Having failed to consummate a real merger with UTU, the BLET has entered into a 2-year trial relationship with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), aimed at raiding UTU membership while prohibiting the Teamsters from any discussions of merger with UTU without BLET's express consent and approval. IBT picks up the tab for some of BLET's expenses and provides an organizer to help with the UTU raid, and in exchange the BLET International pays IBT a $5.00 per capita fee, which more than doubles if both parties agree to continue the relationship beyond the 2-year trial period.

If all goes according to the BLET strategy, they gain a much stronger bargaining position to set the terms and conditions of a merger with UTU, and in exchange the Teamsters get much more than their foot in the door to take over the entire railroad industry. It sounds like a sweet deal for union bosses, but the price may be much higher than the original estimate for railroad workers.

120,000 truck drivers work under the Teamsters' National Master Freight Agreement (NMFA), and Article 29 of that contract exists to insure that the number of Teamsters drivers increases while the use of "Substitute Service" (i.e., railroad jobs) decreases.

Here are some direct quotes from the Teamsters' NMFA that all rail workers need to seriously consider:

Article 29 – Substitute Service

Section 1. Piggyback Operations
(a) An Employer shall not use piggyback over the same route where the Employer has established relay runs or through runs…

* * *
The Employer shall not reduce or fail to increase the road driver complement, including the addition of equipment, at the point of origin for the purpose of creating an overflow of freight...
* * *
(c) When an Employer utilizes Piggyback operations as a substitute service…the Employer will be required to add a sufficient number of employees and the necessary amount of equipment to move trailers over the road when the volume of matched loads reaches a level to insure efficient utilization of equipment and regular work opportunity for the added employees.

It is the intent of the parties in this Section 1 to maximize the movement of freight over the Employer's established relay runs, thereby minimizing the use of substitute service.

* * *
The Employer shall report in writing on a monthly basis to the Local Union at the rail origin point, or in cases where there are no drivers domiciled at the rail origin point to the Local Union at the first driver relay point affected, the number of trailers put on the rail at the rail origin point.
* * *
…the parties recognize the need to minimize and provide for the impact which intermodal operations may have on certain employees covered by this Agreement.
* * *
Present relay or through operations may not be reduced, modified or changed in any other manner as the result of the implementation of a new intermodal service until such time as the proposed intermodal operation has been approved by the National Intermodal Committee.
* * *
In the event the National Intermodal Committee is unable to agree…the proposed operation shall not be approved until such time as those issues are resolved.
* * *
(a) There shall be no more than two (2) intermodal changes approved during the term of this agreement; and
(b) No more than ten (10) percent of the Employer's total active road driver seniority list as of April 1, 1998 shall be affected by the intermodal changes approved during the term of this Agreement.
* * *
Rail operations that are subject to the provisions of Section 1(b) above shall not result in the layoff or involuntary transfer of any driver at any affected road driver domicile.

No man can serve two masters. How many of those 120,000 Teamsters truck drivers (or the other 1.4 million Teamsters) will contribute to Railroad Retirement to make up for the railroad jobs lost when the trailers come off the trains and go on the highway? How many will enthusiastically support Amtrak funding when those same transportation dollars could have been used to improve highways and bridges so Teamsters truck drivers can operate heavier, longer, faster rigs? How many of them will make the necessary sacrifices to protect and defend the Railway Labor Act or the Federal Employees' Liability Act?

After failing to secure remote control work for Engineers, and after failing to join forces with the UTU in order to give Engineers full partnership in the implementation of that new technology, and after failing to negotiate any protection for Engineers adversely affected, BLET leadership now says they are the right organization to represent all railroad operating employees through an affiliation with the Teamsters. I sincerely hope that ground service employees will stop and consider whether they really want to count on an Engineers' organization that has failed so miserably in its representation of Engineers, and I hope that all railroaders will stop and consider whether BLET has chosen the right partner in its desperate attempt to raid the UTU.