David Vaughn’s Thoughts on the Future of NARR

(Nominee for President)

May 30, 2004

Railroad referees are proud professionals who play an important, frequently unappreciated role in railroad industry labor relations. The collective bargaining agreements we interpret are arcane and the disputes involving them frequently prolix. The industry is hard on its referees. Selections and schedules are unpredictable, travel and working conditions range from marginal to miserable, summary firings and blistering dissents are common. Those neutrals without thick skins and resilient psyches do not last.

The administering agency has had in place a lumbering and antiquated system of case administration and compensation which virtually ensures the administrative errors and delays of which it complains. It is almost always easier to blame the neutrals rather than badly chosen or badly presented cases or gamesmanship between the parties. All of this referees endure for pay at approximately one-quarter of the compensation non-railroad neutrals receive for similar work!

The situation described exists presently. It has been the case, more or less, throughout the history of the Section 3 process. Prior to the establishment of NARR in 1990, the training and education of railroad industry neutrals was neglected. There was no collective voice for our interests and no channel of communications with either the parties or the NMB. NARR was established to provide a platform for the professional education and development of referees, to provide support to and representation of referees and to provide camaraderie.

Those of us who worked to found NARR and who have participated in the growth of the organization take satisfaction that we have been true to our original purposes and that we have been able to make progress in so many directions.

The lynchpin of NARR has been our annual meeting, which has provided a forum for the presentation of issues to educate, inform and develop our members in substantive knowledge, procedure, technology, policy issues and ethics. As the annual meeting program has grown and participation by the parties has increased, we have also been able to educate and be educated by, them.

To provide more timely communication to our members between meetings, NARR has developed the online NARRator, which makes available to our members topical announcements, developments and reports, as well as analysis. Other information resources have been available through the Referee Manual. These mechanisms supplement the network of informal communications and support which has developed between our members.

NARR has historically enjoyed good relations with the National Mediation Board, the administering agency for our work. NMB has generally been supportive of our efforts and receptive to our suggestions. We have been providing input and assistance into the administrative changes now under development by the Board. Make no mistake, however. NMB has its own purposes, which do not always match the interests of referees either individually or as a group. NMB members and staff change over time, and continual education and liaison is required. NMB is subject to pressures and challenges which are larger than Section 3. It has been NARR’s mission in dealing with the NMB to facilitate constructive labor relations in the industry and to represent the interest of our members to the NMB. Maintaining a positive relationship and open lines of communications has been an NARR priority.

NARR has also had ongoing relations with the parties, both through their participation in our annual meeting, our work with the ongoing Section 3 Committee and on an ad hoc basis. That relationship, too, has generally been constructive, although the parties sometimes have concerns and perceptions which do not match our own. Maintaining and building the relationship with the parties has also been an organizational priority. I note that, for the upcoming year, NARR’s program committee work has included direct input from the parties, although the program content has been and remains the prerogative of our organization.

Any organization must always be looking to the future. My vision for the future of NARR includes continuation and expansion of the fine educational program and format of the annual meetings and consideration of expansion of training opportunities for both new neutrals and new advocates, perhaps co-sponsored with other organizations.

I would like to see NARR’s online services expanded, to include even more substantive content in the NARRator and to develop an NARR bulletin board to allow for member-only discussions.

In an early stage of discussion is a possible book on Section 3 activities, to be written by our members. This would constitute a major contribution to the process. It would clearly be an ambitious project and will require careful thought and development.

Our relationship with both NMB and the parties will require constant tending to ensure continued mutual respect and positive development. The possibility always exists for some bumps in the road in those relationships which will require steering a careful course.

Our membership will always be limited, but we already have a cadre of talented, interested people who participate in the activities of the organization. We need to continue to develop leadership. We need to work to bring in those few referees who have thus far been outside the tent. In the perfect world, our structure will be open, and every member who wishes will be able to participate in NARR’s work.

NARR is now at a point in its development where attention needs to be paid to the organization’s administrative functions and how they are carried out. As a cautionary note, it may well be that the increased level of programs and activities will require an increase in dues from the modest $50.00 per year presently paid by renewing members.

This optimistic vision for the future of NARR has been made possible by the leaders and members who stood with the organization during its difficult beginning years and who have contributed to its more recent growth. Founding President Joe Sickles and his successor Herb Marx, Secretary-Treasurer during my prior presidency Barry Simon, incumbent President Frank Quinn and Secretary-Treasurer Ann Kenis deserve special mentions, as do the many members who have developed and presented our successful programs. We owe them all a debt of thanks.

The future directions described represent an amalgam of ideas, many from the leaders mentioned, but almost all of which have already been discussed, at least informally, within the organization. The credit for their development belongs to the members who have proposed them; this is primarily a compilation. This breadth of member participation is one of our greatest strengths and will be the engine which drives our future successes. We can look forward collectively to solidify NARR’s past gains and build for the future.

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