Freight railroads reach more tentative agreements

The National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC), which represents the nation’s freight railroads in national collective bargaining, today issued the following statement:

We are pleased to announce that the nation’s freight railroads have reached tentative agreements with the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers – Mechanical Department.

The tentative agreements announced today follow the August 16 recommendations of Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) No. 250. They include a 24 percent wage increase during the five-year period from 2020 through 2024 — with a 14.1 percent wage increase effective immediately — and five annual $1,000 lump sum payments. Portions of the wage increases and lump sum payments are retroactive and will be paid out promptly upon ratification of the agreements by the unions’ membership.

The NCCC would like to thank the unions’ leadership teams for their professionalism and efforts during the bargaining process.

It is critical that the remaining unions promptly reach agreements that provide pay increases to employees and prevent rail service disruptions. The carriers are in active discussions with the remaining unions about finalizing agreements based on the PEB’s recommendation. However, the two operating craft unions, BLET and SMART-TD, continue to maintain positions that were expressly rejected by the PEB.

Under the Railway Labor Act, the carriers and the unions that have not reached agreements remain in a “cooling off” period. Voluntary settlements with all unions would avert any potential disruptions to rail service after the cooling off period ends at 12:01 a.m. on September 16.