skip to Main Content

Don’t be fooled by bombastic rhetoric

Vote YES on tentative national contract

By Gil L. Gore
BLET National Vice President

Looking at our proposed National Agreement out for ratification and the political rhetoric emerging from the same reminds me of the lyrics to an old Kenny Rogers song The Gambler… “Every gambler knows that the secret to survivin’ is knowin’ what to throw away and knowin’ what to keep… Cause every hand”s a winner and every hand”s a loser.” The same holds true for this round of national bargaining.

Gil Gore - Why I'm voting YES

Make no mistake, President Pierce, our bargaining team and the Coordinated Bargaining Group (CBG) through their dedicated efforts have managed to deal us a pair of aces with this tentative agreement. Others — who do not have the same stake or buy-in that we transportation employees have in this round of national bargaining — are unscrupulously asking you to bust up the aces you’re holding in hopes of drawing an against-all-odds inside straight from a stacked political deck.
Don’t be fooled by their bombastic rhetoric.

The tentative agreement reached by the CBG provides real wage increases for you and your family while maintaining your health care contributions for the life of the contact with minimal adjustments to co-pays and deductibles. Busting up the pair of aces we hold in this agreement in hopes that a labor hating, big business loving Government will deal us the elusive inside straight needed to hit the jackpot in this round of bargaining is nothing but pure folly. It is not going to happen and we all know it. Now is not the time to throw away a winning hand and recklessly go “all in” with our work rules at risk. I will be casting my ballot in favor of the tentative agreement and it is my prayer that you will make the logical choice and join me in closing this round of bargaining with the best result possible.

Gil L. Gore
Locomotive Engineer
Union Pacific Railroad
BLET member since 1974

This article was taken from the B.L.E.T. National Division website at the following link: Don’t be fooled by bombastic rhetoric… vote YES on tentative national contract

Back To Top