Just as this JOURNAL was going to print, some 50 BMWE system officers and state legislative directors had just completed almost a full week of intensive lobbying of Congressmen before Congress adjourned on April 14 for a Spring recess. BMWE members will continue to lobby their Congressmen during the recess in their home districts across the country with the message that Congress must not pass Railroad Retirement legislation without the consensus of all the parties involved.

This is the same message the BMWE has been sending since late January and which became even more important when the deal (except for the medical benefits portion which is a collective bargaining issue) that was signed in January between the railroads and the rail unions except for the BMWE and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers was lobbied to Congress the week of April 3. Congress recessed before sponsors were announced or a bill number assigned.

Several weeks before Congress adjourned, in an effort to heal the division in rail labor over the railroad retirement issue, Congressman James Oberstar, a good friend of labor and rail labor in particular, attempted to negotiate a compromise. He suggested that an actuarially reduced retirement benefit be provided at ages 59 and 58 with the same medical benefit under group plan GA-46000 provided for in the deal. The railroads rejected this suggestion.

After several hours of discussion in two conference calls held on March 27 and 30 with all BMWE system officers, BMWE also rejected Oberstar's suggestion and voted to continue to fight for an earlier retirement. In a letter dated April 7 to all BMWE members in the United States, President Mac A. Fleming said, "I know I speak for many when I say it is with deep regret that we must be divided from the leadership of the rest of rail labor over this issue. But we have no choice; we simply cannot agree to a deal that allows the railroads to raid our pension fund now and in the future."

At this writing, the deal allows the railroads to raid rail workers' pension fund - every year - for about $430 million effective January 1, 2003.

Those of you who have been following the struggle closely will note that $430 million is increased from the $412 million reported in the April JOURNAL which was an increase from the $347 million reported in the March JOURNAL and elsewhere. The reason that the millions - railroad workers' millions - the railroads would get in this deal have increased is because of the value of one percent of payroll. Rather than one percent equaling $100 million as the BMWE was first told, one percent of payroll went to $120 million and is now up to $124 million.

Equally as disturbing as the increasing amount of railroad workers' money the railroads will be getting if this legislation is passed, is the recent revelation that the proposed changes to the Railroad Retirement Act are more radical than mere changes in tax rates and benefit levels.

When the deal was initially negotiated, it appeared that up to one-half of the tier II (railroad retirement) portion could be invested in equities. Under current law, the Board is limited to investing in government securities. Now it appears from the proposed legislation that any or all of the Railroad Retirement Trust Fund (tier II and tier I which is the social security equivalent benefit or SSEB) could be invested in equities. This means that the legislation currently being considered would allow the Railroad Retirement Fund to function as private pension funds do and that is without question, a radical change.

The legislation calls for a new "Railroad Retirement Account Investment Board" comprised of nine members - the three members of the Railroad Retirement Board, three members selected by the Labor member of the Board, and three members selected by the Management member of the Board. Under the proposed legislation, these nine people would have the discretion to invest the entire Fund in the private sector.

As Tier I is nearly identical to Social Security in that railroads and railroad workers are taxed exactly the same for Tier I as non-railroad employers and employees are taxed for Social Security and since Tier I provides similar benefits under Tier I to what non-railroad retirees get under Social Security, BMWE believes that Congress should not act on this proposal until it deals with Social Security as this part of the legislation could become a pilot for what happens to Social Security. In other words, the tail should not wag the dog.

The railroads would surely like Congressmen to be ignorant of the fact that this is about railroad workers' money for pension benefits as evidenced by a significant heading on the portion of the proposal which creates the new Investment Board. That heading is: "Investment of Railroad Industry Assets." The fact is, the Board will not be investing railroad industry assets; but will be investing tax dollars contributed by the railroads and by employees for the pensions of railroad retirees.

Added to all of this is the critical fact that, as the projections of the Railroad Retirement Board actuary show, there will not be a surplus in the fund again until at least 2037 and even then it will be small. Again, this means the railroads will be taking $430 million a year of railroad workers' money while railroad workers' get too little in benefits with no real hope of improvement in their lifetime.

Every member should write his or her Congressmen and tell them to take no action on Railroad Retirement legislation until there is consensus.

Every member should also try to contact as many of their co-workers as possible and ask them to write their Congressmen. The BMWE has sponsored a number of inter-craft meetings on this issue - in Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Iowa, West Virginia - and hopes to hold more. If you learn about one in your area, attend and encourage your co-workers to attend as well.