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9/20/2024
The Brotherhood of Railway Carmen Division/TCU (BRC) and Transportation Communications Union (TCU) have voted to ratify their respective tentative agreements with Norfolk Southern Railway, the Class I announced yesterday.
The TCU and BRC are the first to approve new five-year contracts with the railroad months before the start of the next collective bargaining round, NS officials said in a press release.
The ratified agreements cover nearly 10% of NS' union workforce and will provide a 3.5% average wage increase per year over the next five years. They also offer NS railroaders more vacation earlier in their career, as well as improvements to health-care benefits.
To date, NS has reached tentative pacts with nine of its 13 unions that cover nearly 65% of its craft workforce.
“Employees have told us they are tired of waiting on a multiyear bargaining process to receive their hard-earned raises," said NS President and CEO Mark George. “Looking ahead, we will continue to collaborate with our labor leaders on critical safety, training and quality-of-life initiatives to ensure we provide a safe and rewarding career for our craft railroaders.”
Meanwhile, BNSF Railway Co. announced yesterday that it has reached tentative, five-year collective bargaining agreements with the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers–Transportation Division (SMART-TD), including the union’s Yardmasters (SMART-TD-YDM). The news means that BNSF and labor groups have reached eight tentative agreements in less than one month’s time, representing more than 15,000 employees and more than 46% of BNSF’s union workforce, three months before the opening of the next collective bargaining round, BNSF officials said in a press release.
If ratified, the agreements will provide a 3.5% average wage increase per year over the next five years. They will also offer railroaders more vacation earlier in their career and health-care benefit enhancements.
“We are proud to be able to give our employees this unprecedented certainty over enhancements to their pay, health care and vacation in advance of the next round," said BNSF President and CEO Katie Farmer.