President Ferguson Puts Up 10K to Stop Racist Harassment At NS

For years, our members working the Norfolk Southern main lines between Dalton and Lindale, Ga. (mileposts 32 through 84) have been dealing with something no railroader should ever have to tolerate: repeated, targeted, racially motivated harassment over company radio channels.

This isn’t a one-time incident. This has been happening for three years, and Norfolk Southern has known about it for just as long.

An unknown individual with access to NS narrowband radio frequencies has been singling out African American crew members and broadcasting racist, hateful garbage over the air. When crews try to escape it by switching to Channel Two, the designated emergency backup, the individual follows them over.

That tells us one thing loud and clear:
This person knows the system.

We Deal With Enough Already

Railroaders already have enough people on our backs.

We answer to…

• Managers
• Dispatchers
• Crew Callers
• A system that controls our time, our rest, and too often, our lives at home

We deal with enough pressure, enough stress, and enough uncertainty.

We don’t need this.

This added layer of harassment, this targeted, racist abuse, is not acceptable by SMART-TD standards.

Is “Safety First” Just a Phrase?

To their credit, Norfolk Southern did make one attempt to block the radio transmissions from the mysterious radio. At least that is what we were told, but they failed.

We were also told there is a reliable system that would stop this individual from continuing his harassment, but it’s “too expensive.”

That tells SMART-TD everything we need to know.

Because in this industry, we are constantly told one thing: Distractions are the enemy of safety.

Yet for three years, this company has allowed crews to endure harassment in the most disgusting, degrading ways imaginable, while operating trains carrying thousands of tons of hazardous materials through communities across Georgia.

Crews are angry.
Crews are distracted.
Crews are human.

And Norfolk Southern has allowed it to continue.

Georgia North Subdivision: Ignored, Dismissed, Endangered

On April 12 at Milepost 84 in Lindale Ga., a SMART-TD crew experienced the same kind of racist tirade, this time with a Norfolk Southern Trainmaster listening in real time. You might think this is where the company would step in and put an end to this, but you would be dead wrong.

The manager’s response wasn’t to find out who it was, issue an order to clear the channel, or even to tell him that he was committing a crime prosecutable by the FCC. Instead, he decided to go with a joke about how “They must have let that guy out of jail,” and move on with his day.

The crew was obviously shaken and distracted, but they did the professional thing and it was decided that they were not in the right mental state to safely operate and decided to stop and request a recrew. This was the safest course of action, as decided by the only two people whose opinion mattered in that moment.

They started to slow down the train, preparing to stop at a convenient crossing for a crew swap, and toned up the dispatcher. Before they could talk to her, the TM had jumped over to the dispatch channel and wanted to know what was going on.

The crew explained that they were mentally shaken by what they had just gone through and that they felt it was not safe for them to continue on their run. Their manger’s response was the added insult to injury for our guys.

“Do you have a signal on your PTC?”

When he was told they did, he ordered:

“Keep that train going!”

Once the dispatcher answered, our engineer explained the situation to her and expressed that it was his professional opinion that the safest course was to recrew the train. While they were explaining their situation to the dispatcher, the trainmaster, who was still on the dispatch channel, asked for a side conversation with the dispatcher on the phone. After the dispatcher had her talk with him, the crew got to speak with her again. All she could say to our guys was, “I’m sorry for what you went through, but do not stop that train.”

Let that sink in.

A crew clearly states they are not safe to operate, and they are told to move anyway.

SMART-TD’s Response: We Are Done Waiting

SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson has had enough.

“For three years, our members have been subjected to racist abuse over company channels while Norfolk Southern drags its feet and counts the cost. Let me be clear. If the company doesn’t have the guts to stop this, then by God, SMART-TD will. We are done waiting.”

As of this morning, President Ferguson announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to the identification of the individual responsible.

Ferguson went on to say, “The goal is simple: Find them. Charge them. Hold them accountable, including FCC violations for interference with interstate commerce.”

Leadership Speaks Out

Gregory J. Glenn, Local Chairperson and 2nd GCA Vice Chairperson, made it clear:

“No employee should be subjected to racism in the workplace, and no crew should be forced to operate a train when they have said it is unsafe. These are not gray areas. Norfolk Southern has failed on both counts, and that failure ends now.”

Kelvin Hill, Safety and Legislative Director for Local  1245, spoke directly for the crews:

“Our members have been reporting this for years. Some stopped reporting because nothing was done. That’s what happens when a company shows you it won’t stand up for you. But SMART-TD will. We’re standing up now, and we’re not backing down.”

President Ferguson also had strong words regarding the handling of the Lindale incident:

“Telling a crew to ‘keep it moving’ after they’ve been hit with racist abuse and say they’re not safe is beyond unacceptable. That lack of leadership puts our lives at risk, and those of every man, woman, and child who live and work in the towns we roll through. It’s plain and simple.”

A Pattern of Neglect

As Brother Hill pointed out, over the past three years, these incidents have become so common that some crews stopped reporting them altogether.

Why?

Because they knew the answer they’d get:
“Take it on the chin. Move your train. Get over it.”

That is not acceptable.
Not now. Not ever.

This Ends Now

SMART-TD is putting its money where its mouth is.

A $10,000 reward stands for information leading to charges against the individual responsible.

We will find them.
We will hold them accountable.
And we will make an example out of them.

Because this isn’t just about words, it’s about safety and whether we are the brotherhood we claim to be.

A distracted crew can miss a crossing. A distracted crew can take a turnout too fast. A distracted crew can run a work zone.

People get hurt. People get fired. People die.

Railroading is not a game.

We Stand Together

Railroaders are a family.

We live a life that most people will never understand.
We depend on each other.
We look out for each other.

We do not tolerate hate. And we sure as hell don’t ignore it when one of our own is under attack.

The railroad does enough damage to our mental well-being as it is.

We will not allow that damage to come from within our own ranks, or from someone abusing the system meant to keep us safe.

This is about human decency.
This is about professionalism.
And above all this is about safety.

If Norfolk Southern won’t fix it, SMART-TD will.

Contact: Local Chair, Greg Glenn: gglennsmart1245@gmail.com, or Leg. Rep. Kelvin Hill: kelvin0738@yahoo.com with any information you have that will help in this cause, and for details on how to collect the reward money President Ferguson is putting up.