|
Article
VI (a) The Brotherhood of
Locomotive Engineer's shall have the exclusive right to represent all
engine service employees (other than those who are represented exclusively
by another labor organization) in company-level grievance, claim and
disciplinary proceedings on those carriers on which the BLE is the
lawfully recognized or certified collective bargaining representative for
that craft. (b) This Article shall
become effective ninety (90) days after service of notice on the carrier
by the organization's authorized representative(s) unless implemented
sooner pursuant to agreement between the parties. In
1991, the BLE ask for and was granted exclusive representation.
This means that only the BLE could represent Engineers.
The UTU has field suit against the BLE for violating the Railway
Labor Act which states in part; any craft is free to be represented by any
union as long as that union holds a contract for one of the operating
crafts on a national scope. UTU
holds the agreements for conductors, trainman, hostlers, hostler helpers,
fireman, yardmasters and dinning car stewards, so they can represent
Engineers. BLE hold the
agreement for Engineers so they can represent all crafts also.
Each union has the right to enforce each others agreement. Exclusive
representation is not in effect on NS. Attached is a letter from BLE President
R.L. McLaughlin which is self
explanatory. Enclosed
is a copy of the January 15, 1992 letter from UTU President G. Thomas
Dubose, addressed to all UTU engineers, concerning ""BLE
"Exclusive Representation" Rights - Fact and Fiction - UTU Can
Still Do The Job For You"". Many
of you have posed questions regarding this letter and the following are my
preliminary comments regarding same.
However, it should be noted that we are currently in court with the
UTU over the application of certain provisions on some properties and,
likewise, there have been quite a few General Committees of Adjustment
who have not wished to implement the provisions of exclusive
representation. It
has not been implemented on the NS. For
a brief summation, I must call your attention to the fact that the Railway
Labor Act, under Section 2 Eleventh (c) permits any operating employee to
satisfy the union shop requirement by membership in either the BLE or UTU.
Further, the exclusivity provision recommended by PEB 219 only
requires an engineer to be represented in on-property handling of their
claims and appearing in the engineers behalf at investigations. The
UTU may represent its engineer members in arbitration after the
on-property handling has been completed, however, the BLE must handle the
claims of UTU Members without hostile discrimination and in good faith;
otherwise, the BLE may be subject to monetary liability for breach of the
duty of fair representation imposed upon us by law. It
should also be strongly urged that for the Division officers who are
handling the UTU disputes there would be nothing wrong with the UTU
representative preparing the claim and submitting same to the BLE Local
Chairman for his handling with the appropriate carrier official.
This, however, should be fully documented as much as possible to
show that the BLE did handle such claim properly. As additional information becomes available regarding this matter, I will share it with you. President
R.L. McLaughlin. The
UTU in response to exclusive Rep ask for and was granted seniority
retention provision. This
means if an engineer wants to keep his brakeman, conductor, fireman,
hostler, and hostler helper's seniority, they must pay dues to the UTU.
The UTU will not put this into effect unless the BLE puts
exclusivity into effect. No exclusivity, no seniority retention.
This page last updated: 03/06/2005 |