Brothers and Sisters,​

It has come to my attention that SMART-TD union officers on our property are attempting to lure our engineer members to sign authorization cards (a.k.a. “A-cards”) to change representation. I am deeply disappointed by this action. On the IHB, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (“BLE-T”) has upheld a long-standing truce on membership raids for decades, given that is the right decision to take, and that both organizations belong to the Rail Labor Division of the AFL-CIO. For over a decade, the National BLE-T and SMART-TD have worked together in a coordinated bargaining group, led by former BLE-T President Dennis Pierce and the BLE-T’s executive board. SMART-TD, along with six other unions, elected the BLE-T to lead national negotiations for the entire group.

I am meeting with BLE-T National President Hall and his executive committee to address this blatant raid on our membership by SMART-TD. I urge all members to disregard the propaganda circulating in the shanties and to refuse to sign any authorization card. This is merely SMART-TD's latest attempt to divide us under the guise that joining the same (their) union would make us stronger. It is ironic that this "unity" raid was initiated by an organization that has four locals compared to our single (one) Division, and they themselves have no intentions of uniting due to financial or personal conflicts within. SMART-TD engineer membership on our property has been steadily declining for years, and this SMART-TD raid is just a desperate and flagrant attack to undermine everything we have built within our Division. We have made sure to keep our membership informed with facts about struggles on different properties well before SMART-TD began distributing their propaganda packets. Again, do not let the issues occurring on the Norfolk Southern railroad affect what we have achieved on this property. The problems at NS have no bearing on the IHB or our BLE-T Division.

Historically, the BLE-T negotiation teams on our property have secured better agreements for their members than SMART-TD. All of our IHB engineers (including SMART-TD engineers) have benefited from the BLE-T Division 682 negotiated agreements that were voted on and ratified by the membership.

All BLE-T Division 682 union officers work alongside you day in and day out. We consistentlyanswer phone calls and messages regardless of the time, and we have created a platform where every member's vote, opinion, and questions can be addressed. Every single BLE-T member has a say in the future of our Division through a democratic process; our BLE-T bylaws state every member has a vote; can the same be said about SMART-TD? Ask yourselves how many non-vote “pilot” agreements that changed the extra board pay or failed training agreements on property have been implemented under the BLE-T?​

I will soon share articles and agreements from the past and present demonstrating that SMART-TD does not have the best interests of locomotive engineers and conductors in mind on a national scale. Locally, on our property, the BLE-T has negotiated some of the best agreements in the country for our locomotive engineers, our voluntary rest day program, weekend incentive, health and welfare​ reimbursement, hired date seniority establishment for external hires, and more. BLE-T also protects conductors’ seniority during in-house promotions to engineers. All these agreements were negotiated in-house by BLE-T Division 682 union officers and ratified by the BLE-T membership.  For the members that have already been contacted by a SMART-TD union officer (or member) regarding this “A-card” topic, ask yourselves in what manner did they address you? Was it done in secret or in front of your union Brothers and Sisters? If this were truly for unity, then there would be no need to lie and sneak around others and suggest that this process is an easy matter and would be over with only your signature. They failed to mention the repercussions of pursuing this and failed to state any facts regarding the process. This is counterproductive to any improvement we may have had on the local and national scale and ultimately gives the carrier exactly what they crave, organizational infighting. Again, I urge all of my Brothers and Sisters to ignore the SMART-TD propaganda and do not sign any authorization card presented by them.  

I encourage everyone to please reach out to me directly to discuss the matter. If you feel comfortable,share your experiences on the app so everyone is aware of what is happening.​

In Solidarity.​

​

Daniel V. Wells

General Chairman