Rail Engineers, Teamsters May Merge Unions

The nation’s oldest labor union, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, said Wednesday that it is considering a merger with the Teamsters union, Reuters reported.

Calling the merger a way to create a “seamless transportation union” of workers from both the rail and trucking industries, a BLE spokesman said the governing body took the first step by authorizing its leaders to explore the possibilities of a combination.

Union officials told Reuters that a merger would help the BLE, whose 38,000 active members in the railroad industry are mostly locomotive engineers, gain more influence in bargaining and lobbying by connecting with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, whose 1.4 million members include many long-haul truckers.

In December, BLE members rejected a proposed merger with the United Transportation Union, the other major railroad operating union.

However, the UTU has discussed plans to seek representational elections railroad by railroad. If they were held, and involved a “majority rules” vote by BLE and UTU members combined, the UTU, with far more members on most railroads, would likely win.

Another possible factor is an agreement reached last year, under which UTU members, instead of BLE members, will operate remote-controlled trains. Some pilot programs are already underway.

A BLE spokesman declined to discuss questions involving the UTU with Transport Topics. Railroad spokesmen likewise declined comment.

Founded in 1863, the BLE represents conductors, trainmen and dispatchers, as well as engineers. Besides drivers and other trucking industry workers, the Teamsters Union represents a variety of manufacturing and airline industry workers

In a related development, another railroad union, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, reported on its Web site that it is exploring a merger with the United Steelworkers of America.

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