TCU, BRC ratify labor contracts with freight railroads

Members of the Transportation Communications International Union (TCU) and the Brotherhood Railway Carmen Division (of TCU) have ratified new contract terms with major U.S. freight railroads.

The agreement covers more than 17,000 workers, National Railway Labor Conference officials said in press release.

The unions are the latest to ratify their agreements with the railroads. Others that have already approved agreements include the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen, the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers and the American Train Dispatchers Association.

"I am pleased that more than 70 percent of our employees have now ratified the national settlement terms and even more, that they are approving them by overwhelming margins," said A. Kenneth Gradia, chairman of the National Carriers' Conference Committee (NCCC), the bargaining representative for the railroads. "These latest results continue the steady stream of contract ratifications by railroad employees over the last six weeks."

The NCCC represents more than 30 railroads, including BNSF, CSX, and Union Pacific Railroad.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers have yet to ratify their agreements.