UPDATE: Settlements Avert Immediate Threat of Strike; Last Unsettled Union Agrees to Extend Negotiations WASHINGTON, Dec. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — The nation’s major freight railroads today reached tentative agreements with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the American Train Dispatchers Association, which together represent about 26,500 employees in collective bargaining. The last remaining union without a settlement, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes (BMWE), has agreed with the railroads to extend the “cooling off” period until Feb. 8, 2012, eliminating the immediate threat of a national rail strike. “We’re pleased that we have now settled with 12 of the 13 unions in this bargaining round. Everyone wins when we reach voluntary agreements,” said A. Kenneth Gradia, Chairman of the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC), the railroads’ bargaining representative. “In a tough economy, these agreements offer a terrific deal for rail employees. They lock in well-above market wage increases of more than 20 percent over six years, far exceeding recent union settlements in other industries.” A national freight rail strike against the country’s two largest railroads could begin as early as 12:01AM Tuesday morning if a settlement is not reached before then. Two unions representing engineers and dispatchers in the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles have turned down an offer by the railroads to extend bargaining into January, adding they could not imagine an extension serving their members if an agreement cannot be reached before the mandated 30 day cooling off period expires on Monday. Tensions have been mounting since summer between the two railroads, Union Pacific and Burlington Northern, and the 13 unions that represent railroad employees. In October President Obama appointed a five-member Presidential Emergency Board to help mediate a settlement and avoid rail disruption. (Under the Railway Labor Act, the courts only has the power to stop a rail strike after the president has exhausted all other means to an agreement.) That panel imposed the 30 day cooling off period and was able to bring eleven unions to settlement within that time. Both holdout unions, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA), say they hope to reach a settlement by Monday, but if not they will take strike votes on Tuesday. The impact of a work stoppage by the two unions is unclear, however 40% of all freight leaving the Long Beach/Los Angeles port complex leaves by rail.
