January

Negative news dominated the month of January for the BMWE. First the BMWE petitioned the Seventh Circuit U. S. Court of Appeals for a rehearing en banc (all sitting judges hear the appeal) after the Court, by a 2-1 vote, reversed the judgement of the District Court which held that the BMWE's dispute with the carriers over the payment of travel allowances was a major dispute. The request for rehearing was later denied as was an appeal to the Supreme Court. On January 12 the United Transportation Union petitioned the National Mediation Board to change the existing craft structure among operating crafts. In essence this was a bid for a hostile takeover of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. The BMWE and the other rail unions except for the UTU strongly condemned UTU's action. For more on this story, see page 2. Also in January, the UTU announced its support of the Conrail carve-up by CSX and Norfolk Southern, a takeover the BMWE is making every effort to fight. On a positive note, three Lodge Secretary-Treasurer seminars were held in January, at Knoxville, Tennessee; Collinsville, Illinois; and Bedford, Texas. The educational seminars were reinstituted after several years where circumstances prevented Grand Lodge from holding them. The first proposed changes received to the Grand Lodge Constitution and Bylaws were printed in the January issue of the JOURNAL as preparations intensified for the Grand Lodge Convention in July.

In Memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. - January 15, 1929 - April 4, 1968

February

February was an exciting and rewarding month, as the BMWE enthusiastically welcomed new members after organizing wins on the Atlantic & Gulf, Georgia & Florida and Florida East Coast railroads. The votes were counted on the first two on February 17 and on the FEC on February 26. Another Lodge Secretary-Treasurer seminar was held in Kansas City, Missouri.

PHOTO - Attending the Mississippi AFL-CIO Legislative Conference in Jackson on Feb. 9-11, were, left to right: Ben Crowe, BMWE Assistant Legislative Director, Neal Fowler, Mississippi AFL-CIO President, John J. Sweeney, AFL-CIO President, Johney Gray, BMWE Lodge 652 Legislative Representative, David Marquar, BMWE Legislative Director, Willie Corbett, BMWE Lodge 616 Legislative Representative, Murphy Evans, BMWE Lodge 1171 Legislative Representative.

March

Education was the focus in March with and a Legislative conference held at BWI airport near Washington, DC, two Lodge Secretary-Treasurer seminars -- one in Syracuse, New York and one in Cleveland, Ohio -- and a Computer seminar at Grand Lodge in Southfield, Michigan.

PHOTO Nos. 3-6 on diskette Heading Cutline = March 2, 1998, Legislative Conference, Washington, DC

PHOTO Nos. 7-9 on Diskette Heading Cutline = March 6-7, 1998, Secretary-Treasurer Seminar, Syracuse, New York

PHOTO Nos. 10-12 on Diskette Heading Cutline = March 8-9, 1998, Secretary-Treasurer Seminar, Cleveland, Ohio

PHOTO - March 20-21, 1998, Computer Seminar, Southfield, Michigan, left to right, standing, Carol Crawford, Southern System Division, Bill and Connie Riley, Chicago & Eastern Illinois System Division, Jim Superfisky, Grand Lodge, Gene Davis, Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe System Federation, Rick Forbes, Grand Lodge, Linda Cassese, Grand Lodge, Iris Stephenson, Consolidated Rail System Federation, seated, Teena Bradshaw, Union Pacific System Division, Ruth Overy, Union Pacific System Division.

PHOTO - On March 22, 1998, newly organized members of the Atlantic & Gulf and the George & Florida railroads met in Albany, Georgia, to discuss contract demands which had recently been filed by General Chairman Gary Cox. A photo taken at that meeting was published in the May issue of the JOURNAL and we inadvertently failed to identify Sam J. Alexander, Vice Chairman, Southern System Division. With our apologies to Sam, we are reprinting the photo again. Left to right, standing, Odell Stewart, Mike Sellers, Mark Barbour, Michael Williams, Rich Lau, William Crisp, Sam Alexander. Seated, Michael Suggs, Jimmy Kalawaia, Timothy Williams, Eddie Jackson, Roosevelt Brown, Johnny Tolver, Kelton Swanigan.