LRW Honors Amtrak’s Acheson As Railway Woman Of The Year
From Editor-In-Chief Foran: Of Gender Equity And Inclusion
Spotlight On Some Of Today’s Rail Safety Products
Women of Influence in Rail eBook
Newsletter Sign Up
Stay updated on news, articles and information for the rail industry
Stay updated on news, articles and information for the rail industry
railPrime
Rail News Home
Rail Industry Trends
Rail News: Rail Industry Trends
10/30/2001
Rail News: Rail Industry Trends
Vast majority of UTU members approve BLE merger
advertisement
United Transportation Union Oct. 29 announced its members approved the proposed Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers merger by a nearly 6-to-1 margin.
American Arbitration Association — hired by BLE to print, mail and count new merger ballots, which BLE expects members to return by Dec. 10 — counted and certified UTU's ballot count of 23,368 in favor and 4,146 against (UTU members submitted ballots Sept. 17).
A lawsuit filed by three BLE members, seeking to halt BLE's balloting process, recently was dropped, enabling BLE to seek a re-vote and UTU to release its vote count.
"This vote proves that the UTU rank-and-file overwhelmingly supports this merger," said UTU International President Byron Boyd Jr. in a prepared statement. "A merged UTU-BLE will strengthen our bargaining position and prevent the carriers from driving a wedge between operating employees that leads to a race for the bottom."
If approved, the merger — with a target date of Jan. 1, 2002 — would create a 185,000-member union that would act as a bargaining agent for all unionized rail operating employees in the United States and Canada, as well as U.S. yardmasters, Canadian rail-traffic controllers, and other rail, bus, air and mass transit workers in both countries.
American Arbitration Association — hired by BLE to print, mail and count new merger ballots, which BLE expects members to return by Dec. 10 — counted and certified UTU's ballot count of 23,368 in favor and 4,146 against (UTU members submitted ballots Sept. 17).
A lawsuit filed by three BLE members, seeking to halt BLE's balloting process, recently was dropped, enabling BLE to seek a re-vote and UTU to release its vote count.
"This vote proves that the UTU rank-and-file overwhelmingly supports this merger," said UTU International President Byron Boyd Jr. in a prepared statement. "A merged UTU-BLE will strengthen our bargaining position and prevent the carriers from driving a wedge between operating employees that leads to a race for the bottom."
If approved, the merger — with a target date of Jan. 1, 2002 — would create a 185,000-member union that would act as a bargaining agent for all unionized rail operating employees in the United States and Canada, as well as U.S. yardmasters, Canadian rail-traffic controllers, and other rail, bus, air and mass transit workers in both countries.
