(The Associated Press circulated the following by Sarah Karush on May 18.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — For years, Amtrak workers believed their interests and those of the company were so closely aligned that union officials regularly trekked to Capitol Hill to ask for more federal money for the national passenger railroad.
But with some 10,000 employees working their eighth year without an updated contract, at least one union has stopped supporting Amtrak’s funding bid. Others are delivering their annual message to Congress with a caveat, saying the money should come with clear instructions that Amtrak negotiate.
Hundreds of Amtrak workers rallied in front of the railroad’s Union Station headquarters Thursday to demand a new contract that includes raises and back pay. The protest was held ahead of a bigger one on the National Mall that also included aviation, highway and transit workers and focused on a variety of issues, including security.
Amtrak workers said they were tired of waiting.
“Every new president that the railroad appoints asks its labor to take it on the chin to help the company survive the next year — and the next year and the next year,” said Barry Squires, a 30-year Amtrak employee from Philadelphia.
Under the Railway Labor Act, designed to keep the rail and aviation industries moving, contracts do not really expire even after their terms have ended. Without a new contract, workers are entitled only to small, automatic wage increases equal to half the increase in the cost of living.
About 10,000 Amtrak workers have been working under a contract that ended Dec. 31, 1999. Approximately 5,000 more have been without an up-to-date agreement since the end of 2004.
The main sticking point in the negotiations has been back pay. Amtrak has offered raises but has refused to make them retroactive for the years of negotiations. Amtrak also wants the freedom to subcontract jobs.
One effect of the delayed contract is that Amtrak is finding it difficult to attract and retain workers, union officials said.
At a Senate subcommittee hearing in February, Amtrak President Alex Kummant acknowledged that skilled workers such as electricians are underpaid at Amtrak and said the lack of labor agreements is a problem for the railroad.
In a sign of growing frustration, Pickett’s members instructed him in the fall not to lobby for Amtrak funding anymore. Some workers say they no longer believe they would be worse off if Amtrak was dismantled.
Edward Wytkind, president of the AFL-CIO’s transportation trades department, said most of the unions are still telling Congress to fund Amtrak, but they want that money to come with pressure on labor issues.