Byron
Boyd succeeds Charlie Little
as UTU International President
CLEVELAND, Ohio, Feb. 6 -- Byron A. Boyd, Jr., has succeeded Charles L. Little as international president of the United Transportation Union (UTU) and United Transportation Union Insurance Association (UTUIA) today in the wake of Little's unexpected resignation and retirement.
Little, who is succeeded under a provision of the UTU Constitution by UTU Assistant President Byron A. Boyd, Jr., attributed his decision to resign and retire to health considerations.
"With great regret, the boards of directors of both the UTU and UTUIA have accepted Charlie Little's resignation and retirement," Boyd said. "We are all indebted to Charlie Little for his many years of dedication and service to both organizations, and we wish him many fruitful years of well-earned retirement."
Boyd noted that Little will be available to the UTU for consultation during the transition period.
Under the UTU Constitution, the vacancy in the Assistant President's office created by Boyd's succession to the presidency is to be filled by a two-thirds vote of the UTU Board of Directors. The board is scheduled to meet in Cleveland on Thursday, February 8, 2001.
Little, 64, was elected UTU International President in 1995, and re-elected by a landslide to that position in 1999. The UTU's next quadrennial convention is scheduled to be held in August 2003.
Boyd, 54, a member of UTU Local 117 at Portland, Ore., was born July 25, 1946, in Seattle, Washington. He began his railroading career in 1964 as a brakeman for the Union Pacific Railroad, was transferred to engine service in 1968, and was promoted to locomotive engineer in 1971.
Boyd was elected vice local chairperson in 1969 and was elevated to local chairperson later that same year. In 1975, he became the vice general chairperson on the consolidated Union Pacific system committee, and in 1978, attained the post of general chairperson.
Delegates to the UTU's Fourth Quadrennial Convention in 1983 elected Boyd to the position of vice president. He was re-elected to that post at the union's conventions in 1987 and 1991. At the 1995 convention, Boyd was elected assistant president, and was re-elected to that position by acclamation in 1999.
The UTUIA is a fraternal insurance organization associated with the UTU. Under its constitution, delegates elect a president every four years. A vacancy is filled by a two-thirds vote of the UTUIA Board of Directors, which today approved Boyd to serve as president.
The UTU is the largest rail-transportation union in North America. It represents 125,000 railroad and transportation employees, including locomotive engineers, conductors, trainmen, switchmen, yardmasters, bus operators, airline pilots, and other transportation workers in the U.S. and Canada. Its international headquarters are in Cleveland, Ohio.