Brotherhood Of Railroad Signalmen Local 20

The next regular meeting of BRS Local 20 will be held Saturday, September 13,
2014 at 8:30 at Stoney Creek Inn, 3060 South Kinney Coulee Road, Onalaska, WI.
Reservations may be made by calling 800-659-2220.

Following are brief minutes from our last meeting held in Galesburg, IL on June
21, 2014.

The meeting opened at 8:30 with 13 members, 3 guests, and 1 retiree present. It
was reported we had $ 78,431.73 in checking and c.d.’s in the amount of $21,647.20 in
the treasury. 30 new members were voted in unanimously, and the previous minutes and bills were approved. It was also noted that the probationary period for new hires starting after July 1 would be 90 days.

Joe Lokken reported on the following: An investigation for a man failing to be
CDL qualified due to a medical contractors mistake, an injury to a member working off
district who is now back to work, and a new hire dismissed during probation. Joe also
discussed the new adjacent track rule, as well as a supervisor who was reluctant to pay
mileage in lieu of lodging for crew members.

Joe Baker reported on the following: A member written up for failing to report an
injury, resulting in a waiver with a 30 day record suspension. Joe also reported he was
working on an issue concerning an alleged activation failure as well as a member with a
time roll issue involving going on a call in a lightening storm.

Nate Estes reported on behalf of Jerry Moore on the following: A backing
incident in April resulting in a waiver with a 1 year review, a collision with a hy rail truck
and some on track equipment resulting in a level s with 1 year review for the driver and a
level s and 3 year review for the passenger due to the fact he didn’t have 5 years seniority yet. He also reminded us to remain vigilant when it comes to watching contractors activities.

Nate Estes reported: Issues with power switches in dark territory, and the effort to
get a ruling on authority types in these areas, he is working on getting involved with the
Illinois state federation of the AFL-CIO. Nate is also working on getting some forms
created dealing with information for members off sick, as well as bereavement
information. He also talked about possibly rearranging meeting schedules, such as
another meeting at the safety certifications in Sandwich and Burlington.

Craig McLaren reported: A claim for a crew where an RCL crew cut over a
crossing interconnected with existing crossing equipment, the creation of a mobile crew
to be established in Marceline, and an injury reported for a back issue.

Vice General Chairman Kelley Portlock was present and discussed the following:
The companies no nonsense hardball approach on crossing activation failures, and the
importance of the proper testing of such, the ongoing responsibility study is still in
progress, he also discussed the importance of our support for political candidates who
support us, and he closed with there is no further word on certification for signalmen.

FELA attorney Dan Petro discussed the need for us to share information with our
new members, as well as older guys the difference between workers compensation and
the federal employers’ liability act. He also gave an excellent talk on personal injury
reporting, the off track vehicle policy, the whistle blower act (federal railway safety act)
including the “good faith challenge”

If you can make a meeting, it is worth your time if nothing else than get information from a guy like Dan Petro or Kelley Portlock. These guys work hard for us, and it is always a learning experience when they are at our meetings.

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer, and I look forward to our next meeting in Onalaska September 13. I would also like to remind everyone to forward your email addresses to General Secretary Ken Strickland so you can get our general committee newsletter on email, it is a huge time and money saver. His email is brskes@att.net. I would like to get more guys signed up for our locals’ newsletter as well. It also helps me keep members informed of all the things going on with the local. Nate Estes has our own website in great shape as well. I urge everybody to sign up for it as well as Grand Lodges website. You can contact Nate at nathanestes78@yahoo.com for instructions on getting into the secure site, or it’s pretty self explanatory on the sites front page as well. Our website is brslocal20.org. Finally I would like to ask for everyone’s help with keeping me up to speed on any status changes you may have, as well as any information on all the new guys we’re getting. The membership is growing and I can use all the help I can get.

Fraternally,
Ed Leeson
Recording Financial Secretary
BRS Local 20
309-202-1260
brslocal20@comcast.net