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If the rail strike starts, every union will respect the fence, BLT says


Shipping containers sit at a railway facility waiting to be moved.

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One of the largest rail labor unions, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), will honor the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS) strike day on December 5, the first day that the railroad union rejecting a proposed labor agreement with the freight rail companies could strike.

“Our members will definitely honor the BRS line,” BLT president Dennis Pierce told CNBC. “I think every alliance will.”

The BRS has not announced whether it will extend the pause to match a possible strike date later on December 9. On Monday, SMART-TD, one of the largest railway unions, vote against the labor agreementbut its first strike date was on 9 December. The Brotherhood to Maintain Employee Ethics (BMWED), which initially had the same layoffs and strike schedule as the BRS, had previously announced it would extend lengthen the strike schedule to align with SMART-TD if the union refuses to agree.

Pierce told CNBC a record number of BLT members took part in the ratification vote — that was the case. at other railway unions — with 53.5% voting in favor and 46.5% voting against.

“Even though they voted for it, we still get a lot of no votes,” Pierce said. “There’s still a lot of grit out there. And I think you can see evidence of that among voters voting SMART-TD. So we still have a lot of work to do. There’s a lot of anger. People are still not happy,” he said.

BLT and SMART-TD represent about half of railway workers transporting freight.

Anger around quality-of-life issues can be, says Pierce be a sticking point during negotiations with the railway management, offered substantial wage increases and one-off distributions to the workers. Access to time off is one of the components of the BLT agreement and rail unions have attempted to implement. federal contractor’s sick pay policy permanent benefits for union members. BMWED and BRS had another round of negotiations scheduled with rail carriers Monday afternoon over federal sick pay.

“We need to get to it right away to get access to that predictable break,” says Pierce. “But even with that, there are problems associated with going to school as people are forced to go to work when they are sick, forced to work when they are tired. And that is really why that is why. the railway industry has a lot of difficulty in hiring late because it is reported that the job is unattractive due to the way people are treated.Our goal is to improve those jobs with the holidays possible. This is predictable, but we have to stay busy and try to accomplish that goal.”

A spokesperson for the Association of American Railroads recently told CNBC that the number of train and engine service employees grew 7.4% in September compared with January, despite Government data shows Railway staffing has declined in recent years and cites “accurately scheduled rail schedules” as a factor.

When does Pierce come in? Pacific Alliance The CEO laughed in response to CNBC’s online question about the possibility of a strike as evidence of the railroad’s lack of respect for railroad workers.

Rail strike is possible, but 'impossible': Union Pacific CEO

“Laughing in public like that for something serious is really why so many votes are non-existent,” Pierce said. “The level of arrogance and disrespect towards the working class is really profitable for railroads like Union Pacific and all of them are reasons why these people are so angry. They went to the Emergency Department. Presidential level and suggest that we don’t contribute to the profits. They are much needed during the pandemic.”

On Monday, American Railroad Association President and CEO Ian Jefferies said, “Today, the BLT, along with the majority of our unions, approved the largest pay increase in nearly five decades. and also paved the way for its members to be able to better predict schedules.”

He added, “Railway is ready to achieve new transactions based on PEB [Presidential Emergency Board] framework with the rest of our associations, but the window continues to narrow as the deadline rapidly approaches.”

Class 1 freight rails on strike include UP, csx, South Norfolk and Berkshire HathawayBNSF’s.

The different timelines for unions to strike including the BRS, BMWED and SMART-TD are based on negotiated extensions of the cooling-off periods to which the railways have signed off.

“Those dates have been agreed to by the railways, so we’ll have to wait and see if they get things sorted out or if this happens again,” Pierce said. .

Based on the September strike preparation guidance, if the BRS upholds the strike date of December 5, then strike preparations are expected to begin on November 28, the date the Senate returns later. Thanksgiving holiday. The house was back on the Hill on November 29.

Congress has the authority to stop a railroad strike under the Railroad Labor Act. Congress could impose a resolution from President Biden’s emergency committee or order trains to operate as normal with a negotiated extension.

Why a nationwide rail workers strike is a big risk this December

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