UTU International President Paul Thompson sent the following letter to the editor of the Kansas City Star newspaper in response to what he called "a one-sided and poorly researched" article that appeared in the newspaper Dec. 1. (The article to which the letter responds is found following Thompson’s reply.)

To the editor, Kansas City Star:

Your article, "President of United Transportation Union faces executive board trial," published Dec. 1, is based on allegations by individuals with a vested interest in derailing a merger between the UTU and Sheet Metal Workers International Association that received 71 percent voting approval from the membership.

In fact, no documents were withheld from the membership. The alleged "important document" cited, the SMWIA constitution, was published on the UTU Web site well in advance of the merger vote and the voting materials directed members to the Web site.

Aren’t you curious why this trial to remove me and Assistant President Rick Marceau is being held just two weeks before our retirements? Let me tell you.

The "Save our Union" faction opposing the SMART merger is a Teamster-front seeking to derail the merger in favor of a Teamster takeover of the UTU. The Teamsters and their affiliate, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, have been raiding the UTU and recently signed three contracts with major railroads (BNSF, CSX and Norfolk Southern) to eliminate UTU-represented jobs and transfer the work to Teamster-represented employees.

Says Michael on the Teamster Web site: "Through the TDU rail chapter, rail Teamsters are helping to get our union back on the right track." Michael also boasts, "Teamster engineers on some railroads have ratified a side agreement that appears to open the way to single-person train crews."

Clearly, Michael and his Save our Union faction intend to put UTU members under complete control of the BLET, which has been working to eliminate the job of the conductor and initiate one-person crews. Consider the following language from the BLET-Teamster merger agreement:

"The Craft Divisions within the (Teamsters) Rail Conference shall have jurisdiction in accord with traditional craft lines with the BLET representing all locomotive engineers, all trainmen and all related operating personnel within the United States."

Moreover, UTU Vice President Roy Arnold, who brought the charges against me and Mr. Marceau, is disgruntled, as he was defeated in a re-election bid and also ordered to pay the UTU the value of a UTU-owned computer that he destroyed. When the damaged hard-drive was analyzed by a hard-drive recovery firm, it was found to contain pornography, in violation of UTU policy.

The Executive Board, which voted to hear the charges, may cease to exist on Jan. 1 when the merger is consummated, depending on the outcome of an arbitration unless it removes me and Mr. Marceau and then acts to halt the SMART merger.

The prosecutor in this internal trial will be Arty Martin, elected to succeed Mr. Marceau as assistant president. If he and president-elect Mike Futhey take office before Jan. 1, they will attempt to break a hiring freeze on new employees and will have the opportunity to name certain attorneys -- two, perhaps, in Kansas City -- as designated legal counsel to the UTU, whom I have refused to designate.

I hope you will report on evidence presented at the trial as assiduously as you have reported the unsubstantiated allegations in your Dec. 1 article.

Paul C. Thompson
International President
United Transportation Union

Following is Dec. 1 article from Kansas City Star:

President of United Transportation Union faces executive board trial

The executive board of the United Transportation Union has decided to try the union’s Kansas City-based president for allegedly misleading members about a proposed merger with another union.

The board informed Paul C. Thompson on Tuesday that it had voted to proceed to trial on various charges, which concern the union’s pending combination with the Sheet Metal Workers International Association.

The trial, an internal union proceeding, is to take place Dec. 13 at the union’s headquarters in Cleveland.

The United Transportation Union has about 80,000 members, with more than half in the rail industry, including many in Kansas City. The union was formed through the merger of four rail unions in 1969 and bills itself as the largest railroad operating union in North America.
In August, union members overwhelming approved the merger with the Sheet Metal Workers, which is scheduled to take effect Jan. 1. The merger will create a 230,000-member organization called the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, or SMART.

Among other allegations, Thompson is accused of intentionally withholding an important merger document from members and lying about a SMART constitution that he allegedly knew didn’t exist.

The charges were brought by Roy Arnold, an international vice president of the union. Arnold also made the same allegations against Rick Marceau, the union’s assistant president.
Arnold did not return calls seeking comment.

Thompson, who lives in the Kansas City area, could not be reached for comment. Frank Wilner, a spokesman for the union, confirmed that charges had been filed against Thompson and Marceau and that the union would hold a trial on Dec. 13.

"As far as what the charges are, we are not discussing them, and we are not commenting further," Wilner said.

Although more than 71 percent of union members ratified the merger with the Sheet Metal Workers, a faction calling itself "Save Our Union" has emerged to oppose it. The faction claims that the merger will leave the UTU with no treasury of its own and that the union’s constitution will be gutted.

The charges against Thompson and Marceau were posted on Save Our Union’s Web site.
Thompson and Marceau are retiring Dec. 31. But if the union’s executive board upholds the charges, they could be removed from office before that date, which, in theory, could allow Thompson’s successor to scuttle the merger.

Earlier this year, Thompson’s hand-picked successor lost the election to replace him.
Thompson became president in 2004 after two former presidents of the union pleaded guilty in Houston to conspiracy charges for extorting money from attorneysByron A. Boyd Jr. and Charles L. Little, were each sentenced in 2004 to two years in prison.

The case centered on charges that lawyers had paid them as much as $30,000 in return for being allowed to represent injured union members. The case was brought in Houston because five of the lawyers who paid money were from the Houston area. The lawyers cooperated with prosecutors.