B   M   W   E
JOURNAL
ONLINE VERSION VOLUME 107 - NUMBER 4 - MAY 1998
MofW ... Working On The Railroad

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Left to right, standing, Odell Stewart, Mike Sellers, Mark Barbour, Michael Williams, Rich Lau, William Crisp. Seated, Michael Suggs, Jimmy Kalawaia, Timothy Williams, Eddie Jackson, Roosevelt Brown, Johnny Tolver, Kelton Swanigan.

"I don't like bullies," said Mark Barbour, Local Chairman, Norfolk & Western System Federation, "and that's what most companies are."

Barbour, 45, grew up in the coal fields of southern West Virginia and his grandfather was a coal worker for 40 years. "I didn't know much about unions," he said, "but I knew who the United Mine Workers were and what they stood for when I was five years old."

"Even so," he continued, "sometimes I took things like seniority, health benefits, wage rates, too much for granted. But I've seen corporate bullies destroy jobs, destroy families. I like people sticking together for what's right and I believe everyone should reap the same benefits I have belonging to a union. That's why I believe in organizing."

William Crisp, Local Chairman, Southern System Division, is looking into retiring in the near future. But he "wants to see others get some of what he has received in benefits over the years."

Barbour and Crisp were explaining why they got involved in recent BMWE organizing campaigns on the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC), Atlantic & Gulf (AGLF) and Georgia & Florida (G&F) railroads, and why they were happy to attend the first official meeting of the AGLF and G&F new members held in Albany, Georgia on March 22, 1998.

At that meeting, BMWE Vice President Rich Lau and Southern System Division Officers Sam Alexander and Mike Sellers went over the contract demands filed earlier in a Section 6 Notice by General Chairman Gary Cox. Primary concerns included job security, contracting out, health benefits, job classifications and wage rates.

Kelton Swanigan, age 32, an in-house organizer, says "the company can do better by their employees" in all those areas. Swanigan, nicknamed the "enforcer" because he gets things done, has worked on the railroad for eight years. Born and raised in Albany, Georgia, he has been married to Angela for 10 years. They have three children.

"The union was on my mind for a long time," Swanigan said. "I kept thinking the company might not have done this or that with the union. The BMWE organizers showed me how things could and should be. The union is something for a better future for employees and their families. I never was union before, I'm real glad I am now."

Michael Suggs, like Swanigan, is age 32, married (Debra) with three children and was an in-house organizer. A signal maintainer, Suggs has been with the railroad for two years.

"I have a realistic view," Suggs said. "I know what you can and can't do with the union. I'm following in my father's footsteps; he was a real union supporter who worked as an engineer on the Georgia Northern for 35 years. My sisters and brothers are union too, two of them are in the IBEW. I guess you can just say my family is a union family."

Michael Williams, age 40, married with one son, Michael, Jr., has worked on the railroad for five years. He says, "We needed a written contract and a stronger voice to enforce it. When I see someone treated wrong, I have to speak out. I think the union will speak up for the workers when they're not treated fairly by the company."

"With the union you get better benefits and pay," said Eddie Jackson succinctly. Jackson, age 40, who suffered the loss of his wife last October, was born and raised in Dawson, Georgia and has two children. He has worked on the railroad for three years and runs a backhoe.

Johnny Tolver, a new hire who started on the railroad in September 1997, said, "At first I was skeptical, I've never been in a union. But the company is not doing what they said they were going to when they hired me."

Jimmy Kalawaia, who was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, was also skeptical of the union at first. "I was the last one to support the union," he said. "I don't jump in without knowing what something's about. But after I listened and heard what the BMWE had to say, I felt I could support the union. I've been in a union before. I know they can help you make things better. The company will keep you right where you're at if they can."

"I've always wanted to work on the railroad,' said Timothy Williams, age 31, born and raised in Dawson, Georgia. Williams, married to Sheila, has one daughter, Kimrika, age 7, and has worked on the railroad two years in November.

Williams supported the union because, "we weren't being treated fair. I've never been in a union before but the organizers and others told me what a union could and couldn't do for us. I'm looking for better benefits and pay. My eggs at the store cost just as much as management's eggs do."

Odell Stewart, age 35, married to Joann, has two children. He supported the union because he wanted "better treatment and somebody to speak up for me. We need better equipment to work with, better pay, a better working environment. There's a lot of good workers and we look out for each other but we needed to be organized."

Summing up, Roosevelt Brown, age 31, born and raised in Albany, Georgia, says he "feels pretty good because my father was in the union and I know the union can help gain benefits for my family and the families of my brother workers."

After four long years and having won their case in three separate jurisdictions (see story in July 1997 Journal), former employees of the Atlanta & St. Andrews Bay Railroad Company (ASAB) finally received their settlement payments. Freddie Simpson, Vice Chairman of the Allied Eastern Federation (a new system formed last year from the merger of the CSX and Dixie Federations; J. R. Cook, General Chairman) was pleased to present the checks at a meeting in Panama City, Florida on Sunday, April 5, 1998. Don Griffin, BMWE Assistant General Counsel who represented the workers, said, "The successful out come doesn't make up for the fact that these men lost their jobs to satisfy a corporate whim of Stone Container (owner of the railroad)." He went on to say, "I am incredibly proud to have worked with them (the ASAB workers) because they stuck together and showed what real brotherhood is all about."

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Left to right, standing, Robert Laseter, Dwayne White, Whittie Saffold, Isaiah Moore, Jaries Johnson, J. R. Johnson, Eddie Clemons, Freddie Simpson, Jerry Fears, Darrick Lund; in front, Karl Page, Mike Nolan.

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