SKAGWAY, Alaska — Operating personnel on the White Pass & Yukon Route have voted to authorize a strike, according to their union’s website.
Members of International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division (SMART-TD) Local 1626 authorized the strike in voting last week. The union says it has been negotiating with the railroad for nearly six years without resolving disputes on wages, health care, job cuts, and safety.
SMART-TD says it is seeking wages reflecting cost-of-living increases since the last contract expired in 2017, and that workers have not seen pay increases since that time. It also says the railroad wants to increase health care costs, and wants to reduce the workforce by a third by removing brakemen from all trains. The union says that position is “safety-critical” and that its removal “would endanger passengers and the public.”
Negotiations are currently in mediation in accordance with the Railway Labor Act. The Skagway News reports the National Mediation Board has assigned federal mediator Gerry McGurkin to the dispute, and that the next mediation session is scheduled for Saturday, July 8, with additional sessions in July and August.
If mediation fails to resolve the dispute, the parties will be offered arbitration. If both parties do not agree to arbitration, a 30-day cooling-off period would begin, after which a strike could begin.
The White Pass & Yukon is Skagway’s largest employer, and plays a significant part in the community’s economy. Mayor Andrew Cremata told public broadcaster KTOO that more than half of the cruise-ship passengers that come through the town ride the WP&Y, “so losing operations on the railroad would definitely have a significant impact.”
The railroad is owned by Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, an investiment group including cruise company Carnival Corporation. White Pass & Yukon Executive Director Tyler Rose told KTOO while the strike vote was in progress that the railroad was “committed to working toward the resolution of these negotiations in the interests of all involved” but that further comment would not be appropriate.
I recently commented here that any railroad 3′ gauge or broader that has common carrier revenue potential,should consider converting to standard gauge. That said, if ever the Canada-Alaska Railroad (A2A) should be built, it would behoove WP&Y to consider slowly converting to standard gauge at it’s unused east end at Whitehorse or Carcross, assuming of course that there is potential for railroad business interchange, such as maybe lumber, and that A2A is within reasonable reach. And then slowly work their way west towards the end of the east end of tourist operation where temporary double gauge could be implemented.
And if the Interbering tunnel/bridge project with Russia and China should ever become a reality, the entire NW region economy would vastly benefit. Lotta “IFs” here, as I probably won’t live long enough to see this all come true, if ever, lol!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Pass_and_Yukon_Route Map
There are a couple of spots where a narrow to standard gauge might be challenging and require blasting more width to the ROW. One section I observed, the ballast was right at the edge of the cliff. Straight shot to the bottom of the ravine.
Agreed, “John Rice”, however since the WP&Y was first constructed in 1898, and today uses standard gauge rolling stock, (usually a maximum of 128″ width) on 3′ narrow gauge trucks, and given today’s modern day “bulldozer” machinery technology, I would think that the suggested standard gauge upgrade could be a RELATIVELY easy conversion??? Assuming direct A2A railroad completion, all that could be a potential economical boon to that PNW region. All it takes is $$$. 🙂
Without cruise ship passengers, how much of a reason is there for Skagway not to be a ghost town?
It’s strictly a tourist operation now and carries no freight…brakemen aren’t as critical to operations as are the engineer and conductor. Exactly why does the union think a purely passenger operation needs to have brakemen? Revenue is tied exclusively to the cruise industry, should the cruise industry decide to no longer stop at Skagway, there would be practically no reason for the railroad to remain in operation. Those are the things that the union members seem to ignore. As for wages, I know Alaska is more expensive than the lower 48 so I won’t comment. Medical care though, everyone should pay a portion of their medical care, the question is how much.
I was just riding on the WP&Y a month ago. They now utilize current technology motive power. I am sure the engineers had to go through extensive training for the new equipment. Also their 2 consists are nearly 15 cars long each during the peak 1PM ride up to the pass. I was in a car near the middle and only saw 2 WP&Y operational employees. A third was selling DVD’s and hats, another was speaking about history on the intercom. There may have been more in other parts of the train. All I know is those 2 were making a large number of trips walking up and down through the cars making safety checks. All the ground staff, from ticketing to switching operations were all done by college age girls.
I might add that Blackstone and Carnival have invested a large amount of capital into the WP&Y, much of it during covid when revenue was near zero. On the flipside, Alaskan cruise volume is supposed to be up almost 20% in 2023, and is expected to grow again in 2024. That means yet more rides up to the pass.
Blackstone, says it all!
I totally agree Terry.
Not quite the same Blackstone, though they are a partner in the consortium. I do believe that Carnival and one other cruise line hold a higher share of the equity in BIP though since it is their passengers that lets the WP&Y exist to this day…which everyone, and I mean everyone, should keep in mind.
The carrier and the brotherhood have reached an “impasse” on the negotiations. Both organizations gave the “cold shoulder” on each other’s proposals.