US railroad labor issues

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
The IAM union, who previously rejected a tentative agreement and whose cooling-off period was set to expire September 29th, has reached a new tentative agreement. As such, the new cooling off period lasts until December 9th while they vote, so there won‘t be a rail strike until at least then (assuming other unions have a similar time frame), even if the agreement is rejected.

https://districtlodge19.org/pdgc/your-solidarity-pays-off-with-a-new-stronger-tentative-agreement/
Some had worried that the IAM could strike on September 29th, though that seems to have been averted for now.
 
From the link above:

A Cap in Healthcare Costs: A limit of monthly Health and Welfare Plan employee contributions of no more than $398.97 through 2025 until a new agreement is reached.
Single Room Occupancy: For the first time, we will have codified language in our agreement that will require your employers to provide roadway mechanics with their own sleeping rooms while on travel. Previously, this could have been changed by the employers without further negotiation.
Travel Expenses and Per Diem: The carriers have agreed to bargain with us within 60 days of ratification over travel expenses and per diem.
Overtime: For the first time, we also got the carriers to agree to a joint study on overtime, forced overtime policies and overtime meal options.

We also secured everything from the first Tentative Agreement, including:
– A 24% compounded general wage increase
– A $5,000 service recognition bonus
– Full retroactive pay, within 60 days of contract ratification, amounting up to $11,950, based on average pay hours (overtime and straight time)
– An additional paid day off for all members including a paid day off for all newly hired employees hired before September 30 of each year
– Enhanced hearing benefits and added coverage for diagnosis and treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorder
– A “Me-Too” clause, ensuring IAM Rail Division members will receive the same additional value if another union reaches an agreement that improves the terms of this agreement.

Looks like a decent list of what they wanted but doesn't look like it fixed the time off component much
 
The threat of a freight railroad strike is back

https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/10/business/railroad-union-vote-strike-threat/index.html

The two largest unions, the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, Transportation union, which represents conductors, and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, which represents engineers, have yet to vote. Online chatter among the conductors union and engineers union members signal they want a strike before even seeing the contract.

Even if the members of the two larger unions vote in favor of their deals, they would not report to work if the BMWE were to go on strike. And the fact that the BMWE voted down the contract is probably a sign that rank-and-file anger towards railroad management could lead to no votes at the two larger unions as well.
 
BNSF workers outraged, disappointed after judge grants temporary restraining order blocking strike

A federal judge sided with the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway saying that a strike of 17,000 union workers would "exacerbate our current supply chain crisis."

 
TYT: The Biden Admin has "kneecapped" the Union workers... Strike Leverage taken away


That is the most sensationalized headline ever

It was a comment that pushed for the railroads and Unions to come to agreement otherwise congress would be forced to act.
Which is nothing new and what we expect because railroads shutting down will destroy this country in under a week.
 
I noticed a very long freight train on the CN tracks this morning - haven't seen one for a while, especially part way onto the St. Charles Air Line - looked like it was edging into the single track portion. I had to wonder if it was blocking Amtrak departures/arrivals on the CONO and Illini/Saluki....

(although looking at aerial shots it may have just been positioned to allow through traffic)
 
I'm loving the internet trolls elsewhere saying that the earlier agreements that averted a strike earlier were fake news...

I hope this gets resolved, but we shall see.
 
This NY Times article includes some info on problems with the extra board, and possible Congressional actions:

https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/21/...Spf0tH4uyEENapNE3Qi7EJBp23K8Ak&smid=share-url
Washington Post article includes this quote:

“As the President has said from the beginning, a shutdown is unacceptable because of the harm it would inflict on jobs, families, farms, businesses and communities across the country,” according to a White House official. “A majority of unions have voted to ratify the tentative agreement, and the best option is still for the parties to resolve this themselves.”​

https://wapo.st/3tMeZ4W
 
https://abcnews.go.com/Business/big...sing-possibility-nationwide/story?id=93721167
The nation's largest rail union on Monday voted down a tentative contract brokered by the White House, raising the possibility of a nationwide strike next month that could cripple the U.S. economy.

The SMART Transportation Division, or SMART-TD, which represents about 28,000 conductors, rejected the contract in a vote that garnered record turnout, the union said Monday. The contract was nixed by a slim margin, as just 50.8% of workers voted against it.
 
Just received in email from BMWED....

"BMWED’s Status Quo Period Ends on December 9th Following SMART-TD and BLET Ratification Results

Published: Nov 21 2022 8:12PM (EST)

BMWED’s Status Quo Period ends effective 0000:01 on December 9th following SMART-TD’s failed ratification while BLET Agreement ratifies.

The BMWED congratulates BLET Members and Leadership for their successful ratification of their National Agreement as they bring this round of national negotiations to a close.

Now SMART-TD’s and BMWED’s status quo period ends at 0000:01 on December 9th. The BRS’s status quo period is still scheduled to end at 0000:01 on December 5th. If the BRS goes on strike on December 5th, BMWED Members are to honor any lawful picket line. Regardless of the when the status quo period ends for any Rail Union, we will continue to coordinate and work together through the end of this round of national negotiations.

Over 55% of Railroad Workers (SMART-TD BMWED, BRS and IBB have made it very clear that the tentative national agreements are not satisfactory settlements for the workforce. The most common sticking point for BMWED, BRS and IBB Members has been the lack of quality-of-life improvements, namely the lack of paid sick leave. BMWED, BRS and IBB have made paid sick leave proposals to the railroads, but the railroads have made it clear that they will neither engage in any meaningful discussions nor accept any sort of proposal regarding such. This is very concerning, given the already perilous state of the railroad industry and its exhausted workforce.

“Over the last year, numerous employers throughout the world have analyzed what they could do to attract and retain talented employees. The railroads have done the complete opposite. They’ve ignored industry regulators and customers’ concerns about maintaining an adequate workforce, and they’ve ignored the workforces’ pleas for improvements to their working conditions and quality of life. This has gone on long enough. It is time for the railroads to improve the quality of life for their workforces. It is time for the railroads to provide paid sick leave to all their employees, not just its executives, management, and office staff. We remain hopeful the railroads will do the right thing,” BMWED President Cardwell said.

Instead of addressing the real concerns of their employees and implementing common-sense attendance policies that ease tensions and provide some level of compassion, railroad managements continue their stubborn refusal to provide what others now recognize as a basic right. It is our belief that railroad management simply seeks to punish their employees for attempting to exercise their democratic rights to reject a tentative agreement and engage in collective action to gain paid sick time off. They do not want this campaign to succeed because it would prove that solidarity works.
It would be simple for railroad management to provide its Union laborers with paid sick time off, as it only would cost them $0.01 of every dollar of their record profits to provide it for all railroad workers. They already do it for their office staff and corporate leadership. But doing so here would illustrate a winning formula for organized labor and instead of meeting their employees’ honest and reasonable request, they’d rather risk a strike and potential economic calamity for the entire nation for the sake of hoarding more of their record profits."
 
Omigosh! I hope I don't have to cancel my final attempt at a trip this year, from 12/1-12/6. Between train downsizing, hurricanes, strike threats, and my cat's dental work, I've cancelled or postponed at least 4 times this fall. And this time my hotel is only refundable if I cancel by 11/26.

C'mon Congress, get in there and make them wait a couple more weeks before Amtrak starts preemptively cancelling trains. Pres. Biden says a strike is "unacceptable"!
 
Omigosh! I hope I don't have to cancel my final attempt at a trip this year, from 12/1-12/6. Between train downsizing, hurricanes, strike threats, and my cat's dental work, I've cancelled or postponed at least 4 times this fall. And this time my hotel is only refundable if I cancel by 11/26.

C'mon Congress, get in there and make them wait a couple more weeks before Amtrak starts preemptively cancelling trains. Pres. Biden says a strike is "unacceptable"!
Hopefully that 3 day buffer you have between the end of your trip and the end of the status quo period will be enough to save your trip. I’ve seen cases where they cancel service one or two days before a strike but not three.
 
Hopefully that 3 day buffer you have between the end of your trip and the end of the status quo period will be enough to save your trip. I’ve seen cases where they cancel service one or two days before a strike but not three.
What has me most worried is that the smaller unions can strike as soon as 12/5. Last time, Amtrak started shutting down a few days before the threat of a strike. If they do again, they probably wouldn't have things back to normal by the start of my return on the 5th. I might make it out, but I would have to fly home on the return.
 
What has me most worried is that the smaller unions can strike as soon as 12/5. Last time, Amtrak started shutting down a few days before the threat of a strike. If they do again, they probably wouldn't have things back to normal by the start of my return on the 5th. I might make it out, but I would have to fly home on the return.

I shortened a trip for that very reason. I had a trip planned with a friend to go to Philly then Alexandria starting November 29 and returning December 5.

We shortened it to just the Philly part, going home on December 1.

I’m on the NEC so would probably be fine—I could get from ALX to WAS by metro or Lyft or whatever and take a train from there, but he’s in upstate New York so would be taking a chance leaving that late.
 
My sympathy is for the unions in this case, but I wouldn't be surprised if they are forced back to work with either another cooling-off period, or Congress forcing a settlement. I wonder if they have other means short of striking that would allow them to cause some pain to the Class 1s and force them to yield without the workers having to risk taking the blame for any inconveniences to the citizens. I'm thinking of stuff like "work to rule," or "quiet quitting." I'm thinking of stuff that would ensure the trains would continue to run, but it would be much less efficient and more costly for the railroad. Of course, a long-distance Amtrak trip under those conditions might not be the most pleasant experience, unless of course the "work to rule" tactic is that the dispatchers prioritize Amtrak trains like the law says they're supposed to do, anyway.
 
My sympathy is for the unions in this case
Me too. I think they are certainly being exploited by the railroads in pursuit of absurdly high profits. And the workers aren't the only ones.

I'm just selfishly hoping things are delayed a week or 2 so I can finally get my trip in.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top