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Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen
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General Committee of Adjustment Norfolk Southern - Southern Lines
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BLET members ratify national contract
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, December 1 — Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) have ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC). The Agreement was reached as a result of the BLET’s participation in the Coordinated Bargaining Group, with five other Unions.
Eighty-eight percent (88%) of the voting BLET members voted in favor of the five-year agreement, which covers rates of pay, health & welfare and other fringe benefits for approximately 25,000 BLET members nationwide. There are no work rule changes in the new contract. It includes general wage increases of 13.14 percent over the life of the agreement and full retroactive payment for general wage increases for 2016 and 2017.
The agreement covers locomotive engineers employed by the following railroads: Belt Railway of Chicago; BNSF Railway (H&W only); Conrail; CSX Transportation (H&W only); Indiana Harbor Belt; Kansas City Southern System (KCS/L&A, Gateway Western, MidSouth, South Rail, and Tex Mex); Longview Switching; Norfolk Southern; Portland Terminal; Soo Line Railroad (H&W only); Union Railroad; Union Pacific Railroad (H&W only); and Winston-Salem Southbound. It also covers all train service employees on the Texas Mexican Railway.
The BLET’s National Wage Committee, led by National President Dennis R. Pierce, began negotiations for this new contract in January of 2015, shortly after the BLET filed its Section 6 notice with the NCCC in November of 2014.
“I want to thank the members who took the time to cast their vote. The BLET is a membership-driven union; in fact, rank and file ratification of our contracts is one of the democratic cornerstones of the Union movement,” National President Pierce said. “It is clear to me that our members took the time to study the issues before making a very careful choice. BLET members show their strength every time they get involved, and I again thank all members who took the time to participate in their own future. I must also thank the other Unions who bargained with the Coordinated Bargaining Group. BLET members benefited from the solidarity shown by the CBG, and my hope is that these Unions will continue to work together going forward.”
A copy of the Tentative Agreement is at: http://www.bletns.com/2017-10-BLET-CGB-TA-initials.pdf
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National Negotiations update: Coordinated Bargaining Group unions reach tentative national contract agreement
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, October 5 — Rail Unions making up the Coordinated Bargaining Group (CBG) announced today that they have reached a Tentative National Agreement with the Nation’s Freight Rail Carriers. The CBG is comprised of six unions: the American Train Dispatchers Association; the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (a Division of the Rail Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters); the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen; the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers, and Helpers; the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers / SEIU; and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART TD).
On Wednesday, October 4, the CBG’s full Negotiating Team met in Independence, Ohio, for a review of the terms of the proposed voluntary agreement. Following that review, each of the CBG Unions’ Negotiating Teams unanimously endorsed the Tentative Agreement. On Thursday, October 5, the involved General Chairpersons of SMART TD, BRS and BLET met as well and those groups also unanimously endorsed the Tentative Agreement for consideration by the respective membership of each Union.
The Tentative Agreement, which will be submitted to the memberships of each involved Union in the coming weeks, includes an immediate wage increase of 4%, with an additional 2.5% six months later on July 1, 2018 and an additional 3% one year later on July 1, 2019. In addition, wage increases of 2% effective July 1, 2016 and another 2% effective July 1, 2017 will be fully retroactive through implementation, for a compounded increase of 9.84% over an 18-month period and 13.14% over the 5-year contract term (this includes the First General Wage Increase of 3% implemented on January 1, 2015).
All benefits existing under the Health and Welfare Plan will remain in effect unchanged and there are no disruptions to the existing healthcare networks. While some employee participation costs are increased, the tentative agreement maintains reasonable maximum out-of-pocket protections for our members. The TA also adds several new benefits to the Health and Welfare Plan for the members of the involved unions and, importantly, it requires that the Rail Carriers will, on average, continue to pay 90% of all of our members’ point of service costs.
On a matter of critical importance, the employees’ monthly premium contribution is frozen at the current rate of $228.89. The frozen rate can only be increased by mutual agreement at the conclusion of negotiations in the next round of bargaining that begins on 1/1/2020.
In addition, the CBG steadfastly refused to accept the carriers’ demands for changes to work rules that would have imposed significant negative impacts on every one of our members. As a result of that rejection, the Tentative Agreement provides for absolutely no changes in work rules for any of the involved unions.
“This Tentative Agreement provides real wage increases over and above inflation, health care cost increases far below what the carriers were demanding, freezes our monthly health plan cost contribution at the current level, provides significant retroactive pay and imposes no changes to any of our work rules,” said the CBG Union Presidents. “This is a very positive outcome for a very difficult round of negotiations. We look forward to presenting the Tentative Agreement to our respective memberships for their consideration.”
A copy of the Tentative Agreement is at: http://www.bletns.com/2017-10-BLET-CGB-TA-initials.pdf
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Collectively, the CBG unions represent more than 85,000 railroad workers covered by the various organizations, national agreements, and comprise over 58% of the workforce that will be impacted by the outcome of the current bargaining round.
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Rail Labor seeks mediation to settle national contract talks
November 2016 - Despite our best efforts, collective bargaining with the major U.S. Class 1 railroads completely stalled late last week. Therefore, pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Railway Labor Act, we have today applied to the National Mediation Board (NMB) for the assignment of a federal mediator to assist in our negotiations. This development is very disappointing, as the Unions in the Coordinated Bargaining Group have been at the negotiating table for almost two years seeking a voluntary settlement. Throughout that time, the Unions have steadfastly maintained that the Carriers’ original demands were unacceptable to our bargaining team, and would be found equally unacceptable by our collective membership.
Nevertheless, the Unions went to the table last week with the intention of reaching a satisfactory voluntary settlement that would fairly address the needs of both sides, but that did not happen. Unfortunately, the railroads apparently believe that the national elections in November have tipped the labor-management balance in this country heavily in their favor, as they made clear that no reasonable and fair resolution is any longer in the offing.
Our members have earned, and rightfully expect, a fair contract settlement that recognizes the fact that the industry continues to reap many billions in net profits annually. We have maintained from the outset that there is no reason not to bring these negotiations to a timely and equitable conclusion.
Instead, the railroads continue to demand extreme concessions that would erode our members’ standard of living and earned benefits. We cautiously anticipate that the involvement of the NMB will cause the industry to refocus on addressing the legitimate needs of the men and women whose labor generates their positive financial returns.
Additional information will be provided as developments warrant.
The Coordinated Bargaining Group is comprised of six unions: the American Train Dispatchers Association; the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (a Division of the Rail Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters); the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen; the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers, and Helpers; the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers / SEIU; and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers. Collectively, the CBG unions represent more than 85,000 railroad workers covered by the various organizations’ national agreements, and comprise over 58% of the workforce that will be impacted by the outcome of the current bargaining round.
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National negotiations update
CLEVELAND, OHIO - October 21, 2015 - Members of rail labor’s Coordinated Bargaining Group (CBG), composed of representatives from the SMART Transportation Division, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, the American Train Dispatchers Association, the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers/SEIU, The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen and the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers met with the National Carriers Conference Committee (NCCC) in Chicago on October 14, 2015 to continue negotiations on a new national rail contract. This meeting was the latest in a series that commenced early in 2015.
Although a final agreement is not yet in sight, substantive progress was made in identifying the issues of greatest importance to both sides and serious discussions are ongoing. Both parties believe that a voluntary agreement is the desired outcome and to that end it was agreed to continue negotiations without the assistance of a third party. The next session is scheduled for November in Crystal City, Virginia, with additional meetings set for the first quarter of 2016.
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