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National Contract Negotiations

The Tentative Agreement and Agreed Upon Q&A’s are available in the Member’s Area

News

Update on PEB 250 recommendations to national agreement negotiations

On Monday, August 22, the SMART TD and BLET, along with the other remaining United Rail Unions, met with the Rail Carriers via Zoom to determine if PEB 250’s recommendations could serve as a basis for a tentative agreement. In-person meetings were then held on Thursday and Friday in Chicago, Illinois. Unfortunately, the meetings did not result in any tentative agreement language that operating crafts would accept, or that could be presented to our members for ratification.

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PEB 250 issues recommendations

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, August 17 — The recommendations of Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) No. 250 were published on Tuesday, August 16. Officers of the BLET National Division, along with legal counsel and the BLET Wage Team, are continuing to analyze the report and...

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Fed up rail workers rally in Galesburg as potential national strike looms

Last month, for The Real News, I reported on the egregious working conditions that rail workers on Class I freight railroads are facing, including punitive and inhumane attendance policies, chronic understaffing (after rail companies collectively laid off 30% of their workforce since 2015), stagnant wages, and dire safety threats as trains have gotten longer and heavier while rail carriers have simultaneously sought to reduce crew sizes down to one person.

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