ARLINGTON, Va. — The National Carriers Conference Committee — the bargaining group for most U.S. Class I railroads — has reached tentative agreements with two unions, the organization has announced.
The agreements with the Transportation Communications Union and Brotherhood of Railway Carmen are on behalf of NCCC railroads that had not already reached agreements with the TCU and BRC, and are subject to ratification by union members on those railroads.
“The NCCC is encouraged to see this progress so early in the national bargaining round,” said Jeff Rodgers, chairman of the NCCC and its parent organization, the National Railway Labor Conference. “These agreements address employee priorities, providing an 18.8% wage increase over five years, enhancing health and welfare benefits at a lower cost and giving railroaders access to more paid vacation earlier in their careers. Importantly, they reinforce the pattern set by early agreements reached between carriers and unions at the local level, which will help guide prompt, stable outcomes for the entire industry.”
The current round of national bargaining began Nov. 1. It follows earlier agreements by CSX, Norfolk Southern, and BNSF with some unions that include an 18.8% increase, enhanced health benefits with no increase in employee contributions, and more paid vacation time earlier in workers’ careers.
