In response to a CSX notice -- served in accordance with Section 4 of New York Dock protective conditions -- to consolidate operations in Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, six general chairpersons have reached a tentative agreement to combine seniority districts into a new Northern Mid-Atlantic Coordinated Seniority District.
The tentative agreement also adopts a single collective bargaining agreement that will greatly enhance work opportunities while preserving prior rights of the affected membership.
Additionally, it also brings the Northern District (Conrail) train crews under the protection of the B&O crew consist moratorium, which is considered one of the strongest in the nation. The Conrail agreement under which the crews are now working has no crew-consist moratorium provision.
The tentative agreement has no effect on wages, entry rates, conductor certification pay, health care or other pay related provisions of existing agreements. Those provisions are governed by the national rail contract currently in negotiations, and Northern Mid-Atlantic Coordinated Seniority District members will receive the pay provisions of an amended national rail contract in addition to the benefits of the consolidation agreement.
Nor does the tentative agreement include issues that were part of a CSX Southern Lines agreement that recently was accepted by some CSX Southern Lines general committee members and rejected by others.
The parties negotiated a number of substantial improvements otherwise unavailable through a strict application of the New York Dock process.
Such improvements include automatic certification for employees whose jobs are abolished within 90 days of implementation -- both before and after an implementation notice is served, plus extension of the B&O crew consist moratorium over the entire Conrail area, preservation of crew consist guarantees for Conrail employees, expanded seniority rights for all over the entire territory while preserving prior rights over an employee's current seniority district, and many other enhancements.
UTU International President Mike Futhey praised General Chairpersons Bill Beebe (GO 663), George Casey (GO 081), Dick McVeen/Tony Pascarella (GO 619), Dan OConnell (GO 770), and Bill Wodowski (GO 621) for "putting their members' interests ahead of their personal interests and doing the right thing."
If the tentative agreement is ratified, the Northern Mid-Atlantic Coordinated Seniority District will be governed by the B&O System Agreement administered by General Chairperson John Lesniewski (GO 049).
The negotiated tentative agreement creating the Northern Mid-Atlantic Coordinated Seniority District followed a Dec. 2, 2009, notice from CSX 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)," under a single schedule agreement.
The authority for this notice were provisions of the 1998 Conrail carve-up, by which CSX and Norfolk Southern split-up and acquired Conrail trackage, facilities and equipment.
Employee protective provisions of that transaction imposed by the Surface Transportation Board required the carrier to negotiate implementing agreements before seeking arbitration of any future rearrangement of forces.
Failure to reach an agreement would have caused the notice to be resolved in accordance with New York Dock conditions that do not allow an arbitrator to impose automatic certification or enhance the selected collective bargaining agreement in any way.
In its notice, said Lesniewski, "CSX expressed an 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. Instead, the existing seniority rights of all members were preserved, and they receive an additional comprehensive layer of seniority rights over and above that," Lesniewski said.
The general chairpersons who signed the tentative agreement thanked International Vice President John Previsich for his assistance during the negotiations.
Said Previsich: "I commend each of the general chairpersons involved for the professionalism and dedication to the membership exhibited by them during this very difficult process. The end result is an agreement that far exceeds what could be obtained by any other means and stands as testimony to the value of working together for the benefit of the men and women that we represent."
