AUDHome--> Union Democracy Review--> Articles

SUBSCRIBE to Union Democracy Review!

From the September-October 2006 issue of Union Democracy Review #164

Railroad workers on right track for unity

Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) adopted three amendments to their union constitution providing for the direct election of national officers by the membership. Previously, officers were elected by convention delegates. The three measures were adopted by votes of around 4,500 to 2,500 in a membership referendum. The BLET is now affiliated to the Teamsters as a national division.

The proposals were endorsed by Railroad Operating Crafts United [ROCU], an independent cross-union caucus. The group was founded by two engineers, Ed Michael and Ron Kaminkow. About 250 railroad workers have endorsed their website appeal for support. They report that about 40% are members of the BLET and about 60% of the United Transportation Union. In a jurisdictional dispute with the BLET, the UTU left the AFL-CIO in 2000,went independent, but then rejoined the AFL-CIO after the BLET left it with the Teamsters. The Railroad Operating Crafts United, which calls for the merger of the two, wants more than a united union; it wants a democratic union. "What We Stand For," its founding statement, includes these words:

"We need a union that is built upon democratic control by its members, not simply one built by amalgamating the respective top-heavy leadership and bureaucracies of the existing organizations. We need constitutional provisions that includec direct election of officers at all levels, including General Chairmen; the right to recall officers; salary and expenditure limits; and guarantees of protection for minority and dissenting views."

The ideal of one united union of railroad workers goes back to 1893 with the formation of the American Railway Union as an industrial union. With its demise, rail unionism remained fragmented, but the desire for unity remained strong. Any independent organization that called for unity could always get the support of a few thousand railroad unionists. One was the Railroad Workers Joint Action Committee founded in the early 1940s by Gordon Haskell, then a railroad engineer, who later became the first president of the Association for Union Democracy. In 1968, four railroad unions merged to form the United Transportation Union. In 1969, members from 500 different locals formed the Right to Vote caucus to campaign for the right of members to vote on the ratification of collective bargaining agreements.

The spirit of democracy had been irrepressible in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers years before it merged with the Teamsters. Back in 1998, one member denounced union officers at a local meeting and then was charged with violating a constitutional provision against "holding frequent or continued discussion in regard to the private affairs ....of the Brotherhood except at meetings....on the pain of expulsion." A year later, represented in federal court by Barbara Harvey, BLE members won the right to vote on recalling their international president; and, by a majority vote, he was then ousted. Two years later, when BLET officers tried to put over a merger with the United Transportation Union in a manipulated quickie referendum, an opposition caucus was formed, the Democratic Vote Council, to oppose the move, mainly on the ground that the constitution for the proposed merger lacked democratic guarantees. Represented this time by Arthur Fox, they convinced a federal judge to order fair voting procedures. With 70% of the members voting, the proposal was defeated by a decisive majority, 17,251 to 7,425. UTU members, in a separate referendum, had voted for the merger. A year later, the BLET merged with the Teamsters.

Kaminkow and Michael, the two ROCU leaders, agree that most of the BLET engineers who voted against merger were motivated by their rejection of the undemocratic quality of the proposed constitution; only a small minority voted out of a narrow elite craft spirit. They are convinced that a big majority of engineers would support a democratically conceived merger. The engineers' record of zealous defense of their democratic rights bears them out.

Jim Eubanks, a conductor who has been a railroad worker for more than 34 years --- he started at age 19 --- was drawn to ROCU by its campaign for a democratic constitution. He maintains a paid up membership in both the BLET and the UTU because it helps him campaign for unity.

The Railroad Operating Crafts United carries on a great tradition. Renewing the call for unity but with guarantees for union democracy, it is preparing a model democratic constitution as the basis for a future merger proposal.

back to top

Previous Article: Federal employees can help enforce members' right to know

Next Article: Hiring Hall Procedures in the Construction Trades

This website is made possible by contributions from union members and supporters like you. Please help us build the movement for union democracy, join or contribute to AUD.

AUDHome; Legal Rights; Education; Union Democracy Review; Books; AUDLinks

Page designed by Matt Noyes, National Writers Union/UAW, and Rachel Szekely
The Association for Union Democracy. www.uniondemocracy.org
104 Montgomery Street, Brooklyn, New York, 11225; USA; 718-564-1114; info@uniondemocracy.org

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

Use the following credit line on the materials you use:
"From the website of the Association for Union Democracy. www.uniondemocracy.org. Email: info@uniondemocracy.org. 104 Montgomery Street, Brooklyn, New York, 11225; USA; 718-564-1114"

Please notify us at websteward@uniondemocracy.org when you use material from the site.

Send comments or suggestions on the website to websteward@uniondemocracy.org.