On June 12, 1912, Luther G. Smith, a locomotive engineer for the Pennsylvania Railroad, founded the Brotherhood's Relief and Compensation Fund (BR&CF). The BR&CF, a non-profit corporation established in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, provides job income protection to railroaders throughout the United States and Canada who are "Held Out of Service" as a result of a suspension or dismissal.
Brother Smith did not object to the railroads using a method to discipline employees when such discipline was necessary, but he did not see the logic in innocent family members having to suffer when the head of the home made an error in the performance of his duties that resulted in a suspension or dismissal.
The BR&CF has assisted tens of thousands of railroaders and their families in their time of need over the past 100 years. Brother Smith would be proud that the BR&CF has withstood the test of time. On behalf of rail labor, we salute Brother Smith for having the courage, wisdom and vision to create the Fund and for accomplishing what many said, "could not be done."
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