Dear John,
My name is John, and I’m the Business Agent of UE Local 506. Until being elected to this role, I have been building locomotives at our plant in Erie, PA, for 11 years. I’m excited about the possibilities of UE’s new Green Locomotive Project. I hope you’ll support us as we push forward new ideas about keeping and creating good union jobs, while also fighting climate change.
This project came about through conversations with our members here in Erie. The locomotives we build run on diesel, which isn’t great for the environment. However, rail transportation should be an important part of our infrastructure, even under a changing climate. We know that we can build engines that pollute less and are more efficient. But when we started to look around at what is on the railroads right now, we found that a large majority of freight locomotives operated by the railroads do not meet today’s Environmental Protection Agency standards. Right now, the railroads don’t have any incentive to get these old, polluting engines off the tracks, and the railroads are getting away with this pollution.
At Local 506, we want to be part of stopping that. The Green Locomotive Project is going to do educational outreach to build a coalition of workers, community and environmental activists. Together, we’ll demand the railroads clean up their act, which will help our fellow brother and sister union members that work in the railroad hubs around the country, as well as those that live nearby. We’ll be demanding that replacement engines be built by union workers, leading to more good, family-sustaining jobs.
You can help us make this project successful with your donation to the UE Research and Education Fund today.
