CLEVELAND, March 28 — By a nearly 6-to-1 majority, BLET members ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with Amtrak.
The new contract is based exclusively on the recommendations of Presidential Emergency Board 242. It provides for a wage improvement package amounting to a 34.7 percent increase over the hourly rate in effect at the end of the last agreement, 100% retroactive pay recovery, and no work rule changes.
The BLET National Division counted the ballots today. The final tally was 809 in favor and 138 against.
The contract covers approximately 1,300 Locomotive Engineers who operate passenger trains over Amtrak’s 21,000-mile, 46-state route system.