Posts tagged Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen
Flurry of contract deals come as railroads, unions see Trump’s election looming over talks
November 18, 2024 // But Hartford said “the morale is still poor” on most railroads after all the cuts and there is a strong feeling among some workers that maybe they could get more if they fight longer, so the Machinists rejected that deal. Conductors have also voted down all but one small deal on part of BNSF they have considered so far, and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union has been unwilling to sign onto any of these early deals. Plus, the third largest union that represents track workers split on the deals it voted on so far.
NJ Transit — almost on brink of a rail strike — asks Biden to intervene
July 25, 2024 // Gov. Phil Murphy also could have requested Biden form a PEB. His office referred questions to NJ Transit. If Biden agrees to form a PEB, that stops the clock for 120 days while a panel of neutral experts review both sides’ arguments and other data and make a non-binding recommendation.
LA-Long Beach port rail service and union reach agreement
July 16, 2024 // According to the railway, “The CBA extension sets competitive wage structures while maintaining the same lower-than-rail-industry employee contributions for health benefits, so that the PHL workforce receives fair compensation for their critical role in the nation’s supply chain at the busiest port complex in North America.”
Railroad Workers Were Ready to Strike. Now They’re Fighting to Save Their CEO.
March 5, 2024 // abor groups representing Norfolk conductors, locomotive engineers, machinists and other workers have made public comments in support of Chief Executive Alan Shaw as he comes under pressure from activist Ancora Holdings. The groups account for over half of the railroad’s unionized workforce.
Labor unions urge regulators to press big U.S. railroads on employment and service levels
December 7, 2023 // Employment levels for train crews, maintenance workers, and shop forces is down 13% at BNSF, 22% at CSX, 28% at NS, and 26% at UP compared to 2016, the unions say. “The railroads credit themselves with having increased employment since this Agency held hearings regarding the service failures of the Class I’s in April of 2022. But climbing a few rungs up a ladder in a hole does not mean one is out of the hole,” Edelman wrote. The reductions in staffing levels significantly exceed the decline in rail volume, he says. The smaller workforce means that fewer employees have to inspect, maintain, and repair the same infrastructure. Edelman also says that despite train and engine crew hiring efforts, the railroads remain understaffed and are pressuring employees to work without days off.
From Detroit to Hollywood, New Union Leaders Take a Harder Line
August 18, 2023 // The full-throated demands can also backfire in economic terms. Yellow, a trucking company with 30,000 employees, declared bankruptcy several months after talks with the Teamsters broke down. The company’s chief executive said in a statement that the Teamsters’ intransigence drove Yellow out of business, though analysts note that the company showed signs of mismanagement for years. The risks may be even higher in industries under pressure to embrace a new business model. The major U.S. automakers have said that they need the ability to team up with nonunion battery manufacturers to secure additional capital and expertise. But Mr. Fain, the new U.A.W. president, has said that the failure to organize more battery workers was a major failure of his predecessors, and that battery workers must receive the same pay and working conditions that union workers enjoy at the Big Three. Many U.A.W. members say the tension between the automakers’ goals and the union’s indicates that a strike will be hard to avoid when their contract expires in mid-September. But they do not appear to be shrinking from that possibility.
Opinion: Unions, Washington Lackeys Exploit Ohio Rail Tragedy to Fatten Coffers
June 7, 2023 // the unionistas are pushing for a permanent requirement that all carriers use a minimum of two-person crews. This, despite the fact that the ill-fated Norfolk-Southern train itself had not two but three crew members. Mandating two on a crew would have done nothing to avert the disaster. It’s not responsive to the challenge at hand. Moreover, the make-work provisions will not affect Norfolk-Southern-sized railroads. It will primarily hurt the smaller regional and short-line railroads, which are more likely to use a one-man crew.
Engineers frustrated with rails even as others get sick time
May 9, 2023 // Across the industry, CSX has led the way by reaching agreements with most of its unions on sick time. Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific have also announced several sick time deals. Most of these deals provide workers with four days of paid sick time and give them the option to convert three leave days into sick time to give workers a total of seven sick days a year. One of the key remaining concerns for the BLET is that even where the railroads seem willing to give engineers sick time, the railroads generally still want to hold workers accountable for missing work under their strict attendance policies. So even if workers do get sick time, they may not feel free to use it because they would still be penalized for missing work although CSX has said it won’t punish workers for taking sick time.
RAIL WORKERS OUST UNION PRESIDENT WHO BACKED LABOR DEAL
December 20, 2022 // As members grew frustrated with the stalled negotiations process, Hall’s District 28 held a meeting where they voted to send a letter to Dennis Pierce “asking him to come down and, for lack of a better word, explain himself.” Pierce headed to Tucson in February of this year, and members weren’t satisfied with his responses. That’s when the district nominated Eddie Hall to run for BLET president.
Largest U.S. rail labor union votes against contract, raising strike possibility
November 21, 2022 // Workers at the largest U.S. rail union voted against a tentative contract deal reached in September raising the possibility of a strike in the coming weeks that could cause significant damage to the U.S. economy. Train and engine service members of the transportation division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD) narrowly voted to reject the deal, while members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) voted to ratify the agreement and SMART-TD yardmasters voted to ratify their national agreement, the unions said Monday.