Brothers and sisters,
It’s a simple fact: Unions provide stability for workers in an economic environment where that concept is rare.
That’s true across many different industries but especially in the technology sector, where workers are seen as expendable and burnout (both physical and mental) is the norm. This should sound familiar to all of us!
Also normal are mergers and mass layoffs with little thought given to the actual humans who make these companies run.
One of the most well-known mass layoffs in the technology industry happened in 2002. Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) announced that it would cut thousands of jobs as part of its acquisition of Compaq Computer Corp, a merger that promised to “boost efficiencies” — AKA Precision Scheduled Manufacturing.
In total, more than 17,000 workers lost their jobs and their livelihoods in the blink of an eye.
It was a lose-lose situation: Employees were seen as disposable and put on the chopping block while the merger failed to meet its lofty, promised goals.
Without representation or protections like a union contract (or a Jobs For Life agreement) in place to push back against these massive layoffs and safeguard their interests, these workers were ultimately lost to the footnotes of history.
More than 20 years later, this move has seemingly become second nature.
The unmentioned but common denominator? These are almost always nonunion workers who lack the benefits and job protections that are a well-known hallmark of membership.
Jobs that from the outside might be seen as flashy, cushy or status-bearing usually carry little to no insulation from things like mass layoffs and at-will employment, where you can be fired for any (or no) reason.
That’s where a union and a union contract are game changers.
In September, SMART-TD announced a landmark agreement with Union Pacific that puts a promise in writing: Our members working in train and yardmaster service will have job protection for the length of their careers following the carrier’s merger with Norfolk Southern, subject to the usual requirements for continued employment.
This is an unprecedented guarantee in the history of American railroading.
When the agreement was announced, we didn’t mince words: The biggest railroad and biggest rail union in America were breaking new ground that protects jobs, families and the future of the United States supply chain.
That’s the union difference at work.
Or take our brothers and sisters at the Port Terminal Railroad Association. As SMART News reported in October, a disturbing pattern emerged over the past several years highlighted by ongoing disregard for union agreements, safety obligations and basic respect for the workforce.
We fought for our yardmasters who were being mistreated and sent a clear, unmistakable warning to PTRA management: This behavior will not be tolerated and stops now.
What’s been most notable, however, is the solidarity between crafts on the property. Although represented by several different unions, yardmasters, engineers, conductors and maintenance workers have demonstrated that unity and solidarity are the best protections against intimidation and are proof of what solidarity in action looks like.
Union members are much more difficult to treat as disposable. We fight for our fellow brothers and sisters, because we’re a family. Like all families, unions are far from perfect and not without flaws. But when the going gets tough, we get going.
We stand up and fight for our members to ensure they don’t become another set of statistics in an article about the latest layoff.
We ensure they have a voice at work and are afforded the protections that they’ve earned as union members.
We’ve got their backs — from the day they receive their union card until it’s time to retire.
That’s the value of being union, and being in the SMART-TD family.
In solidarity,
Jeremy R. Ferguson
President, Transportation Division