US Class 1 Freight Railroad Unions Reviewing Tentative Agreement: Four Ratified, Eight Pending

Posted on October 7, 2022

The National Railway Labor Conference (NRLC) is an association of all US Class 1 freight railroads, as well as many smaller freight and passenger lines. The NRLC has been representing the following railroads in their negotiations with 12 major rail labor organizations:

  • BNSF Railway Company
  • CSX Transportation Inc.
  • Kansas City Southern Railway Company
  • Norfolk Southern Railway Company
  • Union Pacific Railroad
  • US railroads owned directly or indirectly by Canadian National

The current round of negotiations, which began in January 2020, covers more than 30 railroads and approximately 115,000 employees.

The railroads and labor organizations have reached a tentative agreement, and rank-and-file members of the various labor organizations have or are in the process of ratifying the new agreement. Each labor organization has a different time period allotted for membership to vote on the new contract.

To date, four labor organizations have ratified their agreements:

  1. Transportation Communications Union (TCU)
  2. Brotherhood of Railway Carmen (BRC), a division of the TCU
  3. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
  4. American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA)

Ratification is still pending from eight unions:

  1. Brotherhood of Maintenance Way Employees (BMWED) — scheduled for October 10th
  2. National Conference of Firemen and Oilers/SEIU (NCFO) — scheduled for October 13th
  3. International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART M) — scheduled for October 14th
  4. Brotherhood of Railway Signalmen (BRS) — scheduled for October 26th
  5. International Brotherhood of Boiler Makers (IBB) — scheduled for November 11th
  6. Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) — scheduled for November 17th
  7. International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART TD) — scheduled for November 17th
  8. International Association of Machinist and Aerospace Workers (IAM) — no later than November 20th

We will continue keep you updated as the voting proceeds.

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