In the past, a number of courageous Senators, House Members and other public officials have been out front supporting positions and taking actions that benefit railroad workers.

BMWE will be forever grateful to Senator Paul Wellstone and former Congressman Jerry Sikorski of Minnesota for championing our cause in the legislative battles resulting from Presidential Emergency Boards 220, 221, and 222. Nor will we forget Congressman James Trafficant of Ohio going to the well for us by opposing congressional intervention in those disputes.

We also gratefully remember Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater's involvement during the last round of bargaining with Amtrak. His active participation led to a settlement that was fair to both Amtrak and the BMWE.

FRA Administrator Jolene Molitoris has taken a "hands-on" approach to her job and her efforts have resulted in changes that make the railroads a safer workplace for our members.

Senator Robert Torriccelli, Congressman Bob Menedez, and former Congressman and Governor James Florio, all from New Jersey, have consistently provided invaluable assistance to BMWE members. We support Governor Florio in his bid to fill the seat of retiring New Jersey Senator Lautenberg.

We remember with appreciation Senator Mike Crapo of Idaho who has championed our fight against the ICC/STB-created practice of cramdown.

And in all of our battles, there has been one Congressman who has always been on our side and always ready to march into battle to improve the safety and welfare of BMWE members and their families.

Whether it was the struggles surrounding PEBs 220, 221, and 222, the never-ending fights over Amtrak budgets and contracts, the efforts to improve railroad safety (especially for BMWE members), or the continuing battles to end cramdown, to preserve FELA and strengthen Railroad Retirement, Minnesota Congressman Jim Oberstar has been there. Today, Jim is the Ranking Democrat on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee-the Committee that has jurisdiction over the railroads.

Congressman Oberstar is a true son of the labor movement. His father was a miner in Minnesota who organized his work place for the United Steelworkers of America and served as an officer of his local unit until retirement. The Congressman's father also was a member of the legendary Industrial Workers of the World (the Wobblies) and picket lines and strikes are among Jim's earliest memories. The Congressman tells stories of his youth, when he went with his mother to bring warm food and drink to striking miners during the cold northern Minnesota winters.

As a result of his background, Jim Oberstar resolved that he would devote his life to improving the welfare of working people. And that is exactly what he has done over his long and illustrious career. After completing his education, Jim Oberstar began his lifetime of public service to advance the cause of working people.

First elected to Congress in 1975, Oberstar quickly emerged as a leading thinker among the pro-labor forces in Congress. As his seniority in Congress grew, the Congressman sponsored, supported and fought for every major piece of pro-worker legislation that Congress enacted. When Reagan and Bush attempted to roll back the progressive legislation that improved the lives of American workers, Oberstar always put himself at the forefront of the forces opposed to their pro-business agenda.

The proposed changes to the Railroad Retirement system have raised some very contentious issues that have placed many pro-labor congressmen and congresswomen in a difficult position. Eleven unions, representing between 60% and 65% of those who actively contribute to the Railroad Retirement system, agreed to a deal with the railroads that provides for a retirement at age 60 with 30 years service, medical benefits at age 60, vesting after five years, and an improvement in the surviving spouse benefit.

However, BMWE and BLE do not support this deal. The deal gives the railroads a payroll tax reduction of approximately $430 million per year by January 1, 2003. All of these funds are part of our total compensation package, and while we understand the railroads needed some incentive to come to an agreement, we believe $430 million is excessive, to say the least.

These monies could have gone to reduce the retirement ages further-to 57 or 58. We believe the deal should be renegotiated so that our retirement age is lowered below 60 and the railroads receive a smaller tax cut. Unfortunately, the other crafts apparently believe the deal is a good one.

Because the Railroad Retirement Board's actuary projects that there will not be an overage in the fund again until 2037 (after our children will have retired), BMWE considers it necessary to fight the deal now. We're giving too much and getting too little.

When representatives of the other unions went to Congressman Oberstar to solicit his support for the 60/30 deal, he told them he didn't want to be in the position of choosing sides in a dispute among rail labor. Congressman Oberstar attempted to develop an alternative package that labor could unite behind and management could accept. His efforts to improve the deal were rebuffed by the railroads and BMWE also was unable to go along.

The Congressman recognized the railroads were getting too much out of this deal, but he could not substantially change what the representatives of the other crafts had negotiated. He was constrained by the deal that had been cut. Even the modest improvements he suggested to the railroads were rejected by them.

Congressman Oberstar had to make a hard choice. Most of rail labor and some of the larger unions wanted his support and sponsorship for legislation amending the Railroad Retirement Act to incorporate their deal, while BMWE and BLE argued that Congress shouldn't act until there was full consensus.

It now appears that Congressman Oberstar is agreeing to cosponsor the legislation because it does provide improved benefits, especially for widows and widowers. He did not want Democrats opposing legislation that provided such benefit improvements. Although he personally believed the deal gave too much to the railroads, he did not want to substitute his views for those of the union leaders who negotiated it.

Despite Congressman Oberstar's support and sponsorship of the Railroad Retirement reforms we oppose, he remains our good friend, as well as the friend of the rest of labor. Sometimes we disagree with our friends, and this is one of those times. From the Congressman's standpoint, he was forced to choose sides in a dispute between friends. After doing everything he could to bring friends together, he decided to support those who represented the majority.

Jim Oberstar ranks among the best friends BMWE has or has ever had in the Congress despite his probable sponsorship of this bill. He is still our "go-to" man. Whether it's the national round, Amtrak, or any other matter critically important to BMWE, Congressman Oberstar will be there for us using his influence and his intelligence to make life better for our members.

Although we want you, together with your friends in the other crafts (although many rail union leaders support this bill, many members of all of the crafts do not) to lobby Congressman Oberstar and the rest of the House and the Senate to oppose the bill, we want you to do it in the most respectful manner possible. Jim Oberstar is a good friend who is being put in the middle of a battle among his friends. Whichever position he took would place him in opposition to some of his friends and he went the extra mile to try to bring all the friends together. Remember this, and treat him like a good friend, because he is.