Pelican Brief

Ramblings and Rumblings from the Klamath Basin

November 2006

              OH, SWEET VICTORY!!!. As you are well aware there will be new and better Congress coming soon. The President disproved the P.T. Barnum saying that “nobody ever went broke under estimating the intelligence of the American people”. Well Dubya has gone broke by doing just that. The election also proved Abe Lincoln’s say that “you can’t fool all the people all the time”.

This changing of the guard could not have come at a better time for labor and especially railroad labor since we are in the midst of national negotiations. The carriers are now aware that the final say on any contract will come from a Democratic congress and that is a very big hammer. The carriers began these talks with the knowledge that conditions were perfect for them. This scenario was referred to as the “perfect storm”. As they say about the weather though, if you don’t like it stick around for a few minutes and it will change. The weather for us has turned completely around. What was once a fractured and weak stance has become a formidable force. The BLE and UTU are now unified and have become allied with captive shippers to kick some butt.

           When CMTS came to the Northwest we were told to give it six months and we would never want to go back. It is now been two months and I am not so sure. One of the major problems as I see it is that the most important thing to operating employees  is board standing and train lineup( of dubious value). Under the old system a push of just one button would give you that information, now you have to jump through several hoops to get there. However there are some really neat things about it also.  I will remember what they are someday.

           Considering the profound issues facing us these days this may seem to some to be trivial, but if you have ever waited 20  minutes on the phone for CMS( and whose hasn’t) you will appreciate it’s importance. I speak of course of the music that we are subjected to while on hold. I am not knocking the song that they play. What I object to is that they play it over and over. Listening to same song for 20 minutes at a time will quickly turn your favorite tune into one that you cringe when you hear. I have spoken to the manager of Crew Services about this and he agreed that something needed to be done. He at first suggested that perhaps we would enjoy railroad trivia. I told him absolutely no we would rather have silence. It has been a good six months and nothing has changed. So call the Director of CMS and tell him to change the station. Tell him it is unconstitutional to subject citizens to this type of cruel and unusual punishment.

           There are two upcoming retirements in Klamath Falls, first there is Denny(Older than Dirt) Dunkeson, longtime Local Chairman, who has long been involved to county Democratic activities and as such is now walking around with a big smile on his face in heavily Republican Klamath. GO DENNY.

           Also retiring is RB (Tumbleweeds) Jones, who learned his trade form legendary Roseville switchman, Izzy Moovin. Richard can now sit on his porch with a McNaught’s in one hand and a Silver Bullet in the other and wait for his cows to come home.

           Congratulations to these two fine gentlemen.

            Finally this most important bit of advice that I learned in the first grade. NEVER TRUST A DOG TO GUARD YOUR FOOD.

Tim Andersen  Local #1573