Temporary
Supervisors Working as Scabs
May
9, 2007
Brothers and Sisters,
As the possibility of a national strike has become increasingly
unavoidable, the question of supervisors holding seniority in
the maintenance of way being held as "scabs" and charged
under the IBT Constitution has become relevant.
Secretary/Treasurer Wilson and I have gone over the IBT constitution
and relevant jurisprudence and are of the determination that these
supervisors come under the classifications of "inactive members".
As inactive members they were not issued strike ballot notices
but still must abide by the constitution in the regards to crossing
picket lines.
As inactive members they will be governed by:
Article
XIX (Trials and Appeals) section 1. (g)
Charges
may be preferred against a suspended member or an inactive member
who has been issued a withdrawal card.... A suspended member
or an inactive member on withdrawal may not file charges against
an active member or officer
The
specific offence and recommended penalty for crossing a TCRC-MWED
picket line can be found in article XIX section 8:
Section
8. Any member who (1) knowingly goes to work or remains in the
employment of any person, firm, or corporation, whose employees
are on strike or locked out, unless he has permission of the International
Union, the Joint Council, or his Local Union, may be tried by
the Executive Board of his Local Union. Any member who (2) knowingly
gives or attempts to give, directly or indirectly, any information
to any employer on an unfair list or whose employees are on strike
or locked out, or whose employees are trying to secure an agreement
or an improvement in their working conditions, or whose employees
are trying to prevent an increase in hours of labor or a decrease
in wages, for the purpose of assisting such employer, or for any
gain or promise of gain, or who (3) knowingly goes to work or
remains in the employment of any person, firm, or corporation
on an unfair list of the International Union without permission
from the International Union, the Joint Council, or his Local
Union, may be tried in the manner provided for the trial of other
offences. It is recommended that the penalty for violating this
Section shall be a fine equal to wages earned while working in
violation of this Section. For repeated violations, suspension,
or expulsion in addition to a fine should be considered.
Therefore,
we advise that all supervisors who decide that they will cross
lawful TCRC MWED picket lines, must be prepared to pay the consequence.
In the event of a strike, we are also advising all members who
are on a legal picket line to report any and all "scabs"
with as much information as they can (including pictures where
possible) to their strike captains.
Stay
safe, stay strong, stay united
Bill
Brehl
President
TCRC
MWED
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