BLET members ratify BNSF agreement

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) members recently ratified a letter of agreement with BNSF Railway Co. by a 93 percent majority.

Governing about 7,500 locomotive engineers across BNSF's system, the pact provides a 3 percent general wage increase that took effect yesterday. The agreement also establishes a transition from on-property bargaining with BNSF to national handling in the upcoming round of contract negotiations starting this year, BLET officials said in a press release.

The union previously settled its wage and work rule issues with BNSF in the last round of bargaining with an on-property agreement in November 2009. That contract provided general wage increases for the life of the contract period, with the last increase applicable on Jan. 1, 2014.