BLET, UTU CONTINUE JOINT EFFORTS ON CSX DISCIPLINE
CLEVELAND, November 14 - The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the United Transportation Union are continuing to work together to protect their members in light of ongoing harassment and intimidation of their members at CSX Transportation.
On November 1, BLET and UTU General Chairmen engaged in a joint conference to discuss these critical issues. Unnecessarily harsh discipline and harassment of injured employees, efficiency testing, and continued contract violations are "completely out of control on CSXT," the General Chairmen said. "The purpose of our ongoing discussions is to coordinate ideas and efforts to best protect all members of both organizations from these baseless attacks."
In addition to efforts on the General Committee level, the BLET National Division and UTU International are continuing to work with top brass at CSXT to put an end to the situation.
BLET National President Don Hahs and UTU International President Paul Thompson met jointly with CSX officials on October 11. After some positive movement, however, it appears the message still hasn't gotten through to some mid- and lower-level managers at the railroad.
In a joint letter dated November 14 to CSX Chief Operating Officer Tony Ingram, President Hahs and President Thompson asked for relief from the ongoing harassment.
"We are also confident that certain management personnel, under your authority, consider such tactics as appropriate in reducing the number of injuries that are reported," the letter states. "As you know, the Federal Railroad Administration has publicly stated that harassment and intimidating employees as a result of reporting an on-duty personal injury, is a violation of federal regulations.
"It is in your interest, as well as ours, that management personnel be advised that these types of tactics on their part represent inappropriate managerial behavior and will result in harsh consequences for any manager using such tactics. That message must be conveyed to all management personnel in a manner that is clear and without uncertainty. Any action less than that will result in no change in certain managers' inappropriate behavior."