Railroaders place to shoot the shit.

CLEVELAND, February 23 The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen has reached a tentative agreement with the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad (MBCR) that would provide members with general wage increases worth 13.7 percent over the four-year contract.

The agreement would run through June 30, 2013, with retroactive pay back to 2009. Ballots were mailed on February 17 and must be received back by the BLET National Division no later than March 17 in order to be counted.

In addition to the general wage increases, the agreement provides passenger engineers with increased certification allowances and instructor allowances. Members would also receive a $1,000 signing bonus.

BLET members rejected an earlier tentative agreement with MBCR in 2010.

According to the Boston Globe: The railroad engineers were negotiating separately, while train conductors and 12 mechanical and maintenance unions formed a coalition. After the engineers rejected a tentative deal last year, the conductors split off to join them. Those two unions reached a tentative deal with management last month and are voting on it through March 17.

In a letter to members introducing the new 2011 tentative agreement, Amtrak General Chairman Mark Kenny said, There were some significant personnel changes made relative to MBCR top management and at the bargaining table following rejection of the 2010 tentative agreement.

He also said there was a dramatic shift in the Carriers posture at the table in terms of a genuine willingness to reach an agreement that would be accepted within a ratification process.

In terms of work rule changes, General Chairman Kenny wrote that pay for layover time will be increased from half-time to five-eighths time.

It is truly significant as it breaks the long standing ceiling of half-time and sets in place a more advantageous threshold going forward in the next bargaining round.

Additionally, the health and welfare plan changes in the tentative agreement have been reduced from the 2010 tentative agreement and are substantially more consistent with the BLET National health and welfare plan.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is the public operator of most bus, subway, commuter rail and ferry systems in the greater Boston area. MBCR operates the commuter rail portion of the MBTA system.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011
bentley@ble.org