united transportation union
GENERAL COMMITTEE of ADJUSTMENT GO-386
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad and Montana Western Railroad

Dear Mr. Gallagher:

In regards to the above reference, I have thoroughly read the above referenced transcript. To say the least I found certain portions of Mr. Boyd’s statements absolutely beyond belief. Obviously he was not under oath when offering such comment. I specifically refer to lines 22 through 25 of page 4; lines 1 through 25 of page 5; and lines 1 through 6 of page 6.

I can speak only to the history of my home Local (1637) while I was Local Chairman (1975 thru 1993) and the Locals under my jurisdiction while General Chairman of General Committee 386 (1993 thru present).

While there may be Locals that are controlled or heavily influenced by Designated Legal Counsel (DLC), such was not the case, nor is the case, based on my first hand knowledge in Local 1637 and General Committee 386. In some instances the DLC were viewed as an arm of the International. Gleaning information and comments from Local meetings and reporting same to the International President or his representatives. This same view was held with respect to the UTUIA field representatives and in fact those entities were given the nick name “field Mice” connoting the information they gathered from the field and fed to their superiors or International officers.

Such information was utilized by International officers to attempt to control any action that might jeopardize the position of the International President or contradict International policy or direction. Such control occurred through isolation of the individuals or locals or by discrediting those individuals or locals by several means including the union tabloid.

Mr. Boyd’s comments were self serving and false in-so-far-as my personal experience, as expressed above. Anyone that would believe Mr. Boyd’s rendition must certainly believe he was the weakest among leaders, and that was most certainly not the case. As president of the UTU B.A. Boyd wielded a great amount of power and control and as such the actions of the DLC, as he described, could not have occurred without his consent or oversight.

The International President along with his entourage of special representatives and officers, likewise controlled the International conventions and elections through favoritism or other enticements, paid or doled out of the memberships funds. The incumbent administration had and does have the means to gather specific supporters to stack the microphones on the convention floor in order to direct the discussion of business. Past administrations went so far as to script the daily activities and topics through special groupings as observed personally by the undersigned.

While I admit there may have been Locals that were influenced by DLC, Mr. Boyd would have anyone and everyone that reads the involved transcript believe all Locals were corrupt and controlled by DLC. Mr. Boyd, with the help of the Department of Justice and the Houston District Court, has maligned many dedicated union officers and members in their respective Locals to achieve a lighter sentence and deflect attention away from his own irresponsible behavior.

I am not so naive to not realize the veiled attack on FELA is part of an unspoken agenda, however, to allow Boyd’s comments to go unchallenged is unacceptable to the undersigned.

 

Sincerely

/s/J.D. Fitzgerald
John D. Fitzgerald, General Chairman
United Transportation Union