Those words were Joe Hill's final advice to the labor movement just prior to his execution for his labor activism by the anti-labor Utah authorities after a kangaroo court trial (similar to many railroad hearings and investigations, especially about alleged safety violations). For us in Rail Labor in general and the BMWE in particular, Joe's admonishment to Labor is just as on-the-money at the end of the 20^th Century as it was at the end of the 19^th Century.

The beginning of the new millennium is also the expiration of the moratorium from our last round of bargaining. This means that we will be bargaining a new agreement at the very beginning of the new millennium. And hopefully, we will complete the bargaining before the beginning of the 22^nd Century, assuming that the National Mediation Board and the administration and Congress are sufficiently motivated to expedite the Year 2000 bargaining round.

After a relatively reasonable agreement during the PEB 229 round of bargaining, the railroads did everything in their power to see that we didn't obtain what we won at the bargaining table. First they refused to pay the travel allowance to all who are entitled to it. Then they tried to refuse to provide us with all of the meal allowance to which we were entitled under the agreement.

While they were breaking their word and the contract to which they agreed after PEB 229, they developed a tactic in which they used mergers to get an anti-labor, pro-railroad Surface Transportation Board to allow them to ignore existing collective bargaining agreements so the railroads could simply destroy many of the rights we have won through hard collective bargaining. In short, the railroads' executives demonstrated they are not men and women of their word, and they used highly politicized courts and arbitrators to assist them in breaking their word.

BMWE fought back. After a threatened strike, a court found that all mobile employees are entitled to travel allowance under the clear language of the last agreement. Without disagreeing with that, an appeals court took away our right to strike over that issue and placed it into arbitration (which will be heard in the near future). On attempting to take away our seven day per week meal allowance, an arbitrator ruled against the railroads and actually awarded us interest because of how outrageous the railroads were in eliminating it.

The reason the railroads were forced to break contracts is because of the manner that we organized for the last round of bargaining. The most valuable leverage a union can have is the active participation and support of its membership. Everything starts from there.

The manner in which the government and courts are organized requires politicians to know that they injure workers at risk to their own jobs. As politicians respond to many interests and companies can afford to provide ten times more than labor in campaign contributions as well provide lucrative jobs to people who currently serve on public agencies after their terms expire, the only thing that keeps the process accountable is the active, and sometimes militant actions and unity of working people through their unions.

When politicians understand that the membership of unions will not sit by idly while high-priced, slick "experts" attempt to pick our pockets with a never-ending barrage of new ideas which, when actually broken down, simply shift wealth from poor and working people to the wealthy, they will do the right thing. And it is up to us to see they understand this message.

Well, we are going to need the highest degree of unity our Brotherhood has ever seen just to even be in the ballgame for this next round. The railroads learned last time that we were united and tough and are already expending considerable resources to see that we don't have a repeat of the PEB 229 round. They are actively lobbying politicians, the National Mediation Board, and even other rail unions to attempt to get the upper hand in this next round of bargaining. And BMWE is a small union within a Rail Labor that is not well known for sticking together.

In this Journal is a copy of a survey we have developed to get your input into what you think are the most important issues during the next round of bargaining. We need you to respond by June 30. Union representatives will be visiting members at headquarters, at lodge meetings, and at motels over the next two months to get your input regarding these surveys and the next round of bargaining. If the survey doesn't include something you consider to be important, jot it down and send it in with the survey - raise the issue at your lodge meetings, to your System Officers or directly to Grand Lodge. We develop the bulk of our bargaining agreement from these surveys and want it to reflect what most BMWE members want, not just what the leadership wants.

We also want your active participation during this next round of bargaining. We want you and your family to register to vote. We may want you to informationally picket or undertake other activities to show the railroads that the vast bulk of their employees support what the BMWE is doing to obtain a good contract.

As President of the BMWE I am simply a representative. If the railroads think that the membership does not support the leadership, they will give little heed to what we want. If the railroads know that the membership supports their leadership, they will listen, as will the politicians and other allies. We're in for the battle of our lives. To paraphrase Joe Hill, this is not the time to mourn and whine, this is the time to organize and fight.