Nostalgia & History > Guilford RR Train Wreck During Labor Strike (WARNING)

Here's a little bit more of the train wreck that occurred during one of the Guilford Railroad Strikes in Maine during the mid 1980's.  I took this video in So. Brewer, Maine.  There was a switch leading off from the Bucksport Branch into the where the Eastern Fine Paper mill was located and this is appears to be where the engines began their derailment.  This is about two miles from the ex Maine Central Railroad's Bangor, ME Yard.

The video is about 9 minutes and its contents are mostly the interaction between striking members and replacement workers and those few who crossed the picket line.

WARNING:  Some language may not be suitable for some people.  Remember, there is a carrier/labor work action in progress so expect to hear some very rough language throughout and especially towards the end of the video.  If that offends you then don't watch.

 

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WOW! Great video, I expected fists to start flying any time. I  wonder what caused the wreck, any clues?

Thanks for sharing this very poignant video.  For this FAA ex-Patco air traffic controller, when I heard the phrase "scum of the earth", I had a flashback of when I was called that on the picket line at SJC airport on 8/3/81 during the air traffic controllers strike.  If people really knew the real issues of the strike.  BTW, I was not nearly as adament about someone "crossing the picket line" as shown in the video.

Kent in CArmel Valley

Springfield Terminal ... Guilford used this ploy to circumvent the union contract ... thing is if Timothy Mellon spent as much of his determination and time fixing his railroad instead of trying to break the unions he might've had a chance to make a profit ... case in point was/is the FEC ... the FEC did have their problems including a train getting dynamited in the 60s while the president was in town but they came out of the whole mess as a very well run company ...

Whoever was operating the camera had the foresight to zoom in on the locomotive lettering of UNITY while coward was being screamed in the background. Sad.

And this kind of scene is exactly why in my 30 years in the professional workforce, I have done my best to avoid being in a union. My one exception that membership was mandatory, the union failed me miserably when I needed it.
​The guy with the big hat and mouth, flapping his arms like a seal, is a punchline.

jtbrandt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> And this kind of scene is exactly why in my 30
> years in the professional workforce, I have done
> my best to avoid being in a union. My one
> exception that membership was mandatory, the union
> failed me miserably when I needed it.
> ​The guy with the big hat and mouth, flapping
> his arms like a seal, is a punchline.

The union failed you?  How did that happen?  Were you not paid the same wages as other union members?  Were you not receiving the same benefits as other union members?  Did you reject all the union benefits when you hired on by telling your bosses you would work for equivalent non-union wage and benefit package?

If you detest the union so badly then why did you take the job?  For the money?  For the benefits?  You could have moved on to another job when you felt the union "failed you miserably."  Why didn't you?  Maybe you did?

Did the union fail you because you didn't understand how the union works or were you just not active within the union, learning the processes applied to different actions.

Probably the union is better off without you.  To this day I hate seeing a good union job wasted on someone who loves the wages and benefits but complains about the union.

Heck, I'm willing to bet you didn't even attempt to understand the contract and it application.

Not that it is your business, but...
​In a nutshell, I am a chemist, and at that plant we were being paid as lab technicians/assistants per job description. When me and a peer pointed out that we were actually doing the work of the Chemist position, we began steps to be paid/reclassified for the work we were actually doing, and we were suddenly both accused (completely falsely, out of the blue) of being dishonest in our lab work and fired. Just us. We asked "our union" for help and got nothing. They hung us out to dry on clearly fabricated charges that should have been easy beaten down with any kind of union support.
​Don't you, as a union guy, think that dues paying members attempting to get a crew paid for the type of work they were actually doing should have the union at their back?
​Look, I grew up in Pittsburgh in the 70s when the steel unions were at their thug worst, which made an impression on me. On the other hand, my father was a long standing union steward and secretary of his union, and I have the importance of unions in industry in my DNA.
​But that display of violent threat (to put it nicely as possible) in the video has no place in civilized society. And if you think that by putting me down for seeing that makes unions look better, well... You just go with that and enjoy the type of popularity in the workforce that unions are getting as a result.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/16 22:05 by jtbrandt.

I agree with you.

jtbrandt Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not that it is your business, but...
> ​In a nutshell, I am a chemist, and at that
> plant we were being paid as lab
> technicians/assistants per job description. When
> me and a peer pointed out that we were actually
> doing the work of the Chemist position, we began
> steps to be paid/reclassified for the work we were
> actually doing, and we were suddenly both accused
> (completely falsely, out of the blue) of being
> dishonest in our lab work and fired. Just us. We
> asked "our union" for help and got nothing. They
> hung us out to dry on clearly fabricated charges
> that should have been easy beaten down with any
> kind of union support.
> ​Don't you, as a union guy, think that dues
> paying members attempting to get a crew paid for
> the type of work they were actually doing should
> have the union at their back?
> ​Look, I grew up in Pittsburgh in the 70s when
> the steel unions were at their thug worst, which
> made an impression on me. On the other hand, my
> father was a long standing union steward and
> secretary of his union, and I have the importance
> of unions in industry in my DNA.
> ​But that display of violent threat (to put it
> nicely as possible) in the video has no place in
> civilized society. And if you think that by
> putting me down for seeing that makes unions look
> better, well... You just go with that and enjoy
> the type of popularity in the workforce that
> unions are getting as a result.
>  

Let me see if I have this part right.  You were a chemist working under a job description of a lab technition/assistant and then decided to persue a pay rate specifically as chemist.  The company said no, then right out of the blue charged you for dishonesty in your work and fired you?  In order for me to adequately address your situation I would need more info.  Such as...was there a step progression, a time progression, or a seniority progression which may have prevented you from attaining the chemist rate?  As for the company...how did they look at you as an employee?  Did they perceive you as a trouble maker, or as one who was off sick too often in their estimation, or perhaps one who doesn't' "play well with others?"  In other words, did they just not like you.  There was a reason, as ridiculous as it may have been, to want you gone.  I'm sure you don't want go there with me simply because it is none of my business.

As for the union response.  I would have to know the details of the claim you filed, how the facts of your case applied to the contract.  In other words, I would need to know much more to began to hopefully see what happened to you.

I certainly can try to understand how you feel, but I honestly can't because l have never lost a union job.  I've had a couple of instances where I needed the union to "balance" out actions taken against me or to be proactive to prevent the company from taking action against me.  Having said that....

Sometimes union people think the union can do anything to protect a members job no matter what.  These people generally do not understand how a union operates.  Just because it is a union does not mean they can demand/dictate a final result.  Some people become "turned off" to unionism because of that.  OK, I'm getting a bit long here....

For what it is worth, I apologize for the treatment you received at the hands of your union.  I'm not here to tell you unions are perfect because they are not, but I firmly believe, for the majority of most working people, we are better off with them than without them.

One last thing.  The "thug" aspect of what you see in my video is just one part of an incomplete action over a period of time.  Believe me when I tell you that moments like that is certainly a two way street.  The police were called by neighbors and the strikers and replacement workers were told to quiet it down.  One of the comments by a few replacement workers was "if we weren't on railroad property and were off duty things would have been different."  An event did happen off property, in fact several.  Society is not as civil as many think and when people fear losing their job all bets are off.


I know I didn't help you out much here.  I couldn't because of lack of pertinent info.  I realize that probably does nothing for you and without actually being there and being involved I can't say the union treated you unfairly or not.  I know you feel it did so while I understand your position the best I can, overall, through experience, I do not agree.





 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/08/16 10:41 by RS11.