What is your integrity and violating your working agreements worth?

If you're an ACRE member, around a $100 bucks. A hundred bucks to come out and show Metro-North that you will do anything they wish for 2 hours of pay. You will set aside your integrity, work agreements, work rules, violate the rights of your fellow co-workers and show the company that you do not really belong to a union, but owe your allegiance to an independent rail association.

The U.S. Open is taking place the week of June 12 th thru June 18 th . Metro-North wants to run both expanded and extra train service. Metro-North has a contract with its workforce, which covers work assignments and work rules. Metro-North must follow and adhere to its agreements and contracts with its workforce. That is why Metro-North employees belong to unions and pay union dues for. The heads of these unions are supposed to enforce their contracts and work rules with the company. Unfortunately, Metro-North also has an ace in their pocket, the Association of Commuter Rail Employees (ACRE) aka, A Company Run Enterprise. Could this really be possible? Let's look at some information.

ACRE's position as stated in the minutes of their June 2nd union meeting states “ Local Chairman/New Haven Ralph Sanzari stated that the carrier intends to run expanded service for the U.S. Open Golf Tournament scheduled in Mamaroneck from June 12th through June 18th. Compensation issues will hopefully be resolved this week for those members whose runs are altered to accommodate this expanded service. There will be five extra assignments Thursday and Friday and approximately thirty extra jobs both Saturday and Sunday. Please call our union office if you would like to cover this extra weekend work.”

Do we need to say anymore concerning ACRE's company position? ACRE promotes the carriers position against their members work agreements and rules. The carrier has picks available to them if they needed to change and run extra service for this event. This event was not something that came up overnight; it has been in the planning stages for years. If Metro-North wants to change our work assignments by more than 59 minutes, the affected member is entitled to a bump. Any and all extra work is supposed to be handled by the extra list, then the relief day list and then if needed, deadheaded from the next terminal.

What has ACRE allowed the carrier to do with our contract, work assignments and work rules? Basically, throw them away for the week. ACRE agrees and allows the carrier to violate our contract and work schedules and work rules for a 14b or 17b, two hours pay at time and a half. ACRE also encourages their members to come up to the ACRE office and sign up for work extra assignments. (ACRE is actually doing manpower controls work and covering these assignments for them). ACRE encourages their membership to violate their working agreements by circumventing the extra and relief day calling order lists, screwing their fellow co-workers by allowing the cherry picking of work assignments.

How much extra revenue do you think Metro-North is going to take in this week providing expanded and extra train service to the U.S open? What is Metro-North's share verses the association members share? Will Mike and Tony be helping out to provide this extra service and operate trains for Metro-North? Will they lead by example or as usual stay at home with their families and expect their membership to handle all of this extra work?

The best part about this whole thing is the fact that ACRE refuses to put any of this in writing. Ask manpower control for a copy of the agreements for the U.S. Open that Mike and Tony signed off on to allow the company to set aside and violate our working agreements and see if they can or will provide you with one. As of June 2 nd ACRE claims that all of the details and compensation issues have not been resolved. Will you ever see the outcome of these compensation issues in writing? No, it will be all hearsay. No ACRE member will ever know exactly what he or she will be entitled to. Only ACRE officers will know what was agreed to. When the company denies your claims, ACRE will tell you that you were not entitled to it. How many claims will not be put in or processed, since ACRE members will not know exactly what to claim or what they are really entitled to? Who saves on the claims issue – the carrier does.

Look at Bulletin Order 4-20.

Look at Bulletin Order 4-21.

Look at the listing of extra-jobs.

Mike, Tony, ACRE.   Does anyone see a subliminal message here?

ACRE going their way!!!!