BLE Focus

Spring 2000
Volume 107 - No. 1

BLE Focus

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers was founded on May 8, 1863. Our 137th anniversary came and went without much celebration or fanfare.

In this issue of the Locomotive Engineers Journal, we take a snapshot of five major issues facing our members today.

Another round of bargaining with U.S. freight carriers began last November, with the hope that agreements could be reached relatively quickly, as was the case in the last round in 1996. Once again, the BLE and the National Carriers' Conference Committee (NCCC) have agreed to dual track bargaining, where industrywide issues will be negotiated nationally, while local issues will be negotiated on the property. However, the carriers have reverted to the rhetoric that drove more than a decade of concessionary bargaining beginning the early 1980s and - with health care costs rising steeply again - it looks like this round may be neither quick nor pretty.

Background

The carriers point to two factors in their quest for concessions. The first is about a 25% increase in premiums for medical coverage for active employees, driven largely by exploding prescription drug costs. The other thing the carriers rely on to support their "shallow pockets" argument is reduced stock prices and profits.

However, 1998 and 1999 turned out to be among the most profitable years the industry has ever enjoyed, even with the problems the Class I carriers have experienced. Further, the problems on CSX and NS in the East were selfinflicted; too much was paid for Conrail and too much of it was debt.

CSX Corp. paid bonuses to 4,400 managers and office workers at its Jacksonville-based rail unit the first week of May, two weeks after the owner of the No. 3 U.S. railroad reported a 61 percent decline in first-quarter profit.

The bonuses averaged about $1,200, or about 2 percent of the workers' $60,000 average salary. The quarterly bonus was part of a program promoted by former President Ronald Conway, who was replaced along with two other senior executives in April.

There also still is enough money for buyouts of supervisory personnel, even as agreement workers are being furloughed. The experience of the BNSF and UP/SP mergers also shows that what CSX and NS are going through should play itself out in about a year or two... if management knows what it's doing.

For locomotive engineers, the goals are easy to identify - real wage increases, stable health care coverage, and addressing the inferior conditions for post-85 engineers. While each should be attainable, they may require a protracted struggle in order to be realized.

Update

The BLE already has scored two big wins for post-85 engineers - on Norfolk Southern (NS) and Grand Trunk Western (GTW) - and hopes to continue this pattern of success in negotiations with other railroads.

The specific relief for post-85 engineers on NS was threefold: 1) the inferior "post-85" deadhead rule was abolished; 2) the $15.00/day and $0.15/overmile, which applies to all engineers regardless of date of hire, will be rolled into the daily/hourly/mileage rates of pay on January 1, 2003; and 3) the 5-year entry rate progression beginning at 75% has been changed to a 3-year progression, beginning at 85% (because of the 5% step-up upon promotion to conductor and another upon promotion to engineer, no NS engineer will receive less than 95% of the full rate).

With respect to wages, NS set out in a different direction in its last round, opting to participate in NS's "Thoroughbred Performance Bonus" plan, in lieu of the general wage increases and lump sums contained in the 1996 national agreement. In order to restore national wage rates on the property, all NS engineers also received a 14.4% general wage increase.

The following issues on NS were referred for national handling: health & welfare; retirement and disability; meals and meal allowances; availability; paid leave days; off-track vehicle insurance; and detention time. When the proposal was put out for a ratification vote, 86% of those voting marked their ballots "yes."

The post-85 components of the GTW agreement mirror the NS agreement to a large degree. The inferior deadhead rule has been abrogated; the certification allowance of $15.00/day and $0.15/overmile has been rolled into the basic day, as has been the $6.00 "no fireman" allowance. Significantly, the entry rate progression has been eliminated on GTW, and the wage package, which is fully retroactive dating back to January 1, 1998, consists of four annual 3% general wage increases.

What's in Store?

Eight days of talks held between mid-January and early March produced nothing substantive. Each side presented their basic positions, and the NCCC made an economic presentation in support of its argument that the industry has fallen on tough times. Further, carrier demands for substantial health and welfare givebacks have cast a pall over wage negotiations.

Additional bargaining was held during the first week of May, at which time the BLE's economist responded to the carriers' presentation on the state of the industry's economic health. Among the most noteworthy factors supporting our position is the fact that productivity remains at an all-time high.

The industry is healthy enough to provide a fair wage increase; even NS - who had the worst performance last year - stepped up to the plate and substantially improved the plight of our post-85 members. However, it appears that the carriers want to creep along with an eye toward the November elections. Their hope is that if the health and welfare dispute - or the wage/rules dispute - reaches an impasse, then it will be forwarded to a Republican-appointed Presidential Emergency Board. ·

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