Brotherhd. of Maint. of Way Employ. (BMWE) 1986 Strike (MEC)

[gokeefe]

On March 3, 1986 after exhausting all other avenues for negotiations the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees initiated a strike action against the Maine Central Railroad, a subsidiary of Guilford Transportation Industries, Inc. over proposed concessions by management regarding work rules, wage concessions, job protections and seniority rules.

In what would ultimately become one of the most serious railway labor actions in decades the BMWE subsequently went on strike against other subsidiary railroads owned by Guilford Transportation Industries and after that against virtually every other major Class I railroad in the United States.

The case was eventually resolved by two separate joint actions of the United States Congress which, in accordance with previously established precedents, imposed binding arbitration on the parties.

The BMWE strike was directly responsible for Guilford's subsequent decision to lease all of its subsidiary railroads to the Springfield Terminal Railway of Vermont in order to allow them to take advantage of more favorable terms of labor agreements in place for ST.

While this strike has been referred to frequently in multiple discussion threads within this forum there previously has been no specific place to discuss its implications or history. As such I have initiated this thread in order to provide for the broadest discussion possible of the labor action by the BMWE against the Maine Central Railroad (as operated by GTI), its subsidiaries, the secondary strikes by the BMWE against other rail carriers in support of the primary strike, the case law that was generated by this labor action and other pertinent subjects.

[newpylong]

In my humble opinion this is a can of worms I would suggest not opening...

[NRGeep]

and after that against virtually every other major Class I railroad in the United States.

please explain?

[BR4]

I agree with Newpy. Ancient history that has been hashed, trashed and beaten to death for decades; with
no reasonable resolution at this point. Those of us who lived through it would rather move forward and stop
looking back. Beating a dead horse accomplishes nothing.

[MEC407]

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

I understand the desire by folks who were involved in the strike, directly or indirectly, to not discuss it or even think about it -- just as soldiers who have fought in wars often choose not to "go there" -- but history is history, and it's important that it not be forgotten. It's especially important that the folks who weren't there -- either because they weren't born yet, or they lived somewhere else, or they simply never heard about it -- be able to learn about what happened, why it happened, how it happened, what the consequences were, etc.

Is it "beating a dead horse" when we teach our schoolchildren about things that happened 20 years ago? 50 years ago? 200 years ago? 2000 years ago? Some might say yes; I respectfully disagree.

Like it or not, the strike was a major event in Maine Central history, Guilford history, New England history, and even U.S. history. Those of you who don't want to talk about it or think about it are under absolutely no obligation to do so.

[BR4]

All valid points, indeed. I had thought about the historical significance and importance. However,
I fear that this topic will vewry controversial, which will result in the thread becoming unruly and
end up being locked or removed.

[MEC407]

That's always a risk with any controversial topic, but I'm hoping that cool heads will prevail. I'd love to be pleasantly surprised and have this be a civil, respectful, productive discussion. We won't know unless we try, right?

The standard rules apply: no personal attacks / ad hominem; it's ok to disagree, just be civil about it; keep the discussion factual (no hearsay); if you feel your blood pressure rising, take a few hours or a day to calm down before posting a reply; etc.

[mick]

Reagan was president, there were no cell phones, no home computers, no internet, you were lucky to have cable TV, there were still cabooses on trains being hauled by blue GP-9's, still 40-foot boxcars with solid bearings in common use,with no grafitti on the cars, there were still Buddliners being used, Mechanicville still had a hump yard, Boston still had about 10 locals, Rigby still had an operating roundhouse,GMX was still the Fort Devens PX, when you thought of Pan Am you thought of a 747, there were no safety vests, few portable radios, switching was still commonly performed with hand signals, drinking on the job was a common thing, and 99% of the people who were involved in that strike are retired or deceased. This topic might as well be in the Fallen Flags section.

[gokeefe]

In my humble opinion this is a can of worms I would suggest not opening...

With my deepest respects to you as a railroader I opened this thread not to rehash the argument in of itself but to ensure that it is documented. I hope that sentiment is in some way reassuring.

I've started looking at the case history to include Justice Brennan's opinion in the BN v. BMWE decision. One of the things he makes note of is the sheer breadth of litigation that was happenning with cases making their way up into no less than three separate federal Circuit Courts.

I would like to make some posts to this thread with links to every possible piece of case law from labor actions that were related to the strike. To date I have yet to find anywhere on the internet that even attempts to properly record or document even just the documents that are behind this case, let alone even a simple history of the entire episode.

[gokeefe]

and after that against virtually every other major Class I railroad in the United States.

please explain?

The Railway Labor Act has been consistently interpreted and understood to allow so-called "secondary actions" against companies who do business with a company that is the subject of a "primary action". In effect it allows a railroad union (specific craft) to go on strike against the railroad they are striking as well as any companies were they have members working under the RLA (usually other railroads) who do business with the first company.

The Wagner Act (and its subsequent amendments under the Taft-Hartley Act), which provides for collective bargaining rights for private sector employees not specified in the Railway Labor Act, specifically prohibits "secondary actions". As such labor actions that occur by entities under the jurisdiction of the RLA are uniquely disruptive. The most serious of these are nearly certain to require Presidential or Congressional intervention.

[gokeefe]

Reagan was president, there were no cell phones, no home computers, no internet, you were lucky to have cable TV, there were still cabooses on trains being hauled by blue GP-9's, still 40-foot boxcars with solid bearings in common use,with no grafitti on the cars, there were still Buddliners being used, Mechanicville still had a hump yard, Boston still had about 10 locals, Rigby still had an operating roundhouse,GMX was still the Fort Devens PX, when you thought of Pan Am you thought of a 747, there were no safety vests, few portable radios, switching was still commonly performed with hand signals, drinking on the job was a common thing, and 99% of the people who were involved in that strike are retired or deceased. This topic might as well be in the Fallen Flags section.

mick,

As with newpylong, with my deepest respects to you as a railroader, I had considered that as well. Especially since in a way this was truly the "end of the way it was" (at least that's certainly my impression based on everything about this that I've ever read).

That being said I think that there are too many of us here who simply don't understand this event and in trying to know anything at all about GTI's early history and Maine Central's very late history if we don't really understand what went on in the summer of '86 we're missing the boat. No serious historical analysis of GTI/PAS could be made without understanding this event.

So, again, yes I think it is indeed "ancient history". I also think losing sight of what happenned would be a mistake from at a minimum an analytical point of view. Had this ocurred during the US Filter period of ownership I would have given very serious consideration to the idea of putting it in the B&M/MEC forum. However as you well know the fact of the matter is that it didn't and GTI's presence and involvement were a major part of the reason why the labor action even happenned in the first place.

At least if this topic does and up getting locked I'll try and slip in some key references before that happens and we'll have established once and for all that this is one of those things that we just can't talk about here.

[MEC407]

As long as everyone plays nice, it's very unlikely that the thread will have to be locked.

I agree that there's not a lot of information on the web, especially in a centralized location, to be found on this subject. Even just from the point of view of caring about Maine history and New England history, I think this thread is a good idea.

(Side note: I've said it before, but I'll say it again: someone really needs to write a sequel to Guilford: Five Years of Change. Soon, ideally.)

[piker]

Reagan was president, there were no cell phones, no home computers, no internet, you were lucky to have cable TV, there were still cabooses on trains being hauled by blue GP-9's, still 40-foot boxcars with solid bearings in common use,with no grafitti on the cars, there were still Buddliners being used, Mechanicville still had a hump yard, Boston still had about 10 locals, Rigby still had an operating roundhouse,GMX was still the Fort Devens PX, when you thought of Pan Am you thought of a 747, there were no safety vests, few portable radios, switching was still commonly performed with hand signals, drinking on the job was a common thing, and 99% of the people who were involved in that strike are retired or deceased. This topic might as well be in the Fallen Flags section.

When I first found this site I read as far back as I could about GTI/Panam. Mick's summary, in a few sentences pretty much covers what I found. No one really seems to have gained through all that. But it seems to me that it might be a good time to ask if, at the time, it wasn't that labor action it would have been another? Is it possible to say that that strike was not a cause but an effect of Staggers, trucking and all the other larger changes in the industry at the time?
If we have to go here, let's go gently.

[gokeefe]

If we have to go here, let's go gently.

Indeed, and for what it's worth I didn't do this lightly, or on a whim or a lark.

I've been thinking about this thread for several years and the importance of at least having a discussion that centralizes information, chronology and facts.

[mbhoward]

I appreciate this thread and would like to know more. I had just graduated from college and had reported to Pensacola, FL to start flight training. Railroads were not on my mind. A few years ago, I retired from that first career after 23 years. I'm back home in New Hampshire now, much more interested in railroads and would like to know what the major issues were. It seems this event restructured NE rail in many ways and the ramifications reached beyond the northeast. I appreciate the issue is still raw in some minds, but it is a complete void in mine.

In order to keep things as objective as possible, a summary of the work issues would suffice. I don't care to get into the personalities as that leads to strong emotions. Exactly what was the railroad trying to do that prompted the strike? What did they seek, and what was the Brotherhood's position? Did either side show any flexibility in the negotiations leading up to the strike? Or were positions 'chiseled in stone' right from the start making a strike inevitable? Thank you.