the United States of America.

The lockout on the Chicago North Western Railroad, and the disastrous strike of 1888 on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, brought about an untimely death of the Switchmen’s Mutual Aid Association in July 1894.

On October 23, 1894, a meeting of various locals of switchmen in Kansas City led to the establishment of the Switchmen’s Union of North America. In October 1968, SUNA celebrated its 74th year of serving the interest of railroad switchmen and their families.

The Switchmen’s Union affiliated with the DIM American Federation of Labor on July 12, 1906, and for almost 50 years was the only railroad operating union affiliated with the AFL. SUNA was a charter member of the Railway Labor Executives’ Association, having joined this group in 1926. It is one of the founders and owners of “Labor” newspaper as well as the Union Labor Life Insurance Company.

SUNA has also been affiliated with the Canadian Labor Congress since the year 1935. Officers of the union throughout its long history have actively participated in every concerted effort by labor to advance the welfare of the workers of this country. The Switchmen’s Union is justly proud of the historical role it has played in developing a better America for all to live and work in.

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Historically, the Switchmen’s Union has taken pride in the fact that it is organized along craft lines to improve the wages and working conditions of switchmen, that it has a long history of militant action against the excesses of railroad management and a tradition of joining with others to protect and advance the economic and political rights of all workers and, thirdly, that it is a democratic organization in which each member has a voice in the policies and operations of his union.

SUNA’s watchword for more than 70 years was, “The injury of one is the concern of all.” It remains today as the “warp and woof” of the Switchmen’s Union.

The United Transportation Union – Progress Through Unity

In 1968 exploratory talks among the four brotherhoods’ interested in forming one transportation union proved fruitful and plans were formulated for merging of the four operation unions into a single organization to represent all four operating crafts. The four unions were the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, the Order of Railway Conductors and Brakemen and the Switchmen’s Union of North America. The first three of these were considered fraternal orders, as well as labor unions.

In August 1968, the union presidents announced that after nine months of planning, a tentative agreement had been reached on all phases of unity. It was further announced that the name of the new organization would be the United Transportation Union and the target date for establishing the UTU was January 1, 1969. In Chicago on December 10, 1968, the tabulation of the voting revealed an overwhelming desire by the members of the four crafts to merge into a single union, and the United Transportation Union came into existence on January 1, 1969.

The new union had 230,000 members. The first president was Charles Luna, formerly president of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. By 1978 the Union had 240,000 members in 1,000 branches. In 1970, the International Association of Railway Employees joined the UTU. In 1971 the UTU Insurance Association assumed the insurance and welfare plans of the brotherhoods who had formed the UTU. The UTU held its first national convention in August 1971 in Miami Beach, Florida. Al Chesser, National Legislative Director of the UTU, was elected to succeed Luna, who was retiring.

In 1985, the Railroad Yardmasters of America joined.

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2nd Triennial Convention of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, Columbus, Ohio – May 1919 (Ryan Fitzpatrick Collection)

HOW YOUR UNION GREW

The life of a railroader today isn’t always great. Sometimes, it can be downright difficult, but it was extremely worse a century ago.

Hours were brutally long – from sun-up to sun-down was common. Wages were bitterly low. The dread of being fired with no recourse was always constant. There were no safety laws nor workmen’s compensation nor was there unemployment insurance to help when layoffs struck. Even worse, railroaders had nothing, literally nothing to say about the conditions under which they worked. They could accept whatever conditions pleased management, or they could starve. And sometimes they did just that.

The picture of the lot of workers in the 19th Century goes a long way to explain the “why” of today’s SMART Transportation Division. The predecessors of our Union came into existence as the answer of the self-respecting railroader to intolerable conditions in their industry for themselves and their families.

Railroad workers can be proud that they were trail blazers in the movement of North American workers toward a better way of life. They are among the first to stand up and create their own solid organizations in the historic fight to correct the economic injustice and abuse. They still stand as beacons in the labor movement of today.

Bloody Struggles Mark Labor History

Many Union men and women have little knowledge of the heartbreaking and bloody struggles that were waged by the early founders of their Unions. They accept as natural rights what only blood, sweat and tears originally won. They have the unquestioning – perhaps unjustified – certainly that the clock will never be turned back to the “good old days” of hunger and injustice when the labor of a railroader was a commodity to be bought and sold like any other commodity; when there was no thought that human rights or human dignity were involved.

Whether or not the clock is ever turned back, no trade unionist can ever afford to forget the story of “why” their Union exists in the first place. Certainly, no member of the SMART Transportation Division should ever forget the long and proud history of their Union. That story will help you not only to understand that background of this Union but will help you to understand and appreciate the job today.

Let’s go back in labor history.

The Industrial Revolution – that is, the coming of machines, the building of factories and the creation of high corporations to own and run them – came about around soon after the American Revolution. It

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started with the opening of the textile mills in the Northeast, with the construction of iron works, and with the building of railroads to carry the vast commerce that steadily developed.

In Canada, the Provinces of Ontario and Quebec were the first to feel the effects of this industrial revolution. The first train- continental railway to carry the products of the industrialized provinces to the West and to open the tremendous farmland was the Canadian Pacific Railway.

As new arts and crafts swept across the country, the United States and Canada began a stupendous growth that was given them the highest standards of living in the world. Yet it was not the machine alone that did all this. Men, women and too often young children, did it too.

In an important sense the hard, dangerous labor of North American workers and their sacrifice made it possible. No longer could workers carry on their individual trades as they had in the past. They were swept up as part of an immense industrial process which in the early days exploited them mercilessly. Railroad workers were caught up in this chain of exploitation, no less than other workers.

The process was not easy for them. When railroads were first built, the men who ran the “iron horses” were romantic figures who led heroic lives. The engineer and his fireman were looked upon as magicians who operated miraculous machines. The conductor was, as “master of the cars,” a prominent figure in town. They were men who sped far distances, who opened new lands over the horizon, who bound the country together with their steel rails. The firemen, the engineers, the brakemen, the switchmen; the crews that helped keep the railroads operating – all shared in the glory.

Yet it was not long before this glory wore off. As railroads became more and more common and became simple commercial enterprises, as financial speculators began to crowd the scene and make their millions, the romance of railroading for the men who ran the trains faded into the reality of hard life in every way.

All Work and Little Pay Is the Rule

A veteran railroader is credited with the observation that no one knew better than a railroad worker that “there are 24 hours in the day and seven days in the week.” His was a bitter but accurate commentary on the hours that railroad workers were expected to work until early in the 20th Century. Railroad crews regularly operating trains between Albany and New York – 150 miles each way – were not allowed to rest at Albany but had to take the next train back, thus keeping them on the road between 20 and 28 hours.

Like the rest of the working class at the time, it was said “they had little time for anything except work.”

The average workday was 12 hours and frequently men were called on to work 16 or more hours without rest. The seven-day work week was customary. As late as World War I, railroaders were on a 10-hour day and seven-day work week while most workers had the 8-hour day. It took the threat of a nationwide strike in the United States and an Act of Congress to get them the 8-hour day. It was not until 1918 that the 8- hour day was being applied to any great degree on Canadian railroads, resulting from a division of the

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Canadian Railway War Board, September 1, 1918. Even today, the five-day, 40-hour work week, common throughout our industrial world, is not enjoyed by all railroad workers.

The story on the wage front was much the same. For many years the myth had been built up that railroad workers were the “aristocrats of labor” when it came to the weekly pay envelope. This was far from true. Records indicate that in 1875 trainmen on the Pennsylvania Railroad Central Division received less than $1.80 for a round trip between Altoona and Pittsburgh. In 1876, the Chicago and Burlington paid trainmen $1.60 a day with no limit on the number of hours. During the depression, they made as little as $1.00 a day.

Nor did this “represent the wages that the men were able to turn over to their families as they had to provide for both room and board at the opposite end of their run,” one writer observed.

Even in the early days of the 20th century, wages weren’t any better. In 1915, for example, switch tenders averaged $13.80 for a 73-hour week. Passenger brakemen averaged $19.67 while yard brakemen averaged $22.41. Except for the most highly skilled jobs, many railroaders had slipped behind much of the rest of the nation’s skilled workers. It was only their unions that kept them from worse.

This combination of long hours and low wages produced much unrest that was added by poor working conditions. Railroad men were on call all the time. They had little or no job security. There was no seniority system to protect them from superintendents who played favorites with the choice runs. There was no overtime. Grievances among the workers festered largely because railroad management refused to deal with any organization representing their employees.

Physical and Economic Hazards Abound

Wage cuts and layoffs were common when business was bad.

Yet it was on another front – safety – that railroad workers were peculiarly heavy sufferers. And it is in the area of safety that the history of the SMART Transportation Division is particularly important for its members. Railroading for the men who operate the trains is a dangerous business. Even today, with all sorts of mechanical and technological improvements available to make railroading safe, the death and injury tolls are serious. But in the 1870s and 1880s, railroading was perhaps the most hazardous job in the world. Boiler explosions were common. Railroad trestles, built of wood, sometimes burned and collapsed. Rails broke and wrecked trains. Collisions were frequent. Brakes were inefficient and whole trains sometimes roared around curves to their destruction. The crude link and pin system of coupling cars daily took the lives of brakemen and maimed countless more.

In 1893, the year the historic Railroad Safety Appliance Act was signed in the United States, more than 20,000 railroad men were killed or injured at work. Of these, 1,657 were killed. Coupling accidents alone took a toll of 310 killed and 8,753 injured.

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Railroad management, then as always, took the position that it did the best it could in the safety field. Railroaders did not believe it. They were close to the job and knew what they were talking about. They cited careless inspection, failure to replace work out equipment, economies that meant increasing hazards, reluctance of the railroad companies to install safety equipment because of the cost involved.

Use of the “murderous” coupling pin was a special target of railroaders and their supporters. The day that President Harrison signed the Railroad Safety Appliance Act in 1893 has long been called the “greatest day in railroad history.”

The daily risk of life and limb was bad enough. But even worse was the complete lack of economic protection for the victims and their families. There were no worker’s compensation law on the books to bring some measure of relief for injured workers and their families. Railroads refused to accept responsibility in accident cases regardless of cause.

Workers Bore Risk Costs

It was not until 1908 that the U.S. Federal Government enacted the Workmen’s Compensation System and it took further years before the states followed suit. In a of Compensation Laws published in 1957, the U.S. Department of Labor clearly establishes the helplessness of the average worker in those early days when he was injured on the job. It says:

“Before workmen’s compensation laws were adopted, the employee who lost an arm or was otherwise injured on the job got little or nothing in recompense. To recover damages against his employer he had to file suit and to prove that the injury was due to the employer’s negligence. The employer, even though he had been negligent, could avail himself of three common law defenses: ‘assumption of risk,’ ‘fellow servant rule,’ and ‘contributory negligence.’ That is, the employer could defeat recovery if it was proved that the employee’s injury was due to the ordinary risks of his work, if it was caused by the negligence of a fellow worker, or if the employee by his own negligence in any way contributed to the injury.”

This was particularly true of the railroad industry where the risk was simply dumped on the workers. To make matters worse, there were numerous complaints by railroad workers that they were threatened of discharge if they sued the company and often were forced to accept ridiculously low settlements if they wanted to hang on to their jobs.

On top of this, commercial insurance companies charged prohibitive rates for most classes of operating workers while they fatly refused to insure brakemen or switchmen. The risk was too great.

What all this meant was a pauper’s grave for a railroad worker who was killed, semi-starvation if he was injured and tragedy for his family. This was so true that Eugene V. Debs, a powerful leader in railroad unionization, gave up active railroading because his mother was terrified that he would be killed or injured and begged him to quit before it was too late.

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To meet this ever-present menace, railroad men themselves did the best they could to help each other. It was a rare pay day that the hat wasn’t passed to help a fellow worker in distress.

But this individual effort wasn’t enough. Gradually another answer presented itself – that was organization into union that could give the men strength in their efforts to improve their lot and above all protect them from the hazards of their jobs. This wasn’t easy.

Dice Loaded Against Unions

Back in the 1870s, organization of a union was a risky business. There were no laws to protect the rights of workers to organize as we have today. Management was free to fire a man the moment it suspected he might be interested in unions and to “blacklist” him thereafter so that he might never again get a railroad job. The calling of a strike for higher wages was looked upon as a conspiracy against the public interest and might well mean jail for strike leaders. “Yellow dog” contracts by which men agreed to no join a union were common.

An actual strike usually meant the full force of “law and order” which was swiftly turned upon the strikers. Scabs were hired, private police were given the status of deputy sheriffs, state militia was called out on occasion and there are famous episodes when regular troops were called out to crush strikes that got out of hand as a result of the bitterness and frustration of the workers.

Newspapers were quick to take up the cry of “revolution” when disorders were produced. “Hoodlums, burners, looters, blacklegs, thieves, trams, ruffians, incendiaries, enemies of society” these were some of the epithets hurled at the heads of desperate men who sought to better their own lot and that of their families.

Perhaps the most famous expression of the attitude of the conservative elements in the community against the efforts of working men to improve their condition came in 1902 during a strike at the Philadelphia and Reading (Coal and Iron) Company. Answering the plea of a friend to end the strike, President George Baer replied:

“The rights and interest of the laboring man will be protected and cared for – not by the labor agitators, but by the Christian men to whom God in His infinite wisdom, has given control of the property interests of the country.”

This philosophy in its even more reactionary 1970 for did not appeal to the railroad workers. Instead they set out as best they could to look after their own interests.

Railroaders Turn to Self-Help With the public outcries against unions too powerful to be resisted, railroaders turned toward solution of their peculiar safety problems as their first step toward self-help. The first of the railroad Brotherhoods were originally founded – as their very names indicate – not as a labor union in the strictly modern sense, but as a Brotherhood to insure mutual care and protection for the sick and disabled members. Today, the SMART Transportation Division is recognized as a powerful, progressive trade union in the strictest terms, with the benevolent and insurance interests still enjoying similar recognition.

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This deep concern for families of trainmen was shown in September 1883 when a group of railroad brakemen met in a now historic red caboose on a siding at the City of Oneonta, New York and founded the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen. As described by Elmer Wessell, the last survivor of that meeting:

“Eight of us – all brakemen – met in this caboose. One day we naturally got to talking about conditions. We wanted an international organization similar to other transportation Brotherhoods and some very great discussions came up in this caboose. We wanted better working conditions and some kind of insurance for those who might be stricken by illness, injury and death.”

Thus, the benevolent and insurance purpose was clear from the very day of its founding. Indeed, it was many years before the use of the strike as a weapon in industrial disputes was authorized by the BRT.

Insurance Plan Initiated

During those early days, the chief job of the Brotherhood officials was to build up their insurance funds and to take care of their member and families as generously as possible when death or injury overtook them. At the third annual convention in October 1886, Grand Lodge Master S.E. Wilkinson outline the benefits paid to families of deceased members. Three hundred dollars was the sum paid for death or permanent disability. Subordinate lodges had the option of selecting a sick benefit plan which ranged from six to ten dollars per week. The first benevolent claim was paid to a member of the Eugene V. Debs Lodge Number 1 in Oneonta, New York. Shortly after the formation of the BRT an active member of Lodge Number 1 was killed and his widow received fifty dollars, sponsored by assessment placed on the members to pay the claim. For the great majority of member this was the only insurance protection they could either get or afford.

The third annual Convention in October 1886, as related in early annuals of the BRT, established many records. Thirty-seven lodges were organized in 1885. On opening day of the third Convention the total lodges with a choice of sending delegates numbered 161. As a comment on safety condition in those days, it may be noted that 108 claims were paid in an eight-month period in 1886. There were many occasions when the Brotherhood paid out benefits even though the member had not been able to keep up with the assessment. This deep entrenchment of benevolence was reflected in the closing remarks of

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Grand Master Wilkinson which describes the conditions of this time. In recapping the dangerous occupation of trainmen, he said:

“No tall tree falls in the dense forest without breaking the limbs and wounding those that are nearest, and in the fall of these brothers, there no doubt are many near and dear to them who have suffered keener wounds than we. Perhaps a mother has lost a dutiful son, a wife a loving husband and today they mourn a loss which they alone can fully realize.”

Following these remarks, Master Wilkinson stated:

“I cannot let this opportunity go by without saying something about our insurance. It may seem a small amount, but if it is invested in a careful manner, it will keep grim want on the outside and make some preparation for putting us away the decency and order.”

He emphasized this was only the beginning of mutual protection with insurance.

As keeping the tradition of benevolence, the SMART Transportation Division provides its members with a variety of insurance including:

• Short- and Long-Term Disability • Job Income Protection • Life Insurance • Cancer Indemnity

Economic Fight Begins

Important as the insurance and benevolent work of the Brotherhoods was – and as it still is – it became apparent in time that this was not enough. The period, known as the “jungle” period for railroad workers, was marked by bitter labor- management disputes, depression and unemployment. Wage cuts produced desperation. Strikes were put down with utmost brutality. The need for union strength in negotiation on wages, hours, working conditions and job security turned much of the labor movement away from what be called “labor pacifism” to a more militant attitude symbolized by the strike.

As early as 1884, some of the organizations began to take a second look at the “no strike” policy and turned their attention to the bread and butter aspects of Unionism in the modern sense – for economic gain.

Debs, who had been strongly in favor of the no-strike policy, for some time had taken a more militant attitude in the “magazine” of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen (BLF&E), which was quoted in other new media. He began to realize that the rank and file membership had been awakened; they could not rely on the good will of management to bring about better conditions. In 1888, the BRT took action to approve the strike as “the last resort weapon.”

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The example of the Knights of Labor in striking against a 10 per cent wage cut on the lines controlled by Jay Gould, then the most powerful railroad tycoon in America, had convinced many workers that the strike was a weapon that could not be ignored. In 1888 the BRT adopted a formal resolution abandoning the no-strike policy and authorized its lodges “to protect themselves and their interests as their best judgement may dictate.”

In order to overcome the problem of poor communications and to decentralize authority in obtaining the right to a decent wage and better working conditions, in 1903 the BRT divided the U.S. into three territories – Eastern, Western and Southern – to deal with railroad management. This proved successful and, in some respects, this pattern is still followed.

The BRT Thrives

Among the railroad jobs, the operating or ground men had particularly dangerous jobs and were the poorest paid. As previously related, eight brakemen in Oneonta, New York had been talking for some time among themselves as to what they could do. Debs happened to be in Oneonta on business and some of the brakemen went him and asked for his advice.

“Debs,” said the Trainman News many years later, “urged the formation of a brakemen’s Brotherhood. Cautious, the men spoke of their inexperience and hesitance in such a move. Debs’ reply was calculated to fan the flame of national unionism in the group: “Send a member to my Terre Haute office,” he said “and I’ll give him forms, instructions and advice or the move.”

One of the eight brakemen went to Terre Haute, spent three days with Debs and came back to Oneonta to help in the formation of the first lodge of the Brotherhood of Railroad Brakemen, which grew into the BRT.

The BRT turned toward insurance and benevolence as its major purposes. In the preamble of the constitution, the brakemen laid down their principles as follows:

“To unite the Railroad Brakemen; to promote their general welfare and advocate their interests – social, moral and intellectual; to protect their families by the exercise of a systematic benevolence, very needful in a calling so hazardous as ours, this fraternity has been organized.”

In 1889 the name of the Brotherhood was changed to that of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen as its membership reached out into other classifications of train crews.

The BRT proved to be one of the fastest growing of the Brotherhoods and its growth during the 1890s was described as “phenomenal.” Its insurance work prospered and some idea of its magnitude can be gained from a 1964 report released by then President Charles Luna, who eventually became the first President of the United Transportation Union that the Brotherhood had paid out a total of over $370 million in benefits since 1891. Among 484 fraternal societies, life insurance companies and life associations having assets of $1 million or more, the BRT ranked (A) plus or very high.

In 1964, the BRT had reported that it had paid out $9,268,000 in benefits to or for members or dependents during the year 1964. During that year, the BRT had nearly $50 million in assets.

As in the case of rail organizations, the strike was frowned upon during the first years of the BRT, but in keeping with the rest of the labor movement, the Brakemen also approved of the strike as a last weapon of resort in 1888.

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In its 89 years of existence, the BRT had only six Presidents, all of them men of great ability. These included: S.E. Wilkinson who serviced from 1885 to 1895; P.H. Morrisey, who served from 1895 to 1908; W.G. Lee who served from 1909 to 1928; A.F. Whitney who served from 1928 until his death in 1949; W.P. Kennedy who was elected in 1949, and retired in 1962; and finally Charles Luna, who served from 1963 to the formation of the United Transportation Union in 1969 where he became the first acting President of the newly formed UTU.

Successes and Setbacks Recorded

During the early days of the 20th Century, the BRT played a leading role in the development of todays railroad labor movement. It was highly active among the “Big Four” Brotherhoods. The record clearly indicates that the concerted action of the Brotherhood, through other affiliations, brought about the much- needed improvements in safety, wages and working conditions.

The lot of railroad employees had not always been a bed of roses and it is mainly due to the persistent fight of their unions that railroaders have been able to prevent worse.

The period after World War I was particularly difficult as the nations returned to a peacetime economy and railroad management sought to undo much of the progress that their workers had made during the wartime period. There were wage cuts and there was little that the men could do about them.

Another difficult period came during the early ‘30s when the countries were plunged into the Great Depression. Here again there were wage cuts of as much as 10 per cent. For three years, between 1932 and 1935, railroaders went through this wage slash and it was only after long and determined efforts by their unions that the wage reduction were progressively reduced.

During the late 1930s the operating unions, launched drives for wage boosts. There were many ups and downs, successes and setbacks as the railroads fought every effort to increase wages. The efforts of the Brotherhood to raise the standard of living of its members were redoubled when the economy picked up rapidly during the early days of World War II.

In the United States there were important wage movements in 1941, 1943, 1946, and 1950. Some of these movements were marked by successful strikes. Others were marked by Government “seizure” of the roads pending efforts to mediate and arbitrate. Significant wage movements took place in 1943, 1947 and 1949. Some of these movements were also brought to a conclusion with the threat of economic strength. During all these periods the only force that stood between the railroad workers and the worst kind of exploitation by the carriers was their unions.

Today the responsibility of the railroad unions in protecting their members is perhaps more acute than ever.

Railroad management has resumed its never-ceasing drive to hold down wages and to cut the number of its employees. From a high point of more than 2 million employees in the 1920s, railroad employment is now less than 200,000 with these smaller forces handling even more traffic than the larger one due to immensely increased productivity.

Competition from trucks has cut deeply into the percentage of freight once handled by the railroads. Nevertheless, the railroad unions feel strongly that there is no reason why the industry cannot recover much of its old preeminence if the roads themselves use imagination and determination.

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Certainly, the people of North America need a sound and vigorous railroad service. There is no reason why it should not have one and the SMART Transportation Division, along with every rail-related Union is doing everything in their power to assure that it will have. It is fighting for this in the interest of our country and in the interest of you – their membership.

As can be seen from this brief history of railroad unionism in the United States, there have been a few moments when railroaders did not have to fight to keep their gains and improve their economic position. The same is true today. They could not possibly have accomplished this as individuals. It took the full force of their organizations to do it. There were times that even their unions could not fight off wage cuts that eventually were restored only after long and costly struggles. Yet, without their unions, the workers would have been helpless.

The battles are far from over. Modern railroading is going through crucial changes just as are other industries. Automation, technological improvements, the drive for profits at the expense of safety are all problems that today’s railroad worker must face. In a sense they are even more complex problems than earlier railroaders faced.

This means that the individual worker is even more helpless than they were a century ago. It means that the joint strength of railroad workers through their Unions must be mobilized as never before in the fight to maintain decent standards of living and of working conditions.

The spirit of “brotherhood” was at the very heart of unions in the early days. It is equally important today.

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BEING ACTIVE AND INVOLVED IN YOUR UNION

A labor union is not merely a creation of the past. It cannot afford to rest. It must be a living, growing organization if it is to be healthy and effective. What it does today or will do tomorrow does not depend on members who have passed on. It is dependent on its living members. In brief, on you and how involved a member you are.

In many ways a labor union is much like a country. Whether a country flourishes or decays depends on its citizens. Whether the citizens are alert to its needs and help achieve these needs, whether the citizens participate in that priceless privilege of self-government through democratic processes, whether the citizens face their responsibilities or shirk them spells the difference between a good country, a good government, or a country where strife and unrest is prevalent.

The same things can be said of a labor union and its members. It will flourish or decay as its members understand their rights and responsibilities and as they carry them out unselfishly. It will depend upon whether its members carry out their full “union citizenship.”

Good “Union Citizenship”

Just what is good union “citizenship” today? To answer that question properly we must first look for a moment at the goals that we have been seeking during the past century of growth and development.

There are, of course, the bread and butter goals to be achieved through collective bargaining and union strength. These are better wages, shorter hours, improved working conditions, health and welfare – all the gains that can make our lives richer and more satisfying.

All of us, of course, have never been satisfied merely to achieve its own special goals, merely to build itself up while disregarding the welfare of the rest of the country.

It has always carried on the battle for better working conditions and a higher standard of living on a far broader front than the trade movement itself. The labor movement was a pioneer in bringing free public education to all. It was a pioneer in the fight for shorter hours for all workers, for protection against the exploitation of child labor, for safety legislation, for minimum wage, for Social Security, and Railroad Retirement. For a multitude of social projects that have benefited all whether organized or unorganized.

Citizenship on Two Fronts

It should be noted that these states of purpose concern two fronts – that of our national life, and that of the collective bargaining table.

Our good citizenship is expressed in our efforts to achieve our hopes for a better and fuller life – through democratic processes within the framework of our specific constitutional government and consistent with our institutions and traditions.

Let us break down the various parts of this sentence, to emphasize the very essence of our national life as a free country.

“Democratic processes” refer to the way in which we govern ourselves – through the ballot box and through our representative government which must be responsive to the will of the people. Good citizens

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care deeply about the way in which their country is governed. They express that concern through full participation in the process.

“Within the framework of our specific constitutional government” refers to the fact that we are nations of laws, rather than nations governed by the whims and power of dictators.

“Consistent with our institutions and traditions” is an expression of faith on the part the labor movement in the country itself.

It should be noted, too, that the preambles link the labor movement with good national citizenship by the promise that we, as workers, will so conduct our activities at the collective bargaining table, in the community and through the exercise of our rights and duties as citizens in such a manner that we shall responsibly serve the interests of all the people.

This is patriotism in its highest form.

The second front of good “citizenship” with which these preambles deal is the “union” front – the fight for a richer life for workers through union organization, through collective bargaining, through union activities.

The Value of Unionism

Before we continue with our analysis, we ought to ask ourselves: Why do we believe in Unions?

You have an obvious answer in the history of the labor movement itself, the utter impossibility of the individual worker to “negotiate” their wages and working conditions with today’s giant corporations, the strength that comes from worker co-operation and unity. Without unions, workers lived in an economic jungle in which they were cruelly exploited.

But there is another aspect of unionism that makes for good citizenship and social welfare. The organization of workers in unions and the settlement of industrial disputes through collective bargaining have become recognized as the best way to avoid bitter labor-management strife.

The United States Congress itself laid down the principle of collective bargaining as national policy in the very first paragraphs of the Wagner Act, a statement of national policy that was repeated in the Taft- Hartley Act. Despite the attacks on unions, that policy is still the national policy of the United States. Union workers should be deeply conscious of that fact. This statement of national policy reads:

“It is hereby declared to be the policy of the United States to eliminate the causes of certain substantial obstructions to the free flow of commerce and to mitigate and eliminate these obstructions when they have occurred by encouraging the practice and procedure of collective bargaining and by protecting the exercise of workers of full freedom of association, self-organization and designation of representatives of their own choosing, for the purpose of negotiating the terms and conditions of their employment or other mutual aid or protection.”

It is true that there are powerful forces in American life – in industry, business and in government itself – which have never wholeheartedly, if at all, accepted this general policy. Yet the fact remains that it is part and parcel of our national laws, including the Railway Labor Act.

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How Can We Strengthen Our Unions?

The strengthening of our unions, therefore, should be our goal, both as a good citizen of our country and as good union citizens.

How can we, as union members help strengthen our unions? What is our role as good union members?

Our most obvious duty is full participation in the life of our union, study and understanding of the problems that arise, active participation in the decisions that must be made.

Unfortunately, one of the strongest complaints of many union officers is that their members don’t turn up for meetings in anywhere near the numbers that they should. There are many, many distractions of modern life which we are all familiar. Family, commitments, and mostly, our unpredictable work schedule. Coming off a train or taking what precious time we have with our families to come to a union meeting isn’t the easiest thing in the world. Yet the cold fact remains that only by full participation in the activities of the union can its members help it to fulfill its purposes.

Union are frequently under attack by their enemies for what is described as a lack of “democracy.” The propaganda is planted that union member have nothing to say about the operations of their union; that “labor bosses” run things to suit themselves. The fact is that almost all union constitutions contain wide and ample provisions for democratic control by their membership. If there can be legitimate complaint, it is that the members do not always avail themselves of their rights and privileges. The best and most powerful answer that can be made to charges of lack of union democracy is the sight of full and busy union meetings.

But just regular attendance is not enough. Members must acquaint themselves with their problems that face their Local and their Union as a whole. They must make their views known. They must participate in committee work. They should be proud to become local officers.

Of course, the foundation of a member’s participation in the work of their local and their union must be knowledge of the various problems that arise.

One of the most important ways to gaining this knowledge is through the union publications available. These newspapers and email news are not simply means of telling members what is going on. They also serve as an important means of educating members in the problems that face the union and the labor movement in general; they explain the background of controversial issues; they keep the membership informed on what is being done to meet problems; they alert members to developing problems of the future.

Growing job losses on the railroads, for example, is one of the most crucial problems now facing railroad workers. Automation, increased train sizes, the carrier’s eagerness to reduce crew size; management’s failure to spark an imaginative program to rebuild the railroads’ share of freight traffic are all questions of vital importance to all railroaders.

You won’t find out much about these things in your daily Facebook New Feed or magazines. The only place you can find out about them is through the publications of your OWN union.

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On the Legislative Front

Railroad unions – and this is particularly true of SMART-TD’s predecessors – were among the earliest to recognize that in a democracy many of the goals of workers must be achieved through legislation as well as at the collective bargaining table.

Much of this legislation involves workers as citizens of the country as well as members of unions.

The minimum wage for all workers is not something that can be achieved through individual union collective bargaining. It must be achieved through legislation.

The same is true for a Social Security System; Retirement Acts; for Worker’s Compensation; for laws protecting us against safety hazards; for the protection of children against exploitation; for the maintenance of proper standards and working conditions on public works. The list is endless.

To achieve these things is not always easy. Powerful interest gets their toes stepped on. They fight tooth and nail against any social or economic legislation that may increase their taxes or cut their profits. They are in politics up to their ears in their never-ending fight to protect their own interests.

Workers have not always realized that they, too, must make politics, in that sense of their business. It is more important than ever that the labor movement has made its weight felt in the political arena, in the fight for good legislation, in the fight to send worthy representatives to Congress and to State Legislatures.

The importance of this legislative and political work has been recognized by SMART Transportation Division which have elected legislative representatives on the national, state and local levels.

The work of these representatives is of the highest importance to every member of SMART-TD. The railroads, as public utilities, have long come under Government regulation in one form or another. Problems that face the railroads – whether those of labor relations or their economic well-being, or the way in which they are run, invariably wind up in Congress or some Government agency.

Railroad workers, therefore, cannot relax for a moment their interest in legislation involving their industry. Perhaps more than almost any other group of organized workers, they must keep a clear eye on what goes on in the Legislative bodies.

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YOUR UNION’S STRUCTURE

A good and strong Union starts at the Local level. From there, the membership’s participation drives the gears to move the International. But to fully understand how your Union works, you must first know the roles that each officer plays.

The Local Level

The local level is the point at which members have the most contact and input. Involvement in your local chapter is the best way to stay informed and make sure that you know where you stand.

Local Presidents are elected by members of their locals every three (3) years. It is the President's responsibility to preside at meetings, supervise the local affairs, decide disputes, appoint committees, countersign documents and checks, and file necessary reports.

The Local Treasurer is elected by members of their local every three (3) years. The Treasurer of the local is charged with the responsibility of ensuring the proper collection of dues, disbursement of funds, keeping accurate financial records and filing all reports required by law.

The Local Legislative Representative is elected to office by the members of the Local every four (4) years. Your local Legislative Representative attends the State Legislative Board meetings where proposals are submitted on behalf of the membership to alter legislation, including health and safety matters. Your L.R. also handles safety issues and other legislative matters.

The Local Chairperson is elected to office by the members of the Local every four (4) years. The Local Chairperson is the Chair of the Local Committee of Adjustment, which is made up of the Chairperson, Vice Chairperson, and Secretary. Responsibilities include the handling of claims, grievances, discipline cases and disputes with management officials. He/she is available to the membership to assist in any of these areas of responsibility.

The Trustees are elected to office by the members of the local every three (3) years. Trustees, of which there are 3 in each Local, are responsible for supervising the financial affairs for the Local and performing the annual audit of the Local's finances.

A Local's Delegate position is elected every four (4) years. It is the responsibility of the Delegate to attend the International Convention for the purposes of electing all International and National officers and considering voting on matters pertaining to the modification of the Constitution.

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The Intermediate Level (General Committees)

Each General Chairperson is elected by the members of the General Committee of Adjustment which is comprised of all the Local Chairpersons in each district on each property. The election to fill this position takes place every four (4) years at the convening of the General Committee of Adjustment. The General Chairperson handles all claims, grievances and discipline matters on a regional basis, with authority to make and interpret contracts on work rules and pay rates and negotiate agreements with management officials on a national and regional level.

Each State Legislative Director is elected to office by members of the State Legislative Board which is comprised of Legislative Representatives of each local. The election to fill this position takes place every four (4) years. State Legislative Directors attend sessions of State Legislatures and keep close contact with state lawmakers to promote political and legislative interests of the members. They ensure compliance with the F.R.A regulations and the resolution of state safety matters.

The International Level

All SMART-TD Officers are elected and, where necessary, are bonded to ensure fiduciary responsibility to the members of the union.

The International Union consists of one convention delegate from each local plus all elected officers and boards. Delegates are elected by the members of each local to attend quadrennial conventions where they decide on amendments to the Constitution and elect officers for the next four years.

The International President is elected to office every four (4) years at the Convention. He/she heads all union affairs and activities, presides at conventions, supervises officers and employees, interprets union laws, decides all disputes, and exercises general executive and administrative control of daily activities of the union.

The Assistant President is elected to the office every four (4) years at the Convention. He/she assists the President in carrying out all policies and programs of the union and in any other matter assigned by the President.

The General Secretary and Treasurer is elected to office every four (4) years at the Convention. He/she is the chief financial officer of the union. This officer collects all monies, pays all bills, countersigns checks, documents and charters, keeps accurate records of finances, files all lawful reports and performs other duties required by convention or assigned by the President

The U.S. National Legislative Director is the chief legislative and political officer in the U.S. He/she coordinates the activities of the State Legislative Representatives. He/she furnishes recommendations regarding political activities to the President. The U.S. Legislative Director is responsible for the resolution of rail safety issues and the passage of legislation protecting the interests of the membership.

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THE RAILWAY LABOR ACT, SIMPLIFIED

Purpose for Legislation

To avoid work stoppages that threaten to substantially interrupt interstate commerce to a degree such as to deprive any section of the country essential transportation services. Railway Labor Act Enacted

Strike scenes like this played out throughout the country souring relations between the railroads and workers for quite some time.

Decades of railroad labor unrest which included widespread and often violent work stoppages frequently pitted federal soldiers against striking railroad workers. In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge urged both Railroads and Unions to recommend legislation for better labor/management relations and reduce the threat of railroad shutdowns. Railroads and their unions jointly drafted legislation, whose premise is that arms-length negotiations (jaw-jaw, not war-war) promote more stable labor relations. Formally signed by President Coolidge on May 20, 1926, this new law was designated the Railway Labor Act of 1926 (RLA).

The RLA was the first federal law guaranteeing the right of workers to organize and join unions and elect representatives without employer coercion or interference.

The RLA makes it the duty of all carriers and their employees to exert every reasonable effort to voluntarily settle disputes. Who is covered by the RLA

The RLA applies to freight and commuter railroads, airlines, companies directly or indirectly controlled by carriers who perform services related to transportation of freight or passengers and the employees of these railroads, airlines and companies. The RLA contains five basic purposes

- To avoid any interruption to commerce.

- To ensure an unhindered right of employees to join a labor union (added in 1934).

- To provide complete independence of organization by both parties to carry out the purposes of the RLA

- To assist in the prompt and orderly settlement of disputes covering rates of pay, work rules, or working conditions.

- To assist in the prompt and orderly settlement of disputes growing out of grievances or out of the interpretation or application of existing contracts covering the rates of pay, work rules and working conditions.

“Major”and “Minor”Disputes

Major Disputes–matters affecting rates of pay, rules and working conditions; and, making or modification of the collective bargaining agreement between the parties.

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- Almost total reliance upon collective bargaining for dispute settlement. - Self-help permitted after negotiation and mediation procedures are exhausted.

Minor Disputes–grievances growing out of the interpretation or application of collective bargaining agreements.

National Railroad Adjustment Board (NRAB) or alternative boards of adjustment have exclusive jurisdiction over grievance disputes.

Self-help not allowed.

Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA's) under the RLA

Contracts remain in force until changed. Either party seeking to amend existing CBA’s must provide 30- day written notice as to desired changes. (Section 6 RLA). There is no time limit by which contracts must be negotiated to avoid a work stoppage. Under Section 6 of the act either side may propose changes to an existing collective bargaining agreement, but agreements (for purposes of stability and labor peace) generally contain agreed upon moratorium clauses that provide no change may be demanded on specified subjects for a prescribed period of time.

Once Section 6 notices proposing changes to an existing agreement have been served, the parties must maintain the status quo (no strikes or lockouts or promulgation of changes) until all procedures of the RLA have been fully exhausted.

For major disputes over wages, benefits and working conditions, the RLA provides for a three-member National Mediation Board, appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate, with the power to mediate any dispute between carriers and their employees at the request of either party or upon the board's own motion.

There is no time limit on the mediation procedure. The NMB controls the schedule of talks and only the NMB may release the parties from mediation.

If the NMB is unable to bring about an amicable settlement of the controversy through mediation, the board is required to use its influence to induce the parties voluntarily to submit to binding arbitration. The law is specific in that arbitration is voluntary and not compulsory.

If both sides voluntarily agree to binding arbitration, an Arbitration Board of up to six members is to be established. Carriers and labor each select an equal number of arbitrators, who then select the additional member or members.

Presidential Emergency Board

If either labor or management decline voluntary arbitration, and if in the opinion of the NMB the continuance of the controversy threatens substantially to interrupt interstate commerce in any section of the nation, the NMB is required to notify the President of the United States, who may, at his discretion, create a fact-finding Presidential Emergency Board.

The parties must maintain the status quo (no strikes or lockouts) for 30 days. If the president chooses not to appoint an emergency board, strikes or lockouts may occur after the 30-day cooling-off period.

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Emergency boards are comprised of neutral members whose job is to make an investigation and submit to the president, within 30 days of its creation, a fact-finding report with non-binding recommendations for procedures or terms on which a dispute might be settled. During this period, the parties must maintain the status quo (a second 30-day cooling-off period).

Upon submission of the PEB report, the parties are required to maintain the status quo for an additional, or third 30-day cooling-off period (they may mutually agree to extend the period of status quo). The non- binding recommendations of the PEB are expected to carry the weight of public opinion and induce a voluntary agreement among the parties.

At this point, the RLA has run its course. If no agreement has been reached, either side becomes free to act in its own economic interests -- a work stoppage (or strike) by labor, a lockout by management, or unilateral implementation of management proposals (that generally would force a work stoppage).

However, Congress frequently imposes its own settlement. Such congressional action is not part of the RLA. The constitutional authority for Congress to impose its own settlements is found in Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution's commerce clause. NMB conducts elections

NMB defines the craft/class of employees eligible to vote extending to all employees performing a particular job function throughout the company’s operations, not at particular site or region.

Union must produce authorization cards or other proof of support from at least 35% of the craft or class if not represented; and 50% + 1 if employees are represented.

RLA requires that the Union receive a majority of votes from the entire craft or class, rather than a majority of those who choose to vote.

RLA contains no unfair labor practice procedures; however, the NMB is required to insure the choice of representatives without interference or coercion by the carrier and can decide to run another election if it finds that carriers conduct violated the obligations under Section 2. Examining the RLA

Amended significantly only twice:

To create the NRAB to arbitrate minor disputes To include Airlines under the act

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