Among the challenges awaiting the BMWE in 2002 are particularly significant off-year elections in the United States.

On November 5 this year, Americans will be electing all 440 members of the House of Representatives and a third of the Senate members.* This is in addition to thousands of state, county and city officials.

Depending on the outcome of all these elections, BMWE members know they have a lot to gain — or a lot to lose. Let’s think about just one reason — Amtrak.

Once again the BMWE is in a major battle which demonstrates the critical importance to our members of having friends in Congress (and in the White House). As most members know, the battle for preservation and enhancement of Amtrak occurs almost yearly – and the preservation of decent, union scale, unionized jobs is always at stake for BMWE members. Because there has historically been a bi-partisan consensus for the preservation of Amtrak, however, the attempts of enemies of Amtrak to eliminate it have historically failed.

But since its beginning, the enemies of Amtrak in Congress have been able to convince Congress to fail to provide adequate funding for Amtrak to accomplish its mission – to provide high speed, intercity rail passenger service nationally. On extremely inadequate funds, Amtrak has managed to cobble together national, intercity rail passenger service that is more efficient than any other rail passenger system in the world. In fact, Amtrak gets a higher percentage of revenue from the fare box than any other provider of intercity rail passenger service. (This means it gets less of a percentage of subsidies from the government than any other provider of intercity rail passenger service in the world).

Since 1997, one of the most insidious groups trying to eliminate Amtrak is the Amtrak Reform Council. Members appointed by Republican Mississippi Senator Trent Lott and former Republican House Majority Leader Newt Gingrich have been the backbone of the forces on the ARC who are out to destroy Amtrak. Unfortunately the Democratic Mayor of Milwaukee, John Norquist and Lee Kling, an appointee of Senator Tom Daschle have been swayed by the thinly disguised privatization noises floating out of the staff and most of the members of the ARC.

To wield the ballot intelligently and heroically is the workingmen’s last resort; in fact, it is the remedy which contends itself to all right thinking men. — Eugene Debs

And this battle is again being waged in Congress. In the House, the Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is sponsoring a measure which he believes is designed to improve high speed passenger rail operations, but which in reality would be a prescription for disaster. Its provisions exclude Amtrak as a provider of high speed services and generally favor a Balkanized, disjointed rail passenger system, with no guarantee that workers in rail labor would do the work or that workers providing those services would be covered by the Railroad Retirement Act, the Federal Employers’ Liability Act or even the Railway Labor Act.

Rep. Jim Oberstar (D-MN) and Rep. Amo Houghton (R-NY) are sponsoring a different piece of legislation which would make certain that Amtrak survives and that intercity rail passenger service would be provided under the federal scheme which currently protects railroad workers (Railroad Retirement, FELA, Railway Labor Act) and is designed to make certain that Amtrak’s considerable skills in providing such service could be utilized.

Another House Bill sponsored by a right-wing, anti-Amtrak ideologue Congressman from Florida, John Mica, calls for the liquidation of Amtrak. (See Congress Thwarts ARC Attack on Amtrak in this JOURNAL.)

In the Senate, Ernest Hollings (D-SC), Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, is sponsoring legislation (RAIL-21) that would realistically handle the question of intercity rail passenger service by providing Amtrak with funding to operate, to take care of security needs resulting from the September 11, 2001 attacks, and to make certain that the work performed would be by workers under the protection of the federal railroad workers legislative scheme.

In addition and of critical importance, the Hollings piece of legislation drops the requirement that Amtrak become "operationally self-sufficient." It recognizes the truth – that rail passenger service does not make a profit anywhere in the world; that capital and operational costs are linked together; that the purpose of passenger service is to help provide an energy and space efficient, environmentally friendly means of supplementing the moving of people throughout the United States; and that it is actually cheaper than the trillions spent to assist the airline, trucking and automobile industries, all of which have their roads, airports and air traffic control systems largely paid for by government dollars.

The battle for Amtrak is a critical one for rail labor and the outcome will impact on members of all of the rail unions and on the Railroad Retirement System; because if 20,000 Amtrak employees are replaced by employees who are not part of the Railroad Retirement System, the System will suffer a financial blow which could well destroy it.

Democracy cannot succeed if only the rich and powerful have and use the votes. — George Meany

So why are BMWE members urged to be politically active — at the very least to be sure to vote — and to join and contribute to MWPL?

Because for the BMWE and the rest of rail labor, many if not most, of our critical battles have to be fought in the halls of Congress.

This year, if our political aims are to be realized, we must get out the vote as never before. We must continue to work for fairer registration laws. And last but not least, we will need the most effective and financially sound MWPL ever — and that calls for participation by every BMWE member.

In the House, there are currently 221 Republicans, 216 Democrats, 2 Independents and 1 Vacancy. On June 5, 2001, Senator James M. Jeffords (I-VT) ended his affiliation with the Republican Party to serve as an Independent who caucuses with and receives his committee assignments from Senate Democrats. This means there are currently 50 Democrats, 49 Republicans and 1 Independent in the U.S. Senate.

See the listing of primary dates on the back page of this JOURNAL, register to vote and then VOTE!