Republican obsession with the Bill and Monica follies effectively put all other Congressional business on hold for the just concluded, abjectly unsuccessful Republican impeachment effort. The good news is your enemies have not been able to hurt you. The bad news is that no legislation good for you has moved either.

Railroad Retirement

Keep What We Have. Because Tier 1 of Railroad Retirement is linked to Social Security, we have an interest in Social Security.

Pre-impeachment, both the Republican controlled houses of Congress had indicated Social Security "reform" would be first out in the 1999 session, with hearings beginning in late January. Post-impeachment, the Republican leadership of both houses appears a wee bit addled, saying only that Congress will get around to Social Security "soon."

Social Security "reform" is a code word for the "privatization" favored by Republicans, and their Wall Street owners. Behind the slick talk, every privatization plan yet presented requires raising minimum retirement age to at least 70 with most pegging full retirement at 75. Plus privatization requires a 10-15% additional "service fee," over and above current administrative fees, on each social security dollar invested--a fee paid to the private "financial managers" of Wall Street.

And you wonder why Wall Street is pushing privatization as a panacea?

Some evidence exists that much of the alleged social security "crisis" has been orchestrated by private money managers trying to get at social security funds. AFL-CIO figures show that with no change, the social security trust fund is solvent until 2032, and with relatively minor social security tax rate changes, can continue paying benefits indefinitely.

President Clinton has proposed a regulated partial privatization of Social Security. Congressional Republican leadership hates Clinton so much they automatically oppose and try to bury anything he proposes. Which raises the question of what the Republican leadership values more highly--hating Clinton and killing privatization or pushing privatization and lining their pockets with a cut of the public's social security dollars.

Rail Safety

BMWE Director of Safety Rick Inclima, on behalf of the Rail Division, Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, testified on Hazardous Materials Transportation Reauthorization before Chairman Frank's Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings, Hazardous Materials, and Pipeline Transportation on February 10, 1999.

Inclima stressed four issues in his testimony:

• The importance of modifying the definition of "Hazmat Employee" under the law to include maintenance of way employees and signalmen who are currently excluded from the training requirements of Department of Transportation regulations.
• The appropriation of funds for nonprofit hazmat employee organizations to continue peer instructor training programs.
• The necessity to ensure that each train dispatching center has an accurate train consist or manifest list for all trains which are carrying hazardous materials.
• The need to request an increase in FRA funding to permit the agency to increase the number of FRA field inspectors and staff support personnel.

A future issue of the Journal will cover this subject in more detail

Surface Transportation Board

The White House has appointed William Clyburn, nephew of South Carolina Congressman James Clyburn, to the vacant Democratic seat on the STB and Wayne Burkes, a retired Mississippi air national guard general, to the Republican STB seat formerly held by Gus Owen who resigned under pressure. Both appointments require U.S. Senate confirmation. Even if not confirmed, both can serve one or two year terms as "interim" STB members.

BMWE's nemesis, the "neutral" STB chair Linda Morgan's term expired December 31, 1998. However, like Gus Owen, the law allows Morgan to serve an additional year after her term has expired or until a replacement is appointed.

Contract Sanctity

In August 1998, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-TX) promised Senate Commerce Committee hearings on STB reform would be held in February 1999. The Republican-driven impeachment caused indefinite postponement of these promised hearings--at which BMWE hoped to get legislation to prevent the STB from gutting freely negotiated BMWE labor agreements at the stroke of a pen, as was done in the UP-CN&W merger and most recently in the Conrail carve up.

National Contract

The 1999 voter registration drive is part of BMWE's Contract 2000 effort. State Legislative Directors, Local Legislative Representatives, and COPE volunteers are beginning to familiarize non-railroaders, particularly Congressional and Administrative staffers, with a railroader's way of life and how our frustrating, lopsided, management friendly negotiation process works.

Rail Management Agenda

Managements' legislative agenda has also been stalled by the Republican impeachment frenzy. To the best of BMWE's knowledge, no legislation is currently moving on managements' version of Railroad Retirement "reform," fuel tax, rail safety or truck size and weight. The Kyoto Global Climate Treaty is in the Senate, but prompt action is unlikely. Partial rail re-regulation, strongly sought by shippers and vehemently opposed by rail management was to have been considered in the aforementioned Senate Commerce Committee hearings indefinitely postponed by Senator Hutchinson.

Legislative Representative Election Alert!

Prior to July 1998, the Grand Lodge Constitution and Bylaws required elections for Local Lodge Legislative Representatives to be held during the first half of the year of a regular Grand Lodge Convention. The July 1998, Grand Lodge Convention amended these Bylaws to require this election to be held in the first half of the year following a regular Grand Lodge Convention. Because this Bylaws change became effective at the close of the 1998 Convention, the terms of the Legislative Representatives elected in 1998 were effectively reduced from four years to one year. Thus new elections for Local Lodge Legislative Representatives must be held in the first half of this year, 1999.

Changing Legislative Representative elections from even to odd years allows the Legislative Department to focus on internal union elections at a relatively slow time in the Congressional election cycle and have a coordinated team of Legislative Representatives in place to improve BMWE political participation in the even years when U.S. Congressional and Presidential elections are held.

Please consider carefully the choice of a Legislative Representative for your lodge. As you are aware, in rail half the battle for a decent paycheck, safe working conditions and the chance to see your family is political.

Some of the duties of a Local Lodge Legislative Representative are:

Receive legislative and political news and alerts from your BMWE State Legislative Director and let your lodge brothers and sisters know about these issues.

Coordinate your lodge's efforts to influence legislators with telephone calls and letters. With other lodge officers, repair and maintain your lodge's telephone tree.

Contact legislators and local elected and appointed officials in your lodge's area on behalf of BMWE. Keep an eye on what local officials are doing affecting BMWE.

Recruit BMWE/COPE volunteers in your lodge and coordinate their efforts.

Coordinate BMWE/COPE voter registration efforts in your lodge in 1999.

Coordinate BMWE/COPE get out the vote (GOTV) efforts in your lodge in 2000.

Represent your lodge when BMWE/COPE endorses political candidates at any level.

Represent your lodge to elect your BMWE State Legislative Director in the fall of 1999.

Given the highly political nature of rail negotiations, the role of the Local Lodge Legislative Representative today is as important if less visible on a day to day basis as that of your grievance chairman and secretary-treasurer, particularly over the next two years.

If your lodge does not currently have a Legislative Representative, please consider which member of your lodge could best do the job and encourage him/her to run for the position--or if you have an interest in legislation and politics (and if you're reading this you probably do) consider running for the job yourself.

If you have questions about the date, time, and procedure of your lodge's election, please contact your secretary-treasurer.