Registering to vote at Kansas City Coalition picnic in Kansas City, Missouri, August 14, 1999.

As every maintenance of way worker surely knows, voting is not merely a civic duty, it is a duty to yourself, your family and your union. Your paycheck, whether you get home at night, how far away from home you work, indeed, whether you work at all are determined in large part by who you elect to Congress -- or by the legislators your enemies elect if you don't register and vote.

Everyone knows the devastating effects that the so-called PEB 219 round of bargaining had on members of the BMWE. A presidential emergency board -- 219 -- appointed by President Bush made terrible recommendations that were the basis for the Congressionally imposed agreement in 1991. The PEB 219 recommendations gave the railroads nearly everything they asked for including greatly increased work districts which meant many BMWE members had to travel literally hundreds and even thousands of miles with little or no added compensation.

The last round of bargaining, during which BMWE members displayed unity and action unseen for several decades, was a big step in the direction to regain what was lost. But almost before the ink was dry on the National Agreement signed on September 26, 1996, the railroads began backing off on the deal which had taken two struggle-filled years (and another presidential emergency board -- 229) to reach. It took almost another three years and the continued solidarity and commitment of BMWE members, to gain the victory won when Arbitrator Richard R. Kasher (a government employee) fully sustained the BMWE's position that the travel allowance provisions of the agreement applied to all traveling employees.

While the National Mediation Board (a federal agency whose members are appointed by the president), presidential emergency boards, and Congress have a direct influence on agreements between the railroads and the BMWE, the railroads also use every other political weapon they can before, during and after an agreement is reached.

For example, as members who read the BMWE JOURNAL know, the BMWE has been fighting to stop the reappointment of Linda Morgan to the Surface Transportation Board, another federal agency whose members are appointed by the president. The BMWE, the AFL-CIO, and Rail Labor except for UTU have fought because Morgan has hurt working people by allowing the railroads to unilaterally break collective bargaining agreements. The breaking of contracts not only affects wages, benefits and working conditions but also job security protections that labor has struggled so long to achieve.

Another critical area where the government has a significant impact is safety, and in particular for rail labor, that is the Federal Railroad Administration, another federal agency.

People appointed to these agencies by the president we elect are supposed to be impartial and looking after the interests of everyone involved. But are they? The evidence against their "impartiality" is the fact that they and so many others leave their careers as "public servants" to take high paid industry jobs. We published a partial listing in the April 1998 BMWE Journal of 30 plus former federal agency staffers and congressmen who took high paid jobs with the railroads following their government "service."

For example, going back to PEB 219, three of the key players holding primary responsibility for the onerous working conditions that resulted were the three members of the National Mediation Board at the time: Kim Madigan initially took a job with the Regional Rail Association (a short line organization) and now is an official with CN/IC; Pat Cleary went with the National Association of Manufacturers; and Josh Javits worked as an attorney for an airlines management law firm.

It probably isn't even necessary to discuss the power that legislators have on pensions. With the overwhelming majority of BMWE members desiring the right to retire at age 55 with 30 years of service, they know that Congress makes any changes to the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act.

And, of course, it is not just the BMWE or rail labor that is hurt by anti-labor government legislators and agencies who have great power over the bread and butter issues for all working Americans. Until legislators stand for a prevailing wage law, a decent minimum wage, stronger workplace safety measures, job training, job protection, the right to organize and more, they cannot be allowed to claim they have a pro-worker agenda or expect to receive workers' support.

The power of the working people's vote should never be underestimated. When the AFL-CIO greatly beefed up its commitment to electing worker-friendly legislators in 1996, it still spent only one-eleventh of what Corporate America spent. And Corporate America has been trying since to silence the voice of working families in the political and legislative arenas by the proposal of paycheck "deception" laws in every state and nationally.

While deceptively claiming "protection" the paycheck "deception" laws would require written authorization by every union member for expenditure of dues money on anything other than collective bargaining; in effect crippling the unions and preventing them from having an impact in the political and legislative arenas.

In short, that is why it is so important that we register to vote and then vote. That is why President Mac A. Fleming, in the March issue of the JOURNAL, called for every member to be registered to vote by the year 2000. That is why he directed the BMWE Legislative Department to use a substantial portion of its existing budget to activate the BMWE Committee On Political Education (COPE). That is why the BMWE -- members, local, system, and Grand Lodge officers and staff -- have been mobilizing the past several months. Together we can achieve the goal of 100% registration which makes us that much stronger in our bargaining round and the other fights we undertake.

It is important that you register now because it's important that you vote in the primaries because a lot of elections are decided in the primaries. Many of the primary elections are held in February and March and you can't vote if you're not registered. (See the back page of this JOURNAL for a list of 2000 Primary Dates.)

Decide now that on the first day of the New Year -- the start of the 21st Century -- the New Millennium -- that you will be registered to vote and you will VOTE!

What's A Vote Worth?

• In 1645 one vote gave Oliver Cromwell control of England.
• In 1649 one vote caused Charles I to be executed.
• In 1776 one vote made English, instead of German, our official language.
• In 1839 one vote elected Marcus Morton governor of Massachusetts.
• In 1845 one vote brought Texas into the Union.
• In 1850 one vote brought California and Oregon into the Union.
• In 1868 one vote saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment.
• In 1876 one vote changed France from a monarchy to a republic.
• In 1876 one vote gave Rutherford B. Hayes the presidency of the United States.
• In 1889 one vote brought Washington into the Union.
• In 1890 one vote brought Idaho into the Union.
• In 1923 one vote made Adolph Hitler head of the Nazi Party.
• In 1960 one vote per precinct would have elected Richard Nixon--instead of John F. Kennedy--President of the United States.

Received from Ken Martin, Minnesota Democratic Farmer Labor Party.

(Reprinted from the April 1999 Journal)