On June 1, 1999, the day CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern completed their carve-up of Conrail, CSX began operating under a new agreement with the BMWE. As a result of the CSX purchase of approximately 40% of Conrail, the BMWE and CSX had entered into this new collective bargaining agreement to integrate the newly acquired property into CSX operations. The agreement was explicitly designed to reserve BMWE work to BMWE members and to eliminate the sub-contracting of most bargaining unit work over CSX's 22,700-route mile network in 23 states, the District of Columbia and two Canadian provinces.

Almost immediately, however, CSX began serving BMWE General Chairmen representing members on the property with numerous contracting notices; over 450 between June 1 and December 31, 1999. And CSX began to regularly sub-contract core bargaining unit work in the form of routine maintenance and regular programmed repairs such as renewals and rehabilitation of tracks, roadbed and structures.

The BMWE immediately contacted CSX and requested meetings to discuss the contracting notices. The first of many meetings took place on June 7 and 8. At that time, because the Conrail split had just occurred and the agreement was new, BMWE representatives were patient.

However, during meetings over the next several months it became clear that CSX was not making a good faith effort to resolve the contracting dispute. Despite the numerous meetings, CSX has done nothing to halt their unilateral change of the collective bargaining agreement and continues the avalanche of sub-contracting. While the scope rule of the new agreement is considered one of the best, CSX has acted as if the new agreement provision reserving work to BMWE members does not even exist.

At the last meeting held on November 9, 1999, CSX advised BMWE that it was their intent to continue contracting out basic maintenance of way work including welding, new track construction and bridge and building work even though the new collective bargaining agreement provided flexibility in district floating positions, service lane positions and system gang positions.

CSX also admitted that they had made no effort to hire more maintenance of way employees even though a Federal Railroad Administration study revealed that CSX was in dire need of such employees. The FRA reported that compared to other Class l railroads, CSX was over 700 short in the maintenance of way department.

"It is unfortunate that CSX began to repudiate the new agreement before the ink was even dry on the paper," said Randy Cook, General Chairman of the BMWE Allied Eastern Federation which has jurisdiction over approximately 70 percent of the CSX workers. "Their actions literally threaten the livelihood of our members and their families. Management knows full well that our agreement does not permit the sub-contracting of this work. We have no intention of permitting this management to continue with their illegal activities at the expense of our members. We were forced to consider a strike when all of our appeals to senior management were ignored. They signed an agreement with us last year and we intend to do everything in our power to get them to honor the commitments that they made to us when they signed the deal."

"I am deeply concerned for our members and their families that CSXT's management would demonstrate such disdain for their employees," added Perry Geller, BMWE General Chairman of the Consolidated Rail System Federation, representing a portion of the CSXT workers (former Conrail employees). "Their actions not only harm our members and their families but place the communities at risk. CSXT's choice to utilize unqualified contractor forces instead of its highly skilled BMWE forces creates unsafe passage of trains, thereby increasing the risk to the public. We were simply forced to plan to strike due to CSXT's illegal activities."

At 11:00 p.m. on Thursday night, March 9, 2000, Federal Judge Nimmons of the U.S. District Court in Jacksonville, Florida - headquarters of CSX - issued a temporary restraining order which prevented the BMWE from initiating its strike against CSX planned for 5:00 a.m. Friday morning, March 10.

Judge Nimmons, for the purposes of the TRO only, issued a preliminary finding that the issue was a minor dispute and ordered a hearing for March 23, after this JOURNAL has gone to print. It is hoped that at that longer hearing and after the judge has had sufficient time to review the papers, the BMWE will be able to convince the judge that the contracting out by CSX is a major dispute.