Draft resolution on safety

Title: *

Body:

Resolution on safety
on the railroad<o:p></o:p>


<o:p> </o:p>


Whereas:<o:p></o:p>


Over 20 years ago, the
labor movement commemorated the 100th anniversary of the Haymarket martyrs and
the fight for the eight hour day. Yet today, tens of thousands of railroad
workers are forced to work 12 hours a day six days a week, with additional waiting
and travel time, much it unpaid.  And not
satisfied with this, the rail bosses are implementing one-person crews,
remote-controlled engines and satellite controlled trains to eliminate workers,
further endangering the public in their relentless drive for profits.<o:p></o:p>


<o:p> </o:p>


And whereas:<o:p></o:p>


 They are reducing costs by downsizing the
unionized non operating crafts: shop repair people, car inspectors and yard and
track maintenance people.  Increasingly,
this highly skilled work is subcontracted out to nonunion companies.  Other crafts are forced to inspect trains.  Carmen are constantly sped up, harassed and
fired for reporting serious defects. 
Increasingly, even long trains of over a hundred cars are leaving yards
without proper air brake tests.  <o:p></o:p>


The company&#39;s response
to personal injuries or accidents is the same for all crafts --intimidation and
severe discipline including many firings.<o:p></o:p>


<o:p> </o:p>


And whereas:<o:p></o:p>


The entire society is
endangered by the increased possibility of catastrophic accidents as a direct
result of the conscious and pre-meditated actions of the railroad corporations.  <o:p></o:p>


<o:p> </o:p>


Therefore we demand:<o:p></o:p>


<o:p> </o:p>


1. Reduction in the
work day of operating employees to eight hours, 40 hours a week with no loss in
pay.<o:p></o:p>


2. Massive increase in
hiring of all crafts of railroad workers. 
Massive hiring of skilled trades and construction workers to rebuild the
crumbling bridges, yards and track.<o:p></o:p>


3. Rail employees to overhaul
the safety regulations of the FRA and OSHA. <o:p></o:p>


4. Large increase in
hiring of FRA inspectors , with real enforcement of safety regulations,
including drastically heavier fines against violating companies and shutting
down the rail operations when necessary. 
Eliminate fines against individual workers.<o:p></o:p>


5. Abolish the FELA
system which results in discipline and firings of those who attempt to get
compensated for injuries and a much greater number of workers under treated and
permanently injured, who did not report their injuries.  <o:p></o:p>


6. End the police
state search, random testing and disciplinary approach to drug and alcohol
use.  Put resources into rehabilitation
instead. <o:p></o:p>


<o:p> </o:p>


To achieve this:<o:p></o:p>


RWU recognizes that the
corporate owners arrogantly and publicly flaunt their lawless behavior, which
stands out even in the corporate dominated United States.<o:p></o:p>


Government safety
regulatory agencies such as OSHA and the FRA are at best, toothless and weak
and at worst, agents of the bosses in targeting the workforce.<o:p></o:p>


Only collective mass
action utilizing our power to completely stop the transport of goods will be enough
to maintain our present safety conditions.<o:p></o:p>


<o:p> </o:p>


Therefore:<o:p></o:p>


<o:p> </o:p>


With these principles
in mind, RWU proposes:<o:p></o:p>


 <o:p></o:p>


1. Union based safety
committees responsible to and controlled by the workers of each workplace
-yard, shop, etc.  Such committees will
only be effective if every union is represented on all levels. <o:p></o:p>


Necessarily this means
the exclusion of management and government representatives.<o:p></o:p>


<o:p> </o:p>


2. We should be
flexible in the tactics towards the existing committees and safety structures.  Even joint committees and company structures
can be utilized if the unions decide and act as a unit.  We should attempt to get all the union
representatives to meet together, and bring their collective proposals into the
meetings<o:p></o:p>


<o:p> </o:p>


3. We should organize
for strong safety provisions such as the right to refuse unsafe work to be
spelled out in the collective bargaining agreements.  <o:p></o:p>


 <o:p></o:p>


4. RWU organizers
should attempt to bring the struggle out of the meetings and into the yards to
the rest of the rank and file. A regular safety newsletter put out by the
unions would be extremely useful   we
should attempt to organize actions such as press conferences, demonstrations,
and informational pickets. These tactics should be employed with the idea of
bringing the maximum pressure against the company as well as to make every
union member an organizer.<o:p></o:p>


<o:p> </o:p>


5. RWU believes it is
necessary to bring our fight to the public outside of the workplace.  We need to enlist the support of a wide
spectrum of activist organizations, safety, labor activists, environmental activists
and student groups.<o:p></o:p>


Coalitions should be
built with the people living in the neighborhoods directly threatened by lack
of safety on the railroad. These communities are almost entirely made up of
working-class people with a high proportion of black, Latino, Native American,
and other minority populations who are well aware that the corporations are not
their friend. This gives us a huge potential for success.* <o:p></o:p>


<o:p> </o:p>


<o:p> </o:p>


<o:p> </o:p>


<o:p> </o:p>


*for instance in
Chicago right now, communities are organizing to stop the sale of the EG&amp;E
Railroad to the Canadian National because of the potential destruction of the
neighborhood. Native Americans in Canada organized to block trains to defend
their land against destruction to their environment.  A conference was organized in Chicago some
years ago to fight the transport of radioactive waste by rail.  <o:p></o:p>

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