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Date: Wednesday, October 13th, 2022
For Immediate Release
For More Information, Please Contact:
RWU General Secretary Jason Doering 202-480-0587 jason.doering@nvsmart-union.org
RWU Co-Chair Ross Grooters 515-689-3229 blet778lr@gmail.com
RWU Co-Chair Gabe Christensen 775-682-0889 gabe.christenson@nvsmart-union.org
RWU Organizer Ron Kaminkow 608-358-5771 ronkaminkow@yahoo.com
RWU Treasurer Hugh Sawyer 404-290-1961 hlsawyerjr@gmail.com
RWU Steering Committee Member Paul Lindsey 208-317-7379 mplindsey208@gmail.com
RWU Newsletter Editor Mark Burrows 773-486-7001 potashpuller@gmail.com
RWU Member Marilee Taylor 773-405-5246 marileetaylor@sbcglobal.net
RWU Member Jeff Kurtz 319-470-9990 ia.chairman@gmail.com
RWU Member Matt Parker 775-772-3675 mparker@bletnslb.org
Rail Workers' Group Urges "No" Vote on Tentative Contract
Based upon feedback from working railroaders of the operating crafts, the Steering Committee of the cross-craft rail workers solidarity group Railroad Workers United (RWU) voted unanimously last Wednesday 10/5/22 to urge members of the operating crafts to vote down the Tentative Agreement when they receive their ballots in the coming weeks.
In the face of overwhelming opposition to the Presidential Emergency Board #250 recommendations from union members of all crafts and all rail unions, of all age groups and seniority, RWU previously in September had stated our Opposition to any Tentative Agreement based upon the PEB #250.
"Because there is a consensus on the RWU Steering Committee that the proposed operating crafts TA is in fact WORSE than the PEB," according to RWU General Secretary Jason Doering, "RWU believes that workers have very little to lose by voting NO". And if the NCCC and the rail union officials are unable to do better at the bargaining table by December 7th, the railroad workers would be free to exercise their right to strike and to fulfill their desire to do so as expressed overwhelmingly by the membership last summer.
In September, the organization had previously issued a 12-point statement as to why rail workers should vote down any contract based on the PEB recommendations. Today, RWU is issuing a similar 10-point statement explaining why rail workers - specifically from the operating crafts - should likewise reject the specific Tentative Agreement that has been proposed by the rail carriers, rail union officials, Labor Secretary Walsh and President Biden, brokered in a deal on September 15th.
RWU believes that If engineers and trainmen (conductors) agree with any or all of the points listed in thee RWU Statement, then they should exercise their right to vote NO. As the great rail union organizer and founder of the American Railway Union Eugene V. Debs famously stated more than 100 years ago, “I’s rather vote for something I want and not get it, than to vote for something I don’t want, and get it.”
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