BMWED National Association officers stand with President Simpson in ongoing bargaining

DATELINE: Jackson, Wyoming
Wed., Oct. 25, 2017

Today, the National Association of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division voted unanimously to pass a resolution standing with President Freddie N. Simpson in his continued struggle against any and all National Bargaining concessions.

The body, comprised of officers from every system and federation in the Brotherhood, also authorized President Simpson the ability to call a nationwide strike if issues identified in the BMWED’s Section 6 notice to the rail carriers at the start of bargaining are not satisfactorily resolved.

The National Association stands fully with President Simpson and the BMWED bargaining team in its efforts to inform any and every railroad worker about all bargaining, especially negotiations around health and welfare and the financial implications to rail laborers of concessionary bargaining in relation to health insurance.

All railroad workers, regardless of craft, will be affected by concessions to healthcare benefits. It is therefore imperative that our Brotherhood continue to educate all railroad workers about any and every tentative agreement that include reductions to our current benefit levels.

“This is not about the leaders of the rail unions, this is about the members, their families, and their needs when it comes to healthcare,” President Simpson said. “The goal of the railroad carriers is to reduce the level of benefits of our members, and their chosen route is to make railroaders and their families pay more, especially those who are sick. Our union has never supported that notion and refuses to do so now. We will not turn our back on any member. We will stand opposed to all concessions to our healthcare and continue our stance to the very end.”

The BMWED national bargaining committee has made every reasonable effort to reach agreement with the National Carriers’ Conference Committee, but the railroads insist on their unreasonable and unnecessary assault on our members’ healthcare and wages.