NCFO union members ratify new collective bargaining agreement NEWSWIRE

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio – The National Conference of Firemen & Oilers became the latest union this week to ratify a new labor contract with the nation’s Class I railroads. The union is part of the Coordinated Bargaining Group coalition of unions that have been negotiating with the National Carriers’ Conference Committee for more than a year on a new national contract.

The four other Coordinated Bargaining Group unions to approve the agreement include the American Train Dispatchers Association on Nov. 27; the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen on Nov. 28; and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers on Dec. 1.

“This round of bargaining, just like what is taking place in Washington, was totally unpredictable,” NCFO President John Thacker says. “We went from a possible tentative agreement, prior to the 2016 Presidential Election, to a stalemate after the election, to an agreement in the final days of bargaining. I would like to thank our partners from the Coordinated Bargaining Group for their solidarity with the members of the NCFO.”

The ratified contract will cover Conference members employed by BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, Kansas City Southern, Union Pacific and numerous smaller carriers.