As reported in a December 3, 2009 article on this website, under date of December 2, 2009, CSXT served notice upon our General Committee (GO-049), as well as the CSXT Northern District (former Conrail) General Committees of G. T. Casey (GO-081), R. C. McVeen (GO-619), W. A. Beebe (GO-663) and W. A. Wadowski III (GO-621), of their intent to “… consolidate and coordinate train operations, employees, and related facilities in the territory covered by the Northern District (former Conrail), and the territory covered by the Eastern District and certain contiguous parts of the Western District (former B&O), to create a larger territory for train operations, to be known as the Northern Mid-Atlantic District” under a single schedule agreement pursuant to Article I, Section 4 of the New York Dock conditions imposed by the Surface Transportation Board in Finance Docket No. 33388 (the acquisition of Conrail by CSX and NS).
Section 4 of the New York Dock protective conditions require that the Carrier negotiate an implementing agreement with the organization representatives involved before they effectuate a transaction which is subject to the conditions that would involve rearrangement of forces. If the parties are unable to reach a consensus on such an implementing agreement, Section 4 provides a timeline specific procedure for final and binding arbitration of the matter before the intended transaction can be placed into effect.
The December 2nd notice CSXT served was quite concerning in that it expressed their intention to decimate the currently owned seniority rights of the affected members in favor of a “one size fits all” roster covering the entire Northern Mid-Atlantic area. Nevertheless, in that December 3rd article the General Committee also urged all officers and members to remember the notice we received served as a starting point for our negotiations regarding the coordination, not the end product. We also cautioned members it was far too soon to panic or jump to conclusions in any direction; and pledged we would do everything within our power to protect the wages, working conditions and seniority rights of the members we serve from adverse affect as a result of this transaction.
The General Committee is now proud to announce that we have fulfilled our pledge. After numerous meetings and negotiating sessions with CSXT since the December 2nd notice, and with the much valued assistance of UTU Vice President John Previsich, a tentative agreement has been reached for the Northern Mid-Atlantic Coordinated District. That document was released on Tuesday, May 25, 2010 to B&O Eastern/Western and former Conrail Northern District Local Chairmen. Informational conference calls with these local representatives followed on Tuesday, May 25, 2010, and Wednesday, May 26, 2010.
While reviewing the Northern Mid-Atlantic District Coordination Agreement it is extremely important for the reader to understand what this Agreement is not. THIS AGREEMENT IS NOT OUR NATIONAL CONTRACT IN SETTLEMENT OF THE (RAILWAY LABOR ACT) SECTION 6 NOTICES WE SERVED UPON THE CARRIER IN NOVEMBER 2009. AS SUCH, THIS IS NOT THE AGREEMENT WHEREIN WAGES, ENTRY RATES, CONDUCTOR CERTIFICATION PAY, HEALTH & WELFARE AND OTHER PAY-RELATED ISSUES WILL BE ADDRESSED!
THE NORTHERN MID-ATLANTIC COORDINATION AGREEMENT IS ALSO NOT A SYSTEM AGREEMENT SIMILAR TO WHAT MANY OF YOU HAVE READ ABOUT ON THE SOUTH END OF CSX. You won’t find anything in the NMA Agreement related to Performance Bonuses in lieu of wages increases, an Electronic Bid System (EBS) or reduction of crew sizes.
Our committee remains in national handling regarding wages, entry rates, conductor certification pay, health & welfare and other items addressed in our Section 6 Notice served upon the Carriers on November 2, 2009. That tentative agreement, when negotiations have been concluded, will be sent to each member for ratification at a later date. Although you will note some enhancements to the B&O Schedule Agreement within the contents of the NMA Agreement, and also retention of certain (former Conrail) Northern District provisions for those employees, this Agreement is strictly in settlement of a coordination notice (transaction) served upon the B&O UTU General Committee and the former Conrail Northern District General Committees pursuant to Section 4 of the New York Dock labor protective conditions imposed under Finance Docket 33388. DO NOT GET CONFUSED BECAUSE THERE ARE NO WAGE INCREASES. THAT IS A SEPARATE AGREEMENT ALTOGETHER, AND IS BEING HANDLED NATIONALLY!
As promised the Northern Mid-Atlantic Agreement preserves the seniority rights of all members through the retention of existing prior rights, and the creation of an additional level of prior rights encompassing all employees owning train service seniority as of the effective date of the agreement. The B&O Schedule Agreement is adopted as the single agreement governing the entire Northern Mid-Atlantic (NMA) District. Furthermore, the implementing agreement not only protects the wages and working conditions of our members, it actually enhances those conditions through additional modifications to the B&O Schedule Agreement that will be adopted with implementation of the coordination agreement (if ratified). For that reason the negotiating committee chose to include the entire B&O Western District in the Northern Mid-Atlantic Seniority District, so they could enjoy these enhancements as well.
Among those enhancements to the B&O Schedule Agreement are:
- Up to 100 Personal Leave Days may be carried over and held.
- Up to 2 weeks of vacation (instead of 1) may be converted to daily vacation; and weekly vacations started on Saturday (currently Sunday) beginning in 2011 so that an employee taking a single week of vacation will get a full weekend off.
- Instructor allowance increased to $18.00.
- Road AFHT meal allowance increased to $10.00 ($2.00 increase) per meal.
- Deadhead by trains eliminated except in case of emergency conditions (Rule 100, Section 11) wherein transportation in passenger carrying conveyances would be prohibitive for safety reasons.
- CSX payroll will not be allowed to recover overpayments after 60 days from date of payment (Note: This has been a huge problem in the past.)
- CSX payroll to recognize 234 “computed” days (180 basic days x 1.3 days = 234 days) for road service employees to qualify for vacation (Note: This has been a dispute in the past).
The pact also benefits CSX Northern District employees, preserving their current seniority rights as prior rights and, most importantly,
it brings the Northern District train crews under the protection of the B&O Crew Consist moratorium found in Agreement Rule 100, Section 21, which is arguably the strongest in the country. Without that protection, Northern District trainmen would remain vulnerable to a Section 6 Notice from the Carrier seeking to reduce train crew sizes, or even eliminate the conductor/foreman altogether, because the former Conrail Agreement they currently work under has no moratorium provisions. Other advantages realized by Northern District Trainmen under the B&O Agreement, not found in their current contract, include:
- Shoving claims paid at 2 hours (per tour).
- Reverse lodging available.
- Discipline can be worked off with clean record in first and/or second half of calendar year (5 years of service required).
- Supplemental Sickness Benefit Plan at no cost to the employee
- Seven (7) days off (instead of 5) for each week of vacation converted to daily vacation.
- Paid 8 hours for attending Rules class.
- Paid 3 hours for attending company required physical while in active service (does not apply to return to work physicals).
- Brakeman required on light engine movements over 25 miles.
- Short Turnaround turning point 25 miles or less; with 100 mile maximum.
- Runaround = 4 hour payment if performing service within the next 8 hours; 8 hour payment if not next performing service within 8 hours.
- Utility assignments paid conductor road switcher rate (for advertised 6 or 7 days assignments) and yard foreman rate (for yard and 5-day road assignments).
General Chairperson Lesniewski would like to thank UTU Vice President John Previsich, as well as Vice General Chairpersons Steven C. Mavity and Jeremy R. Ferguson, for their assistance negotiating this Agreement. He would also like to acknowledge and commend the unselfish courage and assistance of General Chairpersons George Casey, Bill Beebe, Tony Pascarella (acting) and Dick McVeen (now retired) in choosing the agreement that was in the best interests of their membership regardless of their own personal consequences. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, he would like to thank President Futhey for his advice and support in the best interests of the membership during the course of negotiations.
To view a copy of the tentative Northern Mid-Atlantic Coordination Agreement click
here.
To view a synopsis of the tentative Northern Mid-Atlantic Coordination Agreement click
here.
To view a list of advantages/consequences of the NMA Agreement to B&O Eastern & Western District trainmen click
here.
To view a list of advantages/consequences of the NMA Agreement to (former Conrail) Northern District trainmen click
here.
