The Next Historic ACRE Contract

This letter goes out to all my fellow railroad conductors and engineers. Coming soon December 31st 2006 we will see the end of the “HISTORIC ACRE CONTRACT”. The ACRE boys will be pushing their next better “ HISTORIC CONTRACT”. For the better of whom? The MTA I bet. Rumor has it that ACRE has assured labor relations that they could sell co-payment of health and welfare to all Association members in the next round of bargaining. Well in order to do this, I myself will want lifetime medical, and a cost of living increase in the defined pension and a reduced tier 2 offsets. It's only fair. ACRE grossly overpaid for the last contract. ACRE members opened the door on the co-payment of health and welfare benefits, so why not make us all pay in this next contract?

Part of the reason that MTA bus and subway workers cannot get a fair contract with the MTA is due to ACRE'S co-payment of health and welfare for new hires. It's only fair if you have one MTA Association pay for it, why shouldn't all of the other unions also pay. Metro-North's coalition of unions cannot get a fair contract and have not been released as of this date because they will not let the MTA shove the ACRE contract down their members' throat.

The coalition has hired an actuary and a labor lawyer to help them with negations. The findings are that giving up the Vanguard money for the defined pension is a fair deal. Their actuary found out that giving up only the Vanguard monies, is in itself, enough money to fund this pension. You should not have to pay 3% for life to fund the defined pension. The 3% is a funding source for future hires. Also new hires should not have to pay an additional 18% of the cost for their co-pay of health and welfare benefits plus all future adjustments.

What's left for us as ACRE Association members to do? Well for one thing, gather all the information that is available for the next contract. Attend all informational meetings and ask ACRE official's direct questions about the next contract. Get your answers in writing, not rumor or innuendo. Take your paperwork to your accountant and family lawyer and have them look over the paperwork. Then formulate more questions and demand answers from your elected ACRE officials. Remember this is what they get paid for.

Never again will I, and I expect you, to sign and ratify a contract that is not 100% worked out and put into print. We all were deceived and submitted into thinking, we were getting a fair deal. We all were afraid not to sign, for ACRE told us that if we didn't sign, we would go behind all the other crafts and unions and loose out. Well guess what? After 3 1/2 years ACRE is the only signed craft on Metro-North. Why in Gods name did we not hire an actuary and a labor lawyer to go into negations with the MTA? I guess when you make the greater of your yearly salary from the MTA you do what they tell you to do.

Lastly, let's not negotiate our crafts into a 40-hour a week factory job. A job with no workforce moral. A job where you cannot hold your head up high and proudly say, “ I'm a Railroad Conductor or Engineer. Once it was considered a prestige's job to be titled as RR CONDUCTOR or RR ENGINEER. Please co-workers do not blindly sign this next contract without doing research and homework. We let one slip by; never let this happen again, for your future, your children's future and the future of all railroad workers.

Very Truly Yours,

Conductor Michael O'Connor

ACRE Member