UP RR, "Common Employees" and Working Women

[jonathan flanders <jon_flanders@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Jackie Lynn Fitzgerald
Sent: Thursday, May 17, 2001 10:39 PM
To: webmaster@xxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Fwd: Unfair Working Condtions]

Dear RD Jones,

I'm sending you an email that I composed today to *****.  Please
excuse the mispellings and improper punctuations.  If I have ever had a
calling in life, I think it is on this issue.  I feel that their is no
distinction between the company and the unions that are suppose to
represent us.  I have sent this letter to every railroader who I have an
email address for.  Please send me your thoughts.

Jackie Fitzgerald
Trainman   UP
Hinkle, OR



Jackie Lynn Fitzgerald wrote:

 Mr. ******,

 I have some growing concerns about the term "common employee" that
Union Pacific Railroad has decided to label it's new hires.

A common employee, in latent terms, is an employee who can be
relocated  basically anywhere in the system at the employee's own expense.
This
is  not only an unfair labor practice, but a term that was never agreed
upon by any of the new hires. Union Pacific Railroad has shifted operating
costs on to the employee, and what it really sad about it, it's the
lowest paid guys in the system.

At 85%, I make $126.00 a shift.  I am already working 70 miles away
from the town where I hired out of, the town I will eventually be forced to
work from.  That is 140 miles round trip everyday.  I am getting close
to being cut off at Hinkle. According to the latest hub interpretation,

I must go wherever my seniority will allow me to hold.  Just where
exactly does my seniority district cover?  Sandpoint, Idaho is quite a
little jaunt from La Grande, OR.  By classifying me as a common
employee, I can be forced to Sandpoint at my own expense.  I would be
more than happy to work in Sandpoint if needed, however, NOT AT MY OWN
EXPENSE.  I don't work for free.  Union Pacific Railroad has forced
their operating costs on the new employees and this is unfair.

After my $126.00 gets sliced and diced, how much money do you think I
get to keep in my pocket?  Subtract $40.00 a night for a hotel room,
meals, and transportation costs.  That probably brings me down to
$20.00 a day for wages.  I do not know of any company who does not pay
their
employees for dislocation costs including  mileage, lodging, and per
diem.  Believe me, the company knows what they are getting away with,
it's highway robbery.  Do you know how many cars a railroader goes
through during his career?  Do you understand the risks we take
everyday when we are forced to drive outside of our home terminals?

My father retired as an engineer from UP, and he thinks that these
working conditions are inhumane.  His next response was that we have
no union representation anymore, because our union should have never
agreed to such conditions.  I think prettly low of Union Pacific for
forcing
it's employees to adhere to such unfair labor practices.

We have employees who were called back to work from across the United
States, only to come back for about a weeks worth of work.  They have
been denied TPA, and are  being forced to relocate, yet again, at
their own expense.  But wait, it gets even better.  Now they get to go
somewhere and bump someone off their own turf, so that the bumped
individual  can collect their TPA.    Do you really thing this is
worth $20.00 a day?  Railroad unemployment pays more than $20.00 a day. Do
you really think these cut off inviduals are in any position to relocate
at their own expense?  Should they take their families?  What happens if
they move up to Sandpoint and then get cut off because business
slowed?

Are you aware of what has been happening when our people must bump
onto another location?  The disgruntled, bumped employees have been
slashing our tires?  This is absolutely rediculuous.

This is not only an unfair labor practice, it is a crime.  The only
compensation we get is from our taxes, and then, it is only a
percentage.  We can't wait till the end of the year to recover from
our dislocation expenses, we need the money now.  Is it really fair to use
our tax dollars to fund Union Pacific's operating costs?  I think not.
I wonder what the IRS would think about this?  It's nothing more than
big business taking it out on the little guy.

We have sought legal representation to assist us in our labor dispute.
As a designated representative, you should be helping us with this
issue.  Some of the old heads don't seem to care, because they didn't
hire out under these conditions, and they are afforded all of the
protections under the sun.  They are not forced to these places, they
get to borrow out.

When you were born, you were protected under the rights of the US
Constitution.  Unfortunately, our union only takes care of those
employed and future employees don't even count.  Well, future
employees are going to be running the railroads someday, and they need to
be
guaranteed all of the same rights.   Divided we stand, and divided we
are falling.

Our union officials position on these issues is basically that we are
a grain of sand on a never ending beach.  I am not a quitter, and
basically the railroad has created such hardships on the new hires
that they just want us to quit, so they can hire new employees with yet,
even less rights and less pay.  As a woman working for the railroad, are
numbers are too low, and these type of working conditions are making
our numbers even lower.  The railroad has been abolishing jobs that are
primarily held by women and hiring contract employees who work for
minimum wage with no benefits.  It is no secret.  It's time to start
bargaining for our rights.

If our union can't work with us on these important issues, we will be
forced to take our issues to a national level.  Press coverage is
looking pretty good right now.

I would like to hear some feedback on these issues, in the meantime, I
will be getting the message out to as many railroaders as I possibly
can.

 Jackie Fitzgerald
 Trainman