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11/15/2022
Members of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB) have voted to reject ratification of the tentative agreement with the nation’s major freight railroads, the National Carriers’ Conference Committee announced yesterday.
The IBB represents about 300 rail employees out of the more than 100,000 involved in the bargaining for a new contract.
The NCCC, which represents the railroads in labor negotiations, and IBB previously agreed to maintain a cooling-off period until Dec. 9 in the event that the tentative agreement was not ratified. As a result, the failed ratification does not present a risk of a strike or job action, NCCC officials said in a press release.
NCCC and IBB will continue to seek an agreement based on the framework recommended by Presidential Emergency Board No. 250 in August.
On Nov. 21, the two largest rail unions representing conductors and engineers — the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and SMART Transportation Division — will conclude their ratification processes and announce their vote. Combined, those two unions represent about half of all unionized rail employees.
Meanwhile, the BLET yesterday announced it reached a tentative agreement with the MTA Long Island Rail Road. Ballots have been mailed and are due Dec. 7, union officials said in a press release.
The BLET represents more than 500 members who work for the LIRR and belong to Division 269 in Long Island, New York.