Three unions representing 15,000 rail workers on Aug. 29 reached a tentative agreement with Class 1 railroads on a new contract that includes a 24% compounded increase to wages over a five-year term, which is retroactive to 2020. It also includes $5,000 total in bonuses to be paid out across the life of the contract, Bloomberg reported.
The workers represented by the three unions – the Transportation Communications Union/IAM (TCU/IAM), Brotherhood of Railway Carmen, and International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) – account for just 13% of the total number of employees negotiating new collective bargaining agreements with the nation’s major railroads, however.
Nine other unions representing approximately 100,000 rail workers have yet to reach a new contract agreement, and are warning that a strike is possible if a deal is not reached by Sept. 16, the end of the latest 30-day “cooling off” period. The unions and the railroads have been trying to reach a contract for more than two years.
“It is critical for all stakeholders, including customers, employers, and the public, that all parties promptly resolve the negotiations and prevent service disruptions,” the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC), which is negotiating on behalf of the railroads, said. “Accordingly, we look forward to additional discussions with the unions that have not yet reached tentative agreements and will continue seeking voluntary agreements based on the [Presidential Emergency Board’s (PEB)] recommendations.”
The PEB was appointed by President Biden in July to avert a strike after earlier efforts by the National Mediation Board (NMB), an independent federal agency that mediates railroad and other labor agreements, failed to bring the two sides together on disagreements over wages, health care benefits, and scheduling (GM July 15, p. 1).
In an Aug. 16 report (GM Aug. 19, p. 28), the PEB recommended a 22% wage increase, along with $5,000 in service recognition bonus payments, over the five-year life of the contract, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2020. The recommended wage hike, which is the largest general wage increase for rail workers in nearly 40 years, is below the 28% increase that the unions sought, but above the railroads’ 16% proposed wage hike.
Railroad Workers United (RWU), an organization that represents rail workers across unions, released a survey this week of 3,162 workers that found nearly 95% support a strike after the cooling off period ends on Sept. 16, according to the trade publication Sourcing Journal
RWU said 93% of rail workers surveyed do not support the PEB package of recommendations, and declared “unequivocal opposition to any tentative agreement” that does not include “substantial add-ons” from what the PEB recommended.
The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) on Aug. 18 issued a statement thanking the PEB for “providing measured recommendations” on a pending contract agreement, and urged all parties to “swiftly reach a compromise and contract agreement.”
“Uncertainty of this nature is yet another disruption in an already complex environment for farmers, so speedy resolution is paramount,” said TFI President and CEO Corey Rosenbusch. “Over half of all fertilizer moves by rail year-round throughout the US, and the timeliness and reliability of fertilizer shipments is absolutely critical. If farmers do not receive fertilizer, it results in lower crop yields, higher food prices, and more inflation for consumers.”