BLET members ratify contract with Amtrak

Brotherhood Of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) members last week ratified a new seven-year collective bargaining agreement with Amtrak.

BLET represents more than 1,400 locomotive engineers who operate Amtrak’s passenger and commuter trains over its 21,000-mile, 46-state route system. The contract was ratified by a 550-479 vote of the 1,029 (73%) ballots cast, BLET officials said in a union newsletter.

The contract provides full retroactive payments dating to July 1, 2022, and will run through 2028. Highlights of the pact include: 
 • 30% general wage increase (34.12% compounded); 
• 10 weeks of paid parental leave; 
• a significant increase in away-from-home expenses; 
• significant improvement to vacation arrangements in PTO (33 days); 
• 90 minute instructor engineer allowance; 
• improvement to bereavement leave, transitioning from 3 calendar days to 3 working days; 
• addition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday; and 
• double the current certification allowance.