Merger ballots in mail July 17
Ballots, allowing UTU members to vote on the proposed UTU merger with the Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMWIA), will be mailed Tuesday, July 17. The merger would create the 230,000-member Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) union.
Members will receive, at their home address, a package that includes a ballot, the merger document, detailed voting instructions, a video on CD disk explaining the merger, a special edition of UTU News, a letter from International President Paul Thompson, and a letter from AFL-CIO President John Sweeney.
Ballots will be tabulated by the American Arbitration Association.
The deadline for voting will be Tuesday, Aug. 7.
Voting will be via the American Arbitration Association’s electronic voting system.
Voting will be by telephone, with toll-free telephone lines open 24-hours a day, seven days a week, commencing July 17 and closing at 11:59 p.m., Eastern daylight time, Aug. 7.
Each member will receive, in their ballot packet, a unique random personal identification number that will allow them to cast a ballot. Votes must be cast from a touchtone telephone.
The UTU already has established a special merger page at its website, www.utu.org, with explanatory information on the merger. Access to the merger page is achieved by going to the bottom right-hand corner of the website home page and clicking on the animated "Merger" box. Additional information is being added almost daily, and members should check that web page regularly.
During the week of July 9, answers to frequently asked questions will be added to the website merger page. As additional questions are received by the International, additional answers will be added to the FAQ section on the merger page. Questions should be sent to the UTU via U.S. mail (14600 Detroit Rd., Cleveland, OH 44107), or sent via e-mail to
president@utu.org.
Members should keep the following in mind as they begin discussing the merger and considering how they will vote:
* Existing agreements will remain in full force and effect.
* The UTU constitution will be integrated into the SMART constitution intact, including the current autonomy provisions.
* No UTU local, general committee of adjustment or state legislative board will be closed as a result of the merger, nor will any UTU local or general committee lose its jurisdiction.
* The merger will not affect any policies or annuities issued by the UTUIA, as the UTUIA is not a part of the formal merger and will continue to be governed by regulations of the Ohio Department of Insurance. The UTU-SMWIA merger will, however, create a large new pool of potential UTUIA policy holders, which will help assure the future financial viability of the UTUIA.
* The SMWIA was formed as a rail union in 1888, and currently represents some 12,000 rail workers.
* The SMWIA, in addition to having expertise under the Railway Labor Act, also has special expertise in negotiating, organizing and filing grievances under the National Labor Relations Act, which is important to UTU bus members.
* The general president of the SMWIA, Mike Sullivan, is also president of the Eugene V. Debs Foundation and is considered one of the nation’s most competent scholars on Eugene V. Debs.
* The SMWIA currently spends more than 40 percent of its budget on organizing, and is prepared to commence, in concert with UTU officers following merger, a significant organizing drive on non-organized shortline rail, bus and airline properties.
* Creation of SMART will create one of the largest political action committees (PACs) in America, adding considerably to our access to, and influence in, Congress and state legislatures.
* The SMWIA strike fund now exceeds $50 million; and, as SMWIA General President Mike Sullivan says, "Currently, the ability of rail employees to strike is limited. But politics can change that and we want to be in a position to act effectively against carriers."
* AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Rich Trumka, who supports the merger, points out that the combined resources of the SMWIA and the UTU will "help your fight with CSX and BNSF to protect your job from others attempting to take it." This is crucial owing to recent agreements the BLET signed with BNSF and CSX, which are aimed at taking UTU jobs.
* The UTU-SMWIA merger preserves UTU craft autonomy. Additionally, the SMART merger establishes a Transportation Division that will be under the direction of a president elected by UTU members at the August convention, thus assuring autonomy and control of issues affecting operating employees.
* SMART will provide an alternative opportunity for other railroad craft unions to join an organization that represents railroad craft employees, and not an organization that represents primarily truck drivers whose legislative agenda is contrary to the rail industry.
* Under SMART, 10 UTU International positions will be eliminated.