SKAGWAY, Alaska — Union operating crews at the White Pass & Yukon Route Railway have ratified a new agreement, ending the prospect of a strike that could have disrupted the end of the tourist railroad’s 2023 operating season.
KTOO reports the railroad and members of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division (SMART-TD) signed the four-year agreement last week, a day after announcing a tentative deal [see “White Pass & Yukon, SMART-TD announce …,” Trains News Wire, July 26, 2023].
Exact terms were not reported, but Tyler Rose, the railroad’s executive director, says it includes “a substantial wage increase;” the agreement also maintains health benefits and protects the brakeman position, which the railroad had sought to eliminate.
Workers had not received a raise since their last contract expired in 2017. The agreement came during a 30-day cooling-off period following the end of mediation, after which workers could have gone on strike.
