General Chairmen Fitzgerald & Mason Respond to Safety Summit 5-5-01

Open Letter to Members
General Committee GO-386
Burlington Northern Santa Fe RR

Gentlemen and Ladies:

The undersigned attended the Safety Summit held in Kansas City on April 30, 2001, along with many of the UTU and BLE General Chairmen on BNSF and State Legislative Representatives. Both BLE and UTU International Presidents, as well as, M. Rose and staff were present.

After two (2) hours of general discussion, the meeting ended with a determination to establish a three (3) member panel, composed of one (1) international officer each from UTU and BLE and one (1) senior official from BSNF.


The task of that panel would be to set forth a frame work to address all aspects of safety on BNSF. The panel would have until August 1, 2001, to complete the task.

The UTU member will be Vice President R.L. Marceau. I am not aware of the other potential members from the BLE and BNSF.

I will withhold comment on this process until I see the results. By that I mean, I will not embrace an unknown nor will I reject an entity not yet developed. I will insist that the autonomy of this Committee is respected and a policy or agreement with impact on the members of this Committee will not be forced nor accepted unless reasonable and functional.

In the meantime, I and the officers of this Committee will not back off of our established policies or activities in speaking out and telling it like it is.

Time will tell.

With best wishes, I am,

Yours truly,
/s/J.D. Fitzgerald
General Chairman

=================================================================

K.W. Mason, Chairman
D.E. Anderson, Associate Chairman
R.S. Knutson, Associate Chairman

united transportation union
BURLINGTON NORTHERN GENERAL COMMITTEE OF ADJUSTMENT GO-245

R.C. Doyle, 1st Vice Chairman
R.J. Daurer, 2nd Vice Chairman
J.A. Kershner, 3rd Vice Chairman
M.A. Poninski, 4th Vice Chairman



May 3, 2001


Mr. B.A. Boyd, Jr.
President, UTU
14600 Detroit Avenue
Cleveland, Ohio 44107-4250

RE: BNSF/UTU Safety Summit

Dear Sir and Brother:

I wish to thank your office for bringing the Carrier to the table in hopes of addressing safety issues on the portion of the railroad that this Committee represents.

Although I was personally unable to be in attendance of the initial meeting which took place in Kansas City on April 30, 2001, it is my understanding this office was well represented at the meeting by Associate Chairman R.S. Knutson. I have been informed by Brother Knutson that safety was addressed in general, rather than particular issues. In addition, I was informed that UTU Vice President R.L. Marceau was appointed as a "liaison" for the general committees. I welcome any input from Brother Marceau which goes toward bettering the safety concerns of my membership. However, I believe it is best that all parties understand from the outset that this Committee has not made request for Brother Marceau or any UTU International officer to be assigned to represent this Committee, and thus only the general chairman, or his designee, has the right to speak on behalf of this Committee.

This Committee has four (4) major issues which must be addressed in order to mutually come to any kind of agreement with the Carrier. These four (4) issues have not changed over the past few years, and the Carrier, to date, has failed to address any of them, other than giving them inadequate "lip service".

Issue #1 "Availability/Attendance Guidelines " - to date, many of our members are continually required to work when they are in a state of mind which is dangerous to themselves and other, simply because they fear the repercussions of laying off to secure adequate rest. All parties recognize that a small percentage of the work force are not carrying their load, however, to unilaterally implement a onerous "program" which adversely affects all members has created a monster with regards to safety and must be addressed immediately.

Issue #2 "Stealth Teams" - this Committee recognizes that the Carrier has an obligation to both the government and their employees to provide monitoring of crews to assure rule compliance, however, this Carrier takes it to an all time low. Observation should and must be utilized for corrective action to eliminate unsafe work habit or rule violations. Operating officers have taken to utilizing such observations as harassment and ultimately disciplinary actions towards our members. The one thing you continually and consistently hear from our members when out on property is the fact that they now come to work in fear of losing their livelihood. They are continually being forced to work in fear, continually looking over their shoulder to see who is in the weeds trying to get them fired. The causal affect of such fear and intimidation is making "bone-head" and unsafe decisions.

Issue #3 "Injury Reports" - although the Carrier has stated that instructions have been issued to stop the harassment of employees when injuries occur and are report, such action has not taken place. Our members are continually being coerced into not filling out a personal injury report, but rather a report (first aid report) which does not require the Carrier to advise the FRA of an on duty injury to one of their employees. By filing a first aid report the employee has entered the game of "mother may I" prior to seeking medical assistance. This has resulted in numerous cases of disciplinary action for alleged failure to comply. If the person does not agree to file a first aid report, but rather files a personal injury report, he is intimidated, harassed, and/or investigated and disciplined.

Issue #4 "Rule Book/Rule Changes" - the Carrier has added so many rules that it appears our members are in violation of one just for showing up on property for service. It seems rule changes take place on almost a daily basis and makes it virtually impossible for any member to stay conversant with the applicable rules on any given date. The operating rule book must be whittled down to the point where all employees can readily understand and thus comply with all rules. One need only read a transcript of an investigation to see that the Carrier is able to read numerous rules into the transcript which the majority of them all saying and/or meaning the same thing. Take the needless filler out of the rule book and make it a workable conglomeration.

It was reported that BNSF Officer Matt Rose stated that discipline has been reduced. This is not a true statement on the property I represent. Over the past few years discipline has been on the rise, especially with the advent of the "attendance/availability" policy. With such misinformation being disseminated by the Carrier's highest ranking officer, it is hard to believe that any headway will be achieved in the improvement of the safety issues on property. However, rest assured this Committee stands ready to address any and all safety issues once the four (4) major issues are adequately addressed.

As a "liaison" for all general committees, Brother Marceau should feel free to share all the above information with the Carrier representative, however, I must reiterate he is not assigned to this Committee as our representative and thus any and all agreements or initiatives will only come as a result of the actions between the Carrier and the undersigned or his designated representative.

Fraternally,
/s/K.W. Mason
General Chairman, UTU/BNSF

cc: BNSF/UTU General Chairmen
UTU Vice President R.L. Marceau
Local Chairmen, GO-245

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Last Updated:  05/5/01   14:31