We have spoken to the Administration about this several times including to Vice President Gore. Suffice it to say that despite those discussions with the Administration, Chairman Bower, the supposedly neutral public member, still sits on the Railroad Retirement Board and will still vote for the railroads and against our members. Historically, changes such as those proposed by railroad management are only adopted after AGREEMENT by Rail Labor. Chairman Bower has changed those rules in mid-stream and is working hand-in-glove with rail management to weaken the occupational disability procedures and standards.

In addition, the railroads and Mr. Bower have a "Plan B." The Railroad Retirement Board, over the objection of the Labor Member, are changing the personnel who administer the occupational disability annuity program while negotiations are in progress. In addition, they are hiring new medical examiners. This would mean that even if we are successful in adopting acceptable medical standards and procedures for applying those standards, the people making the decisions would be opposed to granting the occupational disability annuity. This would make the negotiations process meaningless because we could reach an acceptable agreement with the railroads, only to have those standards unfairly applied by Railroad Retirement Board staff and medical examiners.

Rail Labor is presently attempting to get management to "fix" the problem--i.e. keep the same supervision and medical examiners in place who were there on December 18, 1996. This would mean that if new examiners were needed, they would be evaluated and hired by Railroad Retirement personnel who have historically been fair to labor and management. BMWE considers this personnel issue to be as important as the standards and procedures. We simply are unwilling to give up or weaken the occupational disability annuity to biased application anymore than we are willing to allow the Railroad Retirement Board to weaken the occupational disability annuity by changing medical standards and/or procedures.

Hopefully, the railroads will see that Rail Labor is united in its determination to reach a resolution that meets the needs of its members. It must be remembered that the Railroad Retirement Trust Fund is in excellent financial condition with a prognosis of even greater health into the future. Additionally, our members have sacrificed wage increases and paid higher taxes in order to make certain that Railroad Retirement benefits, including the occupational disability annuity, are preserved and even enhanced. Rail Labor remains willing to negotiate with the railroads for changes in Railroad Retirement, but we are not willing to be rolled.

On May 1, 1997, hundreds of railroad employees from all crafts leafleted throughout the United States in opposition to unilateral changes in the occupational disability annuity standards, procedures and administration by the Railroad Retirement Board. This is just the beginning. Hopefully railroad management will simply back off on this and negotiate a deal acceptable to both sides. If not, we may end up on or about July 15, 1997 just where this story began--with a national strike looming as a result of the Railroad Retirement Board’s attempts to unilaterally alter the occupational disability annuity standards, procedures and application. BMWE will keep you informed.