January 22, 2002
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Leadership is taking challenges head-on and not running from them. That is precisely what the UTU has done in the face of a rail industry intention to implement remote-control operations.
Either we learn from history or we repeat past failures. When labor unions fought elimination of the firemen and cabooses, firemen and cabooses were eliminated anyway.
The bitter lesson is that we cannot stop advances in technology -- not automobiles replacing the horse and buggy, electricity replacing gas lamps, computers replacing manual typewriters or remote control replacing an engineer.
What we can do -- and are doing -- is to assure something of value in return. The UTU has achieved its goal that the remote control belongs to UTU-represented employees, that there will be no reduction in UTU-represented jobs or compensation, that UTU-represented employees will receive adequate training, and that remote control will not be introduced until its safety is assured.
Pilot projects will help us to determine how this technology will affect workers and what permanent safeguards are required. Not until we are assured of the protections we demand will the UTU send out for ratification a permanent agreement. Our leadership position means we are managing the result, not reacting to it.
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Railroad remote control pilot projects to be implemented
January 14, 2002
CLEVELAND, OHIO -- Members of the National Wage and Rules Panel, which includes officials of most of the nation's major railroads and the United Transportation Union, have agreed to initiate pilot projects implementing and utilizing remote control technology at various locations in the United States. Remote control allows a locomotive to be controlled from outside the cab through use of a radio transmitter and receiver system.
The announcement follows a Sept. 26, 2001, letter of intent between the UTU and Burlington Northern and Santa Fe, Conrail, CSX Transportation, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific -- which bargain collectively through the National Carriers' Conference Committee -- assigning the work of remote control operations to employees represented by the UTU. The National Wage and Rules Panel was established in 1996 to permit railroads and the UTU to discuss complex issues in a non-confrontational manner. The parties expressly envisioned pilot projects such as this.
"The panel believes that successful implementation of remote control technology will be substantially facilitated by the insights and experience gained through these pilot projects," said a joint statement by NCCC Chairman Robert F. Allen and UTU International President Byron A. Boyd, Jr.
"There are a number of issues to be worked out before either side enters into a definitive agreement on remote control," Boyd said. "Working out those issues first requires that we collect data relating to safety, compensation, job protection, levels of training required, economic impact and other relevant issues. One thing we all know is that new technology cannot be ignored and we are all better off understanding and controlling that technology."
