Members of the United Transportation Union (UTU) have approved a new national agreement with the nation's major freight railroads, joining eleven other unions that had previously reached final agreements on new contracts. UTU, which represents almost one third of the railroads' workforce, had been in negotiations with the National Carriers Conference since November 2004.
With the ratification of this agreement, nearly 95 percent of all unionized freight rail workers have successfully concluded voluntary agreements in the current bargaining round. Only one union, the International Association of Machinists, does not have an agreement.
'We are pleased that the UTU's membership has overwhelmingly endorsed its leadership's efforts to craft mutually beneficial solutions to the challenges that had stymied negotiations for so long. This demonstrates yet again that voluntary bargaining continues to work well in the railroad industry,' said Robert F. Allen, Chairman of the National Carriers' Conference Committee, the railroads' bargaining agent.
The new pact covers more than 30 railroads, including BNSF, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific.
