The clock is ticking for railroads and unions to avert a strike

It calls for a 24% pay increase by 2024, which the Association of American Railroads says is the largest increase in over 40 years.

The association also said that it is ready to propose an agreement based on the recommendations and that “in the interest of all rail stakeholders, now is the time for railroads and their unions to reach a contract.”

But railroad unions are unhappy with the terms and have pointed out the wage increase is still below inflation level.

Jakob Forsgren of the Brotherhood of Maintenance Way Employes Division, a group of workers who help build and maintain railroads in the U.S., says rail workers are especially upset after several companies said their work did not create profits.

“You can imagine how members of a labor organization and employees of a company feel after something like that is written about them,” Forsgren said. “It’s a bit tough to handle.”

Thousands of rail workers across the country have been working without a contract for nearly 3 years.

Forsgren says now they are pushing for better pay and changes in attendance policies, such as the Hi-Viz Policy, wh

The WORDING of the PEB release has guaranteed that the crafts will walk.

The only options are:

A. All the unions reach an agreement with the carrier’s AND the memberships all ratify it.

B. Congress imposes the PEB’s recommendations as is to be the new contract.

B1. Those items the PEB directed to further negotiations will be addressed by Congress and included in the imposed contract. Or

B2. Those items will be set for further negotiations and then, or directly to, binding operation.

C. Congress orders the status quo to be maintained and sends the parties who haven’t reached agreement back to the bargaining table.

C1. Congress sets a time limit for negotiations and if not met sends the whole thing to binding arbitration.

C1a. Congress sends everything directly to binding arbitration.

D. Congress writes it’s own contract for us and imposes it.

(Congress can do anything it wants to. Then the president signs it into law.)

E. Congress takes no action and either the unions walk out or the carrier’s lock labor out.

If E happens, a second PEB can be requested by certain parties. I personally don’t think A will happen. I look for B and B2 to be imposed. If you don’t like the PEB’s recommendations, don’t expect binding arbitration to be any better. I wouldn’t be surprised for binding arbitration to be worse for labor.

The biggest question is will congress have a decision in place by the deadline.

Jeff

What about F)? A contract is forced on the workers and a majority of them up and quit? What happens then?

I don’t think that many will quit. I know a lot say that, but most won’t. They aren’t going to give up the money they are making.

CMSTP&P mentioned his nephew was making $125-130,000 a year with no overtime or weekends. That’s towards the high end for that profession, just as that amount is towards the high end for T&E crews, albeit working an erratic schedule.

If most of our T&E people quit and started installing bath overlays, they are going to start out at or towards the low end. Figure a 50% cut at best.

Some of the biggest complainers who talk of quiting had been dismissed in the past by the railroad. They are back because they fought to get their jobs back and an arbitrator agreed they were wrongfully dismissed. If things are so bad for them, why did they fight to regain their jobs.

Jeff

Jeff, he just started the job a year ago and is getting paid that much. I almost fell off my chair when I heard it but he told me that BathFitter cuts them in for a slice or percentage of the total contract of each job they do. They are not paid hourly they are paid per contract and a fixed percent of the contract price. I asked my Brother if he was exaggerating and he said No he showed him a pay stub. He actually is getting paid more than his Father (my Brother).

You could be right and that it could be the high end of what they get paid, I did not ask, just that he got there in a year. Also, want to mention I am on my subdivisions HOA board (yaaay I won my first election!!!) and we are replacing the brick perimeter wall. Did you know brick masons get a min of $75 an hour which goes up to $95-100 an hour depending on skill and experience? I was surprised at that hourly rate recently as well.

How does the perception of coming out on the losing end of labor negotiations affect the productivity of railroad workers?

The PEB’s recommendations really aren’t that bad for what was addressed. Labor really came out ahead. No, labor didn’t get all it wanted. But it wasn’t going to.

It’s the items that weren’t addressed, that are supposed to be bargained for and/or sent to binding arbitration on a more local level is where labor comes up short.

Those that thought we would get everything we asked for from the PEB were in for a disappointment from the start.

Jeff

Agree to disagree on that one. I think we got screwed. Granted we are in different geographic areas and different colored engines.

PEB envisions the cost of living being the same everywhere in the country. As we all know or should know - the costs of living vary greatly by regions and locales.

Jeff out in ‘fly over’ country has a low cost of living. Zug in the Northeast has a much higher cost of living. What is adequate of Jeff is inadequate for Zug.

Something management utilizes often.

To be fair, so do the unions. Back when CSX still had several dispatching centers, those on the south agreement were all making the same. Those living in Florence or Huntington were doing much better cost of living wise than those in Baltimore or Chicago.

The National Mediation Board (NMB) has ordered labor representatives back into talks starting tomorrow, the 7th of September, “to try to avert a threatened strike”.

[Cynically: where’s the popcorn emoticon when you need it?]

Offset by the fact that they had to live in Huntungton or Florence.[:)]

The federal government is little different. A GS-5 secretary in my area can live pretty well. In Washington, DC, not so much.

In fairness, however, that discrepancy was noted some years ago and local differentials were offered.

https://ble-t.org/news/blet-smart-td-joint-statement-on-labor-day-2022/

I wish you all good luck in the results. May you get better work conditions, attendence policies, and a life that you can enjoy with appropriate income. And a safe ride.

Any links to this?

Rates of pay are not uniform across the class ones. UP rate is less than the CNW rate was. We still have exCNW receiving CNW rate. I missed it by about 2 years. Our extra board guarantees is still based on CNW rate.

When I hired out the condr’s extra board was about (IIRC) $3200 a half. New hires went through a progression beginning at 75% and moving up to 100% in 5 years. If you received a “promotion,” such as passing brakeman training and becoming a conductor, you received the next 5% upgrade immediately. It still took 5 years to reach 100%. (I don’t know if they still have this. It was taken out in one contract then added back in. It seems to yo-yo that I don’t pay attention to it.) It was said the extra board guarantee for a new hire condr was good in Iowa, but not so much for those in the Chicago area.

Normally you make over guarantee. They usually cut boards if they start paying guarantees.

Jeff

I got it from a ‘feed’ from Railway Age (Frank Wilner, dateline September 3rd).

https://www.railwayage.com/regulatory/nmb-orders-labor-back-to-washington/?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=34917

I suspect RT&S will have their own story on it by this time.

As of this morning (the 7th a little before 10:00 Eastern) I have seen nothing more recent than the text of PEB250 on the NMB website. I refuse to be paranoid about anything that might imply.

Hopefully that will also be true for He Whose Name Must Face Extinction… [:)]