Combined Militancy and Solidarity Does It ...

By Paul Swanson

Proving once again that when the membership of rail labor unites and becomes active around a cause, victory can be achieved. On June 26, 1997 the nation’s railroads and the rail unions agreed to occupational disability standards that are fair to those rail workers who depend on them.

It was a different scene just six months ago. On December 18, 1996 the Railroad Retirement Board voted two to one to change the standards to be eligible for Railroad Retirement Occupational Disability benefits. So what happened? The membership of every rail union in the country got angry and said NO!

The railroads had a plan to save themselves millions per year in disability payments. The new standards, called Presumptive Occupational Disability System (PRODS) would have adversely affected hundreds of railroad workers and their families each year. But the plan overlooked one critical factor, a united rail labor that would not allow the devastation to happen without a real fight.

Immediately following the vote, every rail union started making plans to counter the railroads attack on our pensions. I am proud to say that again the BMWE was in the forefront of this fight. We began by notifying the members of the crisis and asking them to begin contacting their brothers and sisters in the other rail unions to build solidarity. At the same time, our general chairmen across the country began contacting their counterparts in the rest of rail labor to encourage them to prepare for a fight.

Because of the efforts of the membership and the general chairmen, rail labor was ready to respond by the middle of January. Every rail union except one called for a strike to commence on January 24. I would be lying if I told you that every union was fully prepared to strike. Several waffled as the deadline got closer. Even some system committees on some railroads were prepared to ignore their leadership. The BMWE had no problems--our membership and leadership was ready to face the struggle, and more than enough stood firm so that the carriers knew that rail labor was not bluffing and their railroads could be effectively shut down. With the shutdown they knew their precious profits would be in jeopardy. So the railroads backed off at the last minute and agreed to a six-month moratorium on any changes. During the six months they promised to negotiate towards occupational standards that labor could live with.

The agreement would never have been reached had the carriers felt that rail labor was not prepared to fight with everything we have. They knew that several general chairmen’s associations had passed resolutions demanding fair occupational disability standards or else we would strike. They knew that the AFL-CIO Executive Council had passed a resolution supporting rail labor in its efforts to defend our pensions. They saw members from every rail union engage in informational picketing and demonstrations in support of concerted action to defend our pensions. They knew that hundreds of members from every union were meeting with key congressmen, asking them to write the Railroad Retirement Board. Many did, demanding that the Board not make any changes to the occupational disability standards unless it was through agreement. Finally, because rail labor was even more united than on January 24, they knew that they were going to be facing loss of operations if they did not back off.

Rail management saw two things. First, never before had rail labor been so united. Secondly, never before had the railroads seen such a large percentage of rail labor prepared to engage in concerted actions, together to stop the attack.

The actions of the membership and their leadership moved the railroads to agreement. They did not suddenly get a heart. Like every decision management makes, they made it with their profits in mind. They decided that the savings they could gain by unilaterally forcing unfair disability standards on us would soon be eaten up by the losses caused by a fight with their employees.

I hope this victory brought on by a strong show of unity and fighting spirit can be carried forward in future struggles. It proves once and for all that workers united cannot be defeated.