Pan Am clerical workers ratify pact

Pan Am Railways clerical workers represented by the Transportation Communications Union (TCU) recently ratified a new four-year contract by a unanimous vote.

The pact provides wage increases totaling 12 percent over the four-year term and is identical to a contract ratified a week earlier by the railroad’s TCU-represented carmen.

"Our members’ decisive action to ratify this contract came just in the nick of time," said TCU National Vice President Arthur Maratea in a press release. "Right after we finalized the deal, Pan Am lost a major customer, and it has since significantly reduced its contract offer to unsigned unions."

Pan Am Railways is North America's largest regional railroad system, totaling about 1,700 route miles. The company’s routes run from Saint John and St. Leonard, New Brunswick, to Rotterdam Junction, N.Y., and Derby, Conn.