(The National Carriers’ Conference Committee issued the following on January 24.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The nation’s major freight railroads and the United Transportation Union (UTU) reached tentative agreement Wednesday on a new contract covering wages, benefits and other issues. With the ratification of this agreement by the nation’s largest rail union, the industry will have successfully concluded negotiations with unions representing 95 percent of unionized freight rail workers.
The agreement, which now goes before UTU members for ratification, includes a 17 percent wage increase retroactive to Jan. 1, 2005 through Dec. 31, 2009. UTU, which represents more than 44,000 members or about a third of the railroads’ unionized workforce, began negotiating with the railroads shortly after the current round of bargaining began in November 2004.
“We’re pleased to have reached a mutually beneficial conclusion to our negotiations with the UTU. While the bargaining presented many challenges, our ability to successfully reach an agreement once again demonstrates that voluntary bargaining continues to work well in the rail industry,” said Robert F. Allen, chairman of the National Carriers’ Conference Committee, which represents the railroads in national (multi-employer) bargaining with the 13 major rail unions.
More than 30 railroads, including BNSF, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific, participated in the bargaining.