Winter 2000
Volume 107 - No. 4

BLE Focus

National Bargaining

Since U.S. Section 6 notices were served in November of 1999, the BLE's National Wage Committee (NWC) has met with the National Carriers' Conference Committee (NCCC) for eight sessions, totaling 22 bargaining dates.

Once again, the parties are negotiating on a "dual track" basis, whereby national issues - such as wages, benefits and national work rules - are bargained by the NWC and the NCCC, and local or property issues are negotiated by the general chairmen and their respective labor relations officers on each property. Health and welfare issues are being handled with the NCCC by a rail labor coalition known as the Cooperating Railway Labor Organizations.

Among the primary areas the BLE is focusing on in national wage/rule negotiations are the following:

The health and welfare negotiations have been complicated by two issues. The first is how to deal with prescription costs, which are rising at a rate of over 20% annually, and contributed to a more than 18% increase in GA 23000 premiums for the new year.

The other is how to handle cost sharing. In each of the last two national agreements, railroad workers have contributed to the premium cost of their health care. During the contract term, this was accomplished by offsetting lump sum payments to cover the contribution. At the present time, four cents is being deferred from the post-moratorium "Harris COLA." However, the Harris COLA will end upon the implementation of a new agreement, and the BLE leadership is committed to a contract with general wage increases instead of lump sum payments. Therefore, the parties will have to find another way to continue this decade-long arrangement.

Earlier this year, the United Transportation Union (UTU) and the NCCC announced that they had reached a tentative agreement for the crafts represented by UTU. The BLE rejected the UTU proposal for three reasons.

First, the economic components of the deal were inadequate, given record industry profits in four of the past five years. Second, the costs and benefits of the package are more favorable for UTU-represented employees than they would be for BLE members. Third, several issues of concern to the BLE were not addressed whatsoever.

The carriers also were told that a financial analysis of the deal would be mandatory on our part, after which we would be in a position to make a more detailed response. While a preliminary analysis is nearing completion, we are awaiting demographic and compensation data from the carriers, so that our analysis of the deal can be as accurate as possible.

It appears that the value of the UTU agreement's post-85 "fix" will not exceed 3%, making the total value of the wage settlement approximately 15%, including the $1,200 lump sum longevity bonus, which will be paid to pre-85 train service employees only. However, this figure is dependent upon the timing of the phasing-in of trip rates.

UTU and NCCC still have not agreed upon a set of "Questions and Answers" that must be attached to the tentative deal. Therefore, no date for a ratification vote by the UTU membership has been set at press time.

The short term difficulty this has created for the BLE's negotiating team is that the carriers are not going to negotiate against themselves while the UTU ratification process is ongoing. Consequently, no meaningful talks are likely until UTU members ratify or reject the proposed agreement.

Whether or not the UTU agreement is ratified, there is a substantially increased likelihood that our contract dispute will be headed toward mediation. The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes and the Transportation Communications International Union have been in mediation for several months already, with no significant progress reported.

With Texas Governor George W. Bush having been elected President, the carriers may be emboldened to adopt a hard-line position. Bush's running mate, Dick Cheney, served on the Union Pacific Railroad's Board of Directors. His acting Chief of Staff, Andrew Card, served Bush's father as Secretary of Transportation from 1992-1993; Card's chief supporter for the post was Reagan Administration Transportation Secretary, and then-President of the Union Pacific, Drew Lewis.

At least two other senior Class I railroad executives also are rumored to be candidates for top Administration posts. Thus, if contract talks with any of the unions reach impasse and the parties are released from mediation, the industry will have tremendous influence on the naming of a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB). Given the Republican majorities in both houses of Congress, it is unlikely that recommendations issued by a Bush-appointed PEB would be materially improved before they are enacted into law as a contract settlement.

There are several ways in which one of these disputes could end up before a PEB. Since the UTU agreement did not resolve the health and welfare portion of the dispute, it could be placed before a PEB as a stand-alone piece, as was the case with the initial recommendations of PEB 219, appointed by President-elect Bush's father. Alternatively, unresolved wage/rules disputes involving different crafts could be lumped together before a single PEB, which happened later that same round.

The key to the timing of the ultimate settlement of our Section 6 notices will be what progress is made in the winter and early spring months. Under the Railway Labor Act's provisions, a release from mediation starts a 30-day clock ticking, during which no self-help is available. At that point, the President of the United States may step in and appoint a PEB to investigate the dispute and recommend a settlement. History has shown time and again over recent decades that the federal government will not permit a lengthy rail strike to occur that affects any sizeable portion of the nation.

The PEB must report its findings and recommendations to the President within 30 days, and no self-help is available for an additional 30 days. Because PEB recommendations that do not result in an agreement typically are imposed in some fashion by Congress, the National Mediation Board will not release the parties from mediation at any point in time when Congress is scheduled to be in recess 90 days thereafter. Therefore, the pressure will be on the unions to obtain either a settlement or a release from mediation by mid-April.

The BLE's National Wage Committee is well-prepared for mediation, and a possible Presidential Emergency Board. The same legal team who successfully defended the craft structure on the Union Pacific has been assembled for the negotiations. A firm of top labor economists has been retained, as well; it already has completed its review of the industry's financial condition, and currently is evaluating the economic aspects of the UTU's tentative agreement, as well as various aspects of the BLE's package of proposals.

In the end, however, the degree of success the BLE will enjoy will rest, in large part, on the willingness of the membership to mobilize in support of the leadership's bargaining goals, and apply pressure at the appropriate time on many fronts to overcome the industry's "insider" position in Washington. ·

 

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© 2000 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers