The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) today reached a tentative national agreement with freight railroads represented by the National Carriers Conference Committee (NCCC).
Highlights of the tentative five-year contract include:
- General wage increases of 17.5% (18.8% compounded)
- $500 lump sum payment
- No work rule concessions
- Improved vacation accrual schedule, allowing members to earn additional weeks of vacation at an accelerated rate
- No increase in out-of-pocket costs for health and welfare
- Employee monthly health and welfare cost sharing remains capped at 15% for the life of the agreement
- Enhancements to health and welfare benefits
“Since taking over as President and Lead Negotiator in May, my goal has been to bring greater transparency and accountability to the bargaining process,” said BLET National President Mark Wallace. “The BLET Wage Team worked diligently to find a path forward that our members could support. This tentative agreement delivers meaningful wage growth without any concessions to work rules. As a membership-driven organization, it is now up to our members to determine the path ahead.”
The National Division is planning a series of in-person and Zoom town hall meetings to discuss the tentative agreement (TA) with members. A copy of the TA will also be available in the Members’ Area of the BLET website.
BLET Bylaws require a 15-day Question and Answer period, which begins today. The National Division will provide all General Chairmen in national handling with an electronic copy of the TA. BLET General Chairmen have 15 days to submit questions to the National President’s office. Those questions will be consolidated into a single document, and the BLET’s National Wage Team will return to the bargaining table with the Carriers to mutually agree upon the answers to those questions. Once the Q&A session is complete, the National Division will distribute full TA details and ballots to the affected BLET members around mid-November, and ballots will be counted on December 30, 2025.
The tentative contract would run through 2029 and covers more than 11,000 BLET members at 10 railroads (Belt Railway Company of Chicago; BNSF Railway; Canadian National; Consolidated Rail Corporation; Canadian Pacific Kansas City*; Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad Company; Longview Switching Company; Norfolk Southern Railway Company; Metra*; and Portland Terminal Railroad Company. (Asterisk (*) indicates Health and Welfare only.)