HR 4844 is the bill that legislates the deal made almost a year ago between the railroads and the other rail unions except for the BMWE and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. That deal gave over $430 million a year to the railroads in tax cuts in return for some improvement in benefits to those in the railroad retirement system.

On September 8, as over 50 BMWE officers and legislative directors again prepared to gather in Washington, D.C. for another, last ditch effort to try to stop the bill from passing the Senate, the BMWE and BLE were contacted by Robert Allen, Chairman of the National Railway Labor Conference. The NRLC is an association of most of the nation's railroads.

Allen made it clear that if the BMWE and BLE did not support the legislation in the Senate, the railroads would not provide the health insurance included in the deal made a year ago with the other unions. Health insurance is not part of the legislation. Allen also made it clear that if the BMWE and BLE still hoped to gain the health insurance for their members, they would have to pay for it in contract bargaining with the railroads.

BLE then agreed to support the legislation in the Senate, because they believed the bill would pass and they didn't want their members to risk losing the health insurance.

Two weeks earlier, Joel Myron, BMWE Director of Strategic Planning and Research, had been given the authority by BMWE leadership, to make the critical, last-minute decisions required in what was clearly the final days of a long struggle. Myron contacted Allen and advised that while the BMWE simply could not support the legislation, the BMWE would withdraw its opposition in return for receiving the health insurance.

On September 12, BMWE withdrew its opposition to the legislation after receiving a letter from the NRLC guaranteeing the health insurance to BMWE members if the bill becomes law. Myron took "full and sole responsibility for the decision" to withdraw BMWE opposition, a decision he knew disappointed many in the BMWE. "While the bill provides too much for the railroads and not nearly enough for those in the railroad retirement system, continuing opposition would result in our members losing the benefit or paying even more for it. The bill will almost certainly pass whether we continue opposition or not and we cannot justify our members not receiving the benefit or paying more for it," Myron said.