Left to right, standing, Odell Stewart, Mike Sellers, Mark Barbour, Michael
Williams, Rich Lau, William Crisp. Seated, Michael Suggs, Jimmy Kalawaia, Timothy
Williams, Eddie Jackson, Roosevelt Brown, Johnny Tolver, Kelton Swanigan.
"I don't like bullies," said Mark Barbour, Local Chairman, Norfolk &
Western System Federation, "and that's what most companies are."
Barbour, 45, grew up in the coal fields of southern West Virginia and his grandfather
was a coal worker for 40 years. "I didn't know much about unions," he said,
"but I knew who the United Mine Workers were and what they stood for when I was five
years old."
"Even so," he continued, "sometimes I took things like seniority, health
benefits, wage rates, too much for granted. But I've seen corporate bullies destroy jobs,
destroy families. I like people sticking together for what's right and I believe everyone
should reap the same benefits I have belonging to a union. That's why I believe in
organizing."
William Crisp, Local Chairman, Southern System Division, is looking into retiring in
the near future. But he "wants to see others get some of what he has received in
benefits over the years."
Barbour and Crisp were explaining why they got involved in recent BMWE organizing
campaigns on the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC), Atlantic & Gulf (AGLF) and Georgia
& Florida (G&F) railroads, and why they were happy to attend the first official
meeting of the AGLF and G&F new members held in Albany, Georgia on March 22, 1998.
At that meeting, BMWE Vice President Rich Lau and Southern System Division Officers Sam
Alexander and Mike Sellers went over the contract demands filed earlier in a Section 6
Notice by General Chairman Gary Cox. Primary concerns included job security, contracting
out, health benefits, job classifications and wage rates.
Kelton Swanigan, age 32, an in-house organizer, says "the company can do better by
their employees" in all those areas. Swanigan, nicknamed the "enforcer"
because he gets things done, has worked on the railroad for eight years. Born and raised
in Albany, Georgia, he has been married to Angela for 10 years. They have three children.
"The union was on my mind for a long time," Swanigan said. "I kept
thinking the company might not have done this or that with the union. The BMWE organizers
showed me how things could and should be. The union is something for a better future for
employees and their families. I never was union before, I'm real glad I am now."
Michael Suggs, like Swanigan, is age 32, married (Debra) with three children and was an
in-house organizer. A signal maintainer, Suggs has been with the railroad for two years.
"I have a realistic view," Suggs said. "I know what you can and can't do
with the union. I'm following in my father's footsteps; he was a real union supporter who
worked as an engineer on the Georgia Northern for 35 years. My sisters and brothers are
union too, two of them are in the IBEW. I guess you can just say my family is a union
family."
Michael Williams, age 40, married with one son, Michael, Jr., has worked on the
railroad for five years. He says, "We needed a written contract and a stronger voice
to enforce it. When I see someone treated wrong, I have to speak out. I think the union
will speak up for the workers when they're not treated fairly by the company."
"With the union you get better benefits and pay," said Eddie Jackson
succinctly. Jackson, age 40, who suffered the loss of his wife last October, was born and
raised in Dawson, Georgia and has two children. He has worked on the railroad for three
years and runs a backhoe.
Johnny Tolver, a new hire who started on the railroad in September 1997, said, "At
first I was skeptical, I've never been in a union. But the company is not doing what they
said they were going to when they hired me."
Jimmy Kalawaia, who was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, was also skeptical of the union at
first. "I was the last one to support the union," he said. "I don't jump in
without knowing what something's about. But after I listened and heard what the BMWE had
to say, I felt I could support the union. I've been in a union before. I know they can
help you make things better. The company will keep you right where you're at if they
can."
"I've always wanted to work on the railroad,' said Timothy Williams, age 31, born
and raised in Dawson, Georgia. Williams, married to Sheila, has one daughter, Kimrika, age
7, and has worked on the railroad two years in November.
Williams supported the union because, "we weren't being treated fair. I've never
been in a union before but the organizers and others told me what a union could and
couldn't do for us. I'm looking for better benefits and pay. My eggs at the store cost
just as much as management's eggs do."
Odell Stewart, age 35, married to Joann, has two children. He supported the union
because he wanted "better treatment and somebody to speak up for me. We need better
equipment to work with, better pay, a better working environment. There's a lot of good
workers and we look out for each other but we needed to be organized."
Summing up, Roosevelt Brown, age 31, born and raised in Albany, Georgia, says he
"feels pretty good because my father was in the union and I know the union can help
gain benefits for my family and the families of my brother workers."
After four long years and having won their case in three separate jurisdictions
(see story in July 1997 Journal), former employees of the
Atlanta & St. Andrews Bay Railroad Company (ASAB) finally received their settlement
payments. Freddie Simpson, Vice Chairman of the Allied Eastern Federation (a new system
formed last year from the merger of the CSX and Dixie Federations; J. R. Cook, General
Chairman) was pleased to present the checks at a meeting in Panama City, Florida on
Sunday, April 5, 1998. Don Griffin, BMWE Assistant General Counsel who represented the
workers, said, "The successful out come doesn't make up for the fact that these men
lost their jobs to satisfy a corporate whim of Stone Container (owner of the
railroad)." He went on to say, "I am incredibly proud to have worked with them
(the ASAB workers) because they stuck together and showed what real brotherhood is all
about."
Left to right, standing, Robert Laseter, Dwayne White, Whittie Saffold, Isaiah
Moore, Jaries Johnson, J. R. Johnson, Eddie Clemons, Freddie Simpson, Jerry Fears, Darrick
Lund; in front, Karl Page, Mike Nolan. |