A Disservice to ACRE members:

The ACRE propaganda machine is operating at peak efficiency. ACRE provides a disservice to its membership with the misinformation offered. Bottalico attended two P.E.B.'s? I remember one board he attended in 1996 and he had assistance from the United Transportation Union (UTU) International and a labor attorney provided by the UTU. Please explain when the second board occurred? In 1996 Metro-North Train and Engine employees received a four (4) for one (1) sick bank formula for the surrender of their existing sick day bank upon retirement. The UTU on the LIRR received a two (2) for one (1) sick day bank and Martin Luther King Day as a holiday. No other railroad pays officers of a union to perform union work exclusively. ACRE never mentioned this detail during the promotion of ACRE phase. Even if the members (with misinformation provided naturally) had authorized Bottalico to be compensated by the MTA, and I have not spoken with anyone that attended this meeting that remembers a specific motion or 150 members in attendance, the salary issue is a violation of the Railway Labor Act and a conflict of interest. If it is proper to pay these salaries, then why did Congress pass the Omnibus language that prohibits the MTA from compensating ACRE officers from any Federal funds that they receive? After the MTA continued to pay these ACRE officers salaries, legislation was introduced in both houses of the State Legislature in Albany to deny the MTA the ability to compensate ACRE officers from any funds . The AFL-CIO supports this legislation. I call that an indictment of the salary issue's propriety.

Sincerely,

Art May