The presidential emergency board appointed to recommend a settlement of the contract talks between Class 1 railroads and their unions has decided to split the differences.
Various news reports, including those by Trains magazine and the Reuters news agency, said the PEB is recommending that the railroads drop their demand that conductors be removed from locomotive cabs but also recommended pay increases that are well below what the unions were seeking.
If both sides agree to adopt the PEB recommendations, workers would receive a 22 percent pay hike over the life of the contract as well as $1,000 in service recognition bonus payments per year over the five years of the contract. The two sides could also agree to use the PEB findings as a basis for a new contract agreement.
The unions, which represent 115,000 railroad workers, had reportedly sought a 28 percent pay increase while the carriers offered 16 percent.
The PEB’s recommended pay increase works out to between 4 percent and 7 percent a year through 2024. Workers would receive back pay increases of 3 percent for 2020 and 3.5 percent for 2021.
Workers should receive an additional paid day off each year, the PEB recommended.
As for health care benefits, the PEB recommended what it termed modest changes that would include no reductions in benefits or a shift in cost-sharing, aside from a previously agreed upon 15 percent employee contribution per month.
The recommendations called for railroads and their unions to continue negotiating over the scheduling of work shifts for train and engine workers and if no agreement can be reached submitting the issue to binding arbitration.
Along those lines, the PEB recommended that the matter of making conductors ground-based positions be negotiated at the local rather than national level.
By federal law, work stoppages are prohibited for the next 30 days. If one or both of the parties in the contract impasse rejects the PEB findings, they will be free to either strike, in the case of the unions, or lock out workers in the case of railroad management.
If one or both of those occur, Congress could step in and impose a settlement.
Contract talks began in early 2020. By law, railroad contracts never expire but can be amended from time to time.
Historically, contract talks often take years to resolve. The last national railroad strike occurred in 1992.
The three-member PEB was appointed by President Joseph Biden in July and given a month to investigate the contract situation and issue recommendations for a settlement.
An article about the PEB recommendations can be found at the website of Trains magazine at https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/presidential-emergency-board-issues-rail-contract-recommendations-meant-to-avert-strike/
The article includes a link to download the PEB report.
Tags: class 1 railroads, contract negotiations, presidential emergency board, Railroad labor unions, Railroad union contracts
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