Reality concerning ACRE's first letter

Reality on these issues:

ACRE's Claim is “By this time next year the UTU and BLE will no longer exist”.

Reality: This statement was designed to induce members to sign “A” cards for the ACRE representation election drive. ACRE criticized the proposed merger, yet formed a so-called union, their own Association, of predominately train and engine service members. The merger did not occur, it in fact collapsed within a few short months, but don't let this ACRE headline fool anyone. ACRE was going to be announced as an alternative labor organization no matter what direction the Internationals decided upon. The proposed merger announcement was only a means to an end and became very convenient for ACRE's own agenda.

ACRE's claim is the Internationals never did anything for us and they never came around on the property. The Internationals negotiated bad agreements for us beginning in 1983.

Reality: ACRE can't have it both ways. ACRE claims that their officers negotiating strategy has been achieved through a “ deliberate and calculated effort to keep the Internationals off our property and out of the picture .” Now they criticize these Internationals for not coming around? Internationals do not negotiate agreements on Metro-North or any other Commuter Railroad. These contract negotiations are performed by the Local officers, unless these officers request assistance from their respective Internationals , such as Mike Doyle and Tony Bottalico have done in the past. Both have attended Presidential Emergency Boards in 1996 and were assisted by the BLE and UTU Internationals. By the way, ask Mike Doyle the name of the BLE officer in Cleveland that used to write up his arbitration briefs. Both the BLE and UTU Constitutions grant each General Committee autonomy and forbid the International from interfering with Local officers, unless requested to do so by the General Chairman.

ACRE's claim is $250,000 dollars could better be used right here to bolster our bargaining and lobbying efforts with the legislatures of New York and Connecticut.

Reality: No accounting on how much ACRE officers spend on lobbying efforts has ever been presented to the ACRE membership. Which politicians received ACRE support and what have ACRE members received in return for our financial contributions since March of 2000? If we have this much money to spend every year, then why does the ACRE need additional member donations for a PAC fund? Where does all this money go?

ACRE states: “Because of their union positions, the General and Local Committee leadership we currently enjoy cannot publicly express their support for this step”.

Reality: These officers were in violation of their oaths of office to the BLE and UTU concerning the formation and implementation of their ACRE organization. What they did not tell us was they used and drained the funds of the BLE and UTU to finance the ACRE. If they were really interested in setting up their own union, they should have stepped down as BLE and UTU officers. Then paid for and campaigned for the ACRE on their own time with their own resources. They refused to stand on their own two feet. They hid in the shadows and whispered in anyone's ear about the ACRE. This way they would have no real resistance from any of the Internationals. They stabbed their Internationals in the back by creating a false sense of urgency to get out from under these Internationals. They would be out of business. The new Constitution only took care of the officers. The Internationals were obsolete and non-responsive its members concerns. How many members of any organization deal with their President on a daily basis? Members or employees work up a chain of command. Start with your Local officer, then General Chairman, then a Vice President and finally the President. Works that way here at Metro-North and even within the ACRE. But these officers had us believing that the officers of our Internationals and their Constitutions were unresponsive to our needs. How many members ever tried to contact their International officers with a problem or concern on Metro-North? Went to your local union representative to solve it first. But these ACRE officers turned and still prejudice us against these Internationals concerning some preconceived notions. Did these ACRE officers ever state just one problem or example that they turned to the Internationals for help and were turned away? Did they ever list one clause from any of the International's Constitutions that was violated or that they tried to have changed? What would happen to the United States if a Governor of a state decided he didn't like the direction the United States was headed and decided he would just break away and start his own Association of states? Sounds ridiculous, but that is exactly what happened here. ACRE officers took all of the Internationals money and the training they received and decided to create and play in their own sandbox under their own set of rules.

Finally with their letter dated 1/20/2000 that was signed by five BLE officers (Mike Doyle, Richard Engel, Ronald DeAndrus, John Potthast and Dick Gunderman) these officers finally come out of the closet. For over a year they hid in the shadows and pretended to care about the BLE's agenda and this membership. Really all they were concerned about was their own agenda. Ask them about their meetings at the Ridgefield Country Club and who picked up the tab? What was discussed and what were their concerns? To get the salaries they wanted, they had to break away from the Internationals and form their own Association. The Internationals would never allow this type of salary agreement, where officers would be paid full time by Metro-North and also collect a salary and expenses from the union. International Constitutions are set up to eliminate any appearances of conflicts of interest between union officers, their membership and the carrier. (Guess the Internationals Constitution and Bylaws were not so bad after all.) It's either one salary or the other, not both. The Internationals finally put the Locals into receivership. Tony has the distinction of being the first UTU officer to be removed from office. ACRE is voted in as of March of 2000.

The officers negotiate the 1999 contract with two concerns over their heads. The Engel factor: (no Vanguard, no ACRE) and how to make the ACRE organization look good in the future. Their true intent was to save the pension deal and to sign it under the ACRE. This way ACRE officers could always claim that the Internationals could never get a pension deal done on Metro-North, only the ACRE as an Independent Rail Association could. These officers claimed in 1999 the pension was too expensive even though Mike Doyle offered to give up our right to strike. Most of the items negotiated in the 1999 contract were given back to Metro-North for this inferior ACRE historic giveback pension deal.

This is the reason why the ACRE has to constantly remind their members of what the Internationals are doing in their Newsletters. They must try to keep their perceived contempt alive against the Internationals. ACRE officers have nowhere to go when the ACRE fails. The Internationals disbarred them for their illicit actions as officers. About 25% of our workforce never worked under or were members of these Internationals. ACRE must prejudice their thoughts. We are currently paying about the same amount of dues ($20.00 / month) to the ACRE Executive Board as we sent to Internationals in Cleveland. There are vast differences as to the protection afforded to their members for this $20.00. To compare click on to the links page and look at web pages of the Internationals. Then click on to the ACRE web page. There is no comparison.

ACRE officers had four years to prepare and negotiate this agreement against the MTA, and this is the best they can up with. A fill in the blanks as the ACRE goes along contract. ACRE throws in the givebacks and hopefully the MTA will do the right thing concerning our pension. Now, doesn't the MTA know exactly what we want and need concerning this ACRE deal in the next round of contract talks? Lifetime medical and at least a 10-year pension cap. What do you think it will cost us in the next round, to attain what should have been negotiated as a complete contract package this round? Can we really afford to have these officers negotiate and sell out the rest of us? It's your money and your future. You must work under and live with the decisions you make concerning your union representation as railroad workers and the work agreements the ACRE signs away. Is there any real future with this type of Independent Rail Association?