Hate train

`Nigger' is a common word at Amtrak Boston's engineering division

an exclusive by Sarah McNaught

In October of 1993, Bill Regan started his workday just like any other. It was 7 a.m. as he stood in the doorway of supervisor Robert Hartley's office listening to the men receiving their morning work orders.

As the two-time elected president of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees (BMWE) Local 987, Regan had the job of ensuring that employees in his department -- part of the engineering division of the MBTA Commuter Rail Services, operated under contract by Amtrak -- were being assigned to work crews in accordance with union policy.

There were six foremen in the office, several men in the lunchroom next door, several more in the track department on the other side of Hartley's office, and more in the office across the way. There were even men lingering in the hall awaiting the start of the day.

That's why it's almost unbelievable that no one witnessed what happened next.

"All I remember," says the 53-year-old Regan, "is the guy standing in the doorway beside me turned to me and said, `Bill, your jacket.' As I turned my head and looked over my shoulder, I realized I was on fire."

Someone had come down the hall, set Regan's multicolored rayon windbreaker on fire, and walked away, apparently unnoticed. Regan says he managed to pull the jacket off before it had a chance to burn through his sweatshirt. Meanwhile, everyone else stood and stared in disbelief as Regan turned to Hartley and said, "Bob, enough's enough. I can't take any more."

This was not the first time somebody tried to take Regan down.

Over the past five years, Regan has been set on fire, assaulted, threatened, suspended, and publicly humiliated. He starts his car by reaching in through his window because he received a car-bomb threat a few months ago. Lately, his daughters have been sleeping on the couch in the living room because Regan has been told to expect bricks through his bedroom windows.

His crime -- the thing that has turned his life into a waking nightmare -- is his unswerving determination to bring affirmative action to the engineering division of Amtrak Boston's commuter rail.

It was in 1994 that Regan came to the conclusion that something had to be done at the engineering division. All his fellow workers were men. Very few were minorities. And many were working under abusive and high-handed supervisors who routinely used racial slurs, threats, and physical violence to control their workers. He began to write letters, place phone calls, and ask for meetings with management. His thanks for that work: ineffective investigations, hollow promises, and a vicious backlash.

Now, two years later, things are worse. A Phoenix investigation has revealed an Amtrak workplace that seems more like the Old South than Boston, 1996. Four current Amtrak employees who are black -- including two who have allowed their names to be used -- confirm that racial harassment is a regular part of the work week. They have all been called "nigger" -- and plenty of other things -- either by managers or in front of managers. They have all been subjected to other forms of harassment: racist jokes, slogans, and posters; assignments to the worst, most difficult tasks. And the majority of the employees say that they fear violent repercussions if they complain publicly. Five current white Amtrak employees the Phoenix spoke with -- two of whom have allowed their names to be used -- confirmed the reports of widespread problems. Discrimination, they say, is apparent in all five of the engineering division's departments.

Regan's efforts to promote a more racially balanced work force and foster a tolerant atmosphere not only angered many of his supervisors, it also made him unpopular with rank-and-file members -- some of whom petitioned that he refrain from using union funds to promote affirmative action. On October 8, another man was elected president of the local.

One national union official, commenting on the history of strife at Amtrak Boston, ruefully said he wouldn't be surprised to see an effort made to fire Regan in the wake of this article.

What do Amtrak's top regional managers make of this? Of four executives contacted, none would talk.

Documents obtained by the Phoenix testify to the depth of the problem. In addition to confirming the pattern of harassment, they paint a picture of hiring practices that are, to say the least, suspect. Minorities are underrepresented in Amtrak's engineering division in Boston. Of 410 employees of the engineering division, only eight are black -- well under the national average. Anecdotal evidence also suggests that qualified minorities were discouraged, while relatives of current employees were put on the fast track to employment. Federal law prohibits employers from hiring practices which discriminate on the basis of race, gender, or creed.

Amtrak responded to the Phoenix investigation with a letter, stating in part: "Amtrak has redoubled its efforts to build a diverse workforce and to foster a work environment that is tolerant, safe and free of discrimination. This has required taking on the challenge of changing the railroad workplace which historically did not promote diversity." The letter also noted that, of 968 commuter-rail employees of Amtrak in Boston in 1995, 134 were members of minority groups.

But Amtrak did not question the allegations of problems at the engineering division, which is where the trouble seems to be. Indeed, a spokesman declined comment on many of the specific incidents, saying that "many of them are part of larger complaints which remain outstanding, thereby precluding our ability to comment." After talking to the men who work there, it is not difficult to imagine that these incidents are indeed part of "larger complaints."

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