When UTU International President emeritus C. L. Little served formal Section 6 Notices to begin the current round of National Wage and Rules negotiations, one of those requests was for a rule giving UTU represented crafts exclusive rights to operate remote control locomotives. In October of 2001, UTU International President Byron Boyd announced the signing of a Letter of Intent with the nation's five major Carriers (UPSP, BNSF, CSX, NS and KCS), assigning the work of remote control operations to crafts represented by UTU. If the UTU/BLE merger had become a reality, then all of the traditional operating crafts would have had a place at the table in the negotiation of Remote Control (RC) operations. Unfortunately, that merger didn't happen. The BLE then initiated litigation aimed at blocking further handling of the issue by UTU, and the court rejected their protestations.

On January 16, 2002, President Boyd wrote all UTU General Chairmen advising that the National Wage and Rules Panel agreed to experimental RC operations. However, they did not resolve the question of whether such experimental operations could be implemented without an agreement.

On January 16, 2002, I received a barrage of phone calls advising that BNSF would initiate some RC operations at Mandan, North Dakota starting on Monday, January 21. Former Santa Fe General Chairman Jim Huston received similar news of RC experimental operations at Newton, Kansas, and General Chairmen on all of the other 4 major Carriers have reported similar events on their properties. Over the next 24 hours I had conversations with several BNSF Labor Relations officers and several UTU International officers, and heard significantly different versions of the commitments made at the National Wage and Rules Panel meeting. There was also a huge difference of opinion as to what role (if any) the General Chairman on the property should have in developing and implementing experimental operations. I advised all concerned that I stood ready to participate in any negotiations within the context of the commitments made by our national negotiating team. I further advised the Carrier that if it intended to unilaterally implement any kind of RC operations, then I would take the necessary steps to insure that our members were not put in harm's way. By the end of the day on January 18, 2002, I received a commitment from the Carrier's Labor Relations department that they would meet with me to discuss experimental RC operations.

I want to state emphatically that at this posting I have not entered into any agreement or understanding governing any experimental testing of remote control locomotives on any BNSF territory under the jurisdiction of this General Committee. I will report on future developments.