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Brothers and Sisters,

I would like to take a moment to address the tentative agreements on certain properties, including CSXT, NS, and BNSF, which are currently out for ratification or will be shortly, which for most will be in lieu of the traditional “national agreement.” Undoubtedly, this scenario is a bit unusual to those of us who have been around for a decade or more, and it is even more unconventional to us as international officers who are usually engaged in national negotiations every three to five years. We are definitely in some uncharted waters here, because we have never seen a tentative agreement come to fruition before our Section 6 notices were even served, or the existing agreement’s moratorium has opened to require negotiations under the Railway Labor Act (RLA).

In the last round of negotiations, we were met with some of the most-contentious circumstances imaginable, due to all the carriers being hell bent on achieving crew consist changes to remove conductors from our through freight trains. Throughout that round of bargaining, not a single rail labor union was able to gain any meaningful traction, as the carriers made it very clear they were not negotiating with anyone until SMART-TD conceded to eliminating a significant portion of the conductor craft. Of course, we never agreed and instead made our case to Presidential Emergency Board 250, which reaffirmed that all crew consist issues were to be handled at the “local level” (i.e., the General Committee of Adjustment level). PEB 250 also gave us the largest pay increase in modern history, along with some very complex work rule changes to include rest days, and the reinstatement of the 15 percent monthly health & welfare contribution requirement.

With the above in mind, and given some of the inquiries we have received at both the national and general committee levels, I am publishing this informational notice for members who may still be curious about certain aspects of these tentative agreements. We hope you will find the following questions and answers helpful and informative.

“Why didn’t we get more than 17.5% general wage increase? It’s not as much as 22%!”

First and foremost, the proposed general wage increases work out to be within $2.00 per day compared to what we received under PEB 250. You heard that correctly, less than $2.00 per day difference. Even though 17.5% is objectively less than 22%, we are compounding upon a higher dollar value today than we were under PEB 250. By July 1, 2029, the base foreman rate of pay will increase by $61.40 per day and the base conductor rate of pay will increase by $55.28 per day. Under the record 22% of PEB 250, our foremen experienced a $63.36 per day increase, and our conductors experienced a $56.53 per day increase. I would also like to add that this proposal is the largest general wage increase negotiated voluntarily without third party intervention, without healthcare cost increases, and without work rule changes!

What are we giving up?

NOTHING! There are no work rule changes or healthcare cost increases included in this proposal.

What about our crew consist agreement(s) that mandate conductors on all trains?

Since there are no work rule changes affecting crew consist, these agreements (if ratified) will secure another five-year period where no changes can even be proposed under Section 6 of the RLA. This is huge! Yes, we have obtained a two-person crew regulation from the Federal Railroad Administration, but we are still very concerned about the possibility of future anti-labor and anti-regulation focused administrations undermining our progress. We are equally concerned with what the Supreme Court has done with their recent Chevron decision, which could also compromise our regulation. Ratifying these agreements now will protect and guarantee the future of our conductors, while providing another 5 years for us to focus on passing a rail safety bill through Congress, which would make two-person crews the literal law of the land.

What else is in this for me?

If you have fewer than 25 years of service, you will be getting your next week(s) of vacation entitlement two years sooner. You will see much needed and commonly requested increases to your dental, orthodontic, and vision benefits, and voluntary male sterilization (vasectomies) will be covered by your medical insurance. Additionally, if you are single, you will have the option to choose a health & welfare plan with a lower monthly contribution requirement of 10%, compared to the 15% we are all currently paying. This voluntary option is worth approximately $100 per month for those who qualify and decide to opt in. For those who opt completely out of coverage, the payment made to you will double, from $100 to $200 per month.

Why are General Chairmen signatory to this agreement and not the SMART-TD International officers?

Leading up to this tentative agreement, there were some informal discussions at the “national” level between some of the involved rail labor unions and the National Carriers Conference Committee (NCCC), which is the umbrella organization that represents approximately 40 railroads who are party to national bargaining.

Disappointingly, but not surprisingly, those discussions were not productive. However, one particular railroad CEO, Joe Hinrichs from CSX, took the bull by the horns and said he would make a deal for most of what had been discussed but rejected by the NCCC. As a result, these agreements now have to be done “on the property” at the individual General Committee level. Interestingly, NS and BNSF management also agreed to the same deals shortly after the CSX. Why? It’s a proposal that should bring labor peace instead of the high-profile confrontations all their shareholders witnessed just a few years ago. Simple as that. No hidden agendas, no waiting for 2+ years, no backpay hanging in the balance, and no nonsense.

Boeing looks like they are getting a 30% pay increase and we should too!

We can certainly all agree that we should always get the highest general wage increases possible, and that is absolutely what we fight for. Fortunately for us, our situation is not comparable to Boeing employees being represented by the IAM. Going back to at least 2014, those Boeing employees have received sub-standard wage increases that have consistently fallen short of our agreements. If they ratify their proposed wage increases, it will essentially bring them up to speed with where SMART-TD members are today. And that is before we factor in the 17.5% general wage increases that have been proposed to you right now. Further, the Boeing proposal does not include back pay, so those employees will never recoup what they have lost during negotiations, which weakens the dollar value of what they are getting compared to what we have enjoyed during that time. Another major nuance when comparing the two is that Boeing employees lost their pension if they had fewer than 20 years of service, which is valued at approximately $5 per hour. By comparison, our pension fund is secured and doing very well at the RRB. Just like the John Deere, UPS, and UAW scenarios we have observed over the past few years, Boeing simply does not compare to us. We cannot fixate on the percentages of another union’s general wage increases without considering their agreements as a whole. Doing so would be a disservice to our members and a failure in our duties to obtain the best possible wages, rules, and healthcare improvements. Nonetheless, social media, anti-labor news outlets, and bad-faith actors who want us to fail continue to attempt to mislead our members with half-truths and misleading statistics.

These tentative agreements are simple and straightforward, and provide substantial wage increases without making concessions in other areas, and without making us fight for 2-3 years just to get what we deserve. Like every agreement in every unionized setting, this may not address or resolve every single issue that is important to every single member, but I am proud to say that this agreement provides significant improvements on many of the key issues that our members tell us about. Of course, we could have demanded everything and refused to meet on middle ground, which would have inevitably led to the same old drawn-out battle and years of delays, likely followed by a binding decision made by outsiders who do not completely understand our industry. We saw that play out in PEB 250, and our members have made it abundantly clear that they do not want a repeat of that situation. We firmly believe that this is a straightforward, no B.S. agreement that delivers another round of damn good wage increases and healthcare improvements, without sacrificing other important areas such as our work rules, crew consist, and benefits.

If you still have questions, I highly encourage you to contact your General Chairperson or this office prior to casting your vote. We are more than willing and able to dispel any rumor or misinformation that is circulating on social media, in the crew room or on anti-union so-called “news” outlets. To find contact information for your General Committee office, the simplest way is to download the SMART Union app on your phone or tablet, or visit our website at www.smart-union.org to register and sign in to the Member Portal. From there, you can find a convenient directory with all the contact information for your elected representatives.

I hope this provides a better understanding of what is on the table — and perhaps most importantly what we don’t have on the table — for you to decide on. When all things are considered, we are confident that a “yes” vote is the right decision for our involved members, and we highly recommend that you do so.

In solidarity,

Jeremy R. Ferguson

Tags BNSF, CSX, National Rail Negotiations, Norfolk Southern, tentative agreement

FORT WORTH, TEXAS – BNSF Railway, one of North America’s leading transportation companies, today announced it has reached tentative, five-year collective bargaining agreements with the SMART-TD railroad union, including the union’s yardmasters (SMART-TD-YDM). 

The news marks eight tentative agreements in less than one month’s time, representing more than 15,000 employees and more than 46% of BNSF’s union workforce. The agreements were reached three months before the opening of the next collective bargaining round. 

If ratified, the agreements will provide a 3.5% average wage increase per year over the next five years. They will also offer railroaders more vacation earlier in their career and meaningful enhancements to an already robust suite of health care benefits.

“Thank you to our leaders who have worked collaboratively with us to reach these tentative agreements,” said BNSF President & CEO Katie Farmer. “We are proud to be able to give our employees this unprecedented certainty over enhancements to their pay, health care and vacation in advance of the next round. Today’s agreement sets our entire team up for future success in serving our customers while securing jobs for our employees.”

SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson stated, “If ratified by SMART-TD members working for BNSF, this tentative agreement (TA) will increase members’ paychecks by a compounded 18.77% over the next five years. It also offers improvements to their quality of life, and H&W benefit enhancements. I’m proud of our team of BNSF General Chairpersons for the work they did on this agreement on behalf of our members.”

SMART-TD general chairpersons said in a joint statement. “We’re looking forward to presenting this agreement to our members, who will review and vote on whether to approve it.”

SMART-TD is the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART).

Tags BNSF, National Contract Negotiations, tentative agreement

SMART Rail, Mechanical and Engineering (RME) members working for Norfolk Southern, BNSF and CSX will soon receive ratification information ballots from the American Arbitration Association regarding tentative agreements reached with the respective carriers on August 22.

The ratification vote will run from Monday, September 9, through Thursday, October 3; members will have until 11:59pm on Thursday, October 3 to cast their vote for their respective tentative agreement. The votes will be counted and announced on Friday, October 4. Please take the time to read through the relevant ratification information carefully. If members have questions, they should not hesitate to contact their SMART representatives.

Tags rme, tentative agreement

Amtrak General Chairpersons Francis Ariola (GO 663) and Rick Pauli (GO 769) are happy to announce a new tentative agreement with Amtrak. Ariola and Pauli’s committees represent over 2,100 Amtrak employees.

The seven-year tentative agreement includes:

A substantial general wage increase.
- Short crew payments are included.
- Retroactive to July 1, 2022.
Substantial paid parental leave.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday.
Bereavement pay includes 3 workdays instead of 3 consecutive days off.
Overtime for employees who are on 3- and 4-day yard assignments on their relief days.
Increased training pay.
Compensation for deadheading to classes.
Increased new hire training per diem.
Increased conductor certification pay.
Pay protection for emergency annulments.
Dropped the “90% of the 75% and 80%” when working in the yard.
Current employees can keep AmPlan I health coverage.
Increased away-from-home expenses.

Details of the agreement will go out to the membership for ratification within the next few weeks. The balloting process will be conducted by TrueBallot, Inc.

Tags Amtrak, Francis Ariola, GO 663, GO 769, Rick Pauli, tentative agreement

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Aug. 21, 2024) — SMART Transportation Division negotiators have reached a tentative agreement with CSX that would provide raises and improvements in paid vacation and health care if ratified by members.

The new five-year agreement will be put in front of TD members working in CSX’s Northern Mid-Atlantic District for a vote. SMART-TD’s GO 049 encompasses the former Baltimore & Ohio (B&O), former Conrail and former Pan Am and is led by General Chairperson Rick Lee.

“It’s refreshing to see that we are finally advancing in transparency and fruitful negotiations with CSX to address the issues at hand. Class I rail carriers traditionally stick together, play games with us and basically try to wait us out to uncertainty before offering any beneficial agreement changes that we seek, if they offer anything at all,” GC Lee said. “However, in order to get ahead of the potential situation like we went through in the 2020 rounds of bargaining that led to a PEB in 2022, SMART-TD GO 049 knew it was in the best interest of our members to avoid this potential circus in 2025 and engaged in early discussions prior to the actual contract moratorium deadline to test the waters.

“To that effect, as other discussions on national bargaining items quickly broke down, we were pleased to find that CSX CEO Joe Hinrichs and his team at CSX were willing to step up to the plate and not play games.

“Based on our advanced focus and collaborative efforts in an attempt to not delay pay raises and enhance benefits to those we represent, the tentative agreement (TA) reached with CSX today will not only allow our members to enjoy increases in their paychecks and significant AFHT meal reimbursements, but they will also enjoy distinct improvements to their quality of life with guaranteed vacation for new hires and accelerated vacation accrual for others with more seniority. Additionally, we were able to provide H&W benefit enhancements that our members have been seeking for many years.

“All in all, I’m very proud of the work of my team here at GO 049 has done to secure this agreement. If the TA is ratified, we will be able to avoid the projected multiple years of uncertainty and frustration, which falls into the ‘plus’ column alone.”

SMART-TD will release details about the tentative agreement to members as the choice is considered whether to ratify the tentative agreement. Terms include average wage increases of 3.5% per year over five years. Other details about improvements in paid vacation and health care will be provided in the near future.

GC Lee and his negotiating team for GO 049 was assisted by TD Vice President Jamie Modesitt in the negotiations.

The announcement of the tentative agreement comes months before the current National Railroad Agreement that took effect in late 2022 becomes amendable for the large U.S. rail carriers.

“I want to recognize the labor leaders who have stepped up to serve the best interests of their members and our employees in getting these historic deals done well in advance of their contracts even coming open for negotiation,” said Joe Hinrichs, president and chief executive officer. “CSX and our labor partners understand our employees don’t want to wait several years for their next pay raise. We thank the organizations for working with us to demonstrate that our ONE CSX culture and values aren’t just words, they are our collective path forward to an improved experience for both our employees and customers. We have also reached out to our other labor partners and look forward to promptly reaching agreements for all CSX union employees patterned on these same terms.”

CSX also announced on the same day that it reached tentative agreements with the Transportation Communications Union (TCU), the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen (BRC).

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SMART Transportation Division is the biggest rail union in the United States comprised of approximately 125,000 active and retired members who work in a variety of different crafts in the transportation industry. These crafts include employees on every Class I railroad, Amtrak, many shortline railroads, bus and mass transit employees and airport personnel. Media contact: news_TD@smart-union.org.

Tags CSX, General Chairperson Rick Lee, GO 049, National Contract Negotiations, tentative agreement, Vice President Jamie Modesitt

In November, SMART-TD members voted — with approximately two-thirds in favor — to ratify a tentative agreement the Transportation Division reached with BNSF in September.

“This agreement our general committees have reached with BNSF continues to show the strength of our union’s leadership. Together we have made unprecedented inroads on attendance and quality-of-life issues — an area carriers had no interest to collectively bargain,” said SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson. “We have cleared the way for our members on BNSF to expect predictability in their work rest schedules, while at the same time securing proper compensation on a variety of issues that were not agreed to in past rounds of national negotiations. It was long overdue that these issues be addressed. I’m very proud of everyone’s efforts to get this accomplished.”

Negotiations with BNSF under Articles VI and VII of the National Rail Agreement began in January following wide national attention on rail labor’s fight to improve rail workers’ quality of life. The tentative agreement with BNSF was reached by the eight affected SMART-TD general committees months later; votes were cast through the month of October and tabulated on November 2.

The general chairpersons involved include GO 001’s Mike LaPresta, GO 009’s Scott Swiatek, GO 017’s Rich O’Connell, GO 020’s Justin Schrock, GO 386’s Larry Miller, GO 393’s Kevin Kime, GO 577’s Roy Davis and Tony McAdams from GO JTD.

Under the next phase of this process, SMART-TD and BNSF will begin implementing the agreed-upon changes. Members who are eligible for additional vacation will have the opportunity to schedule that vacation in 2024. Implementation of other provisions of the agreement will take place over the coming weeks and months.

“We would like to thank our members for their patience throughout the negotiation process, and for casting their votes,” the eight general chairpersons of the involved committees said in a joint statement. “The overwhelming approval ratings prove that our members see the value in this agreement. We were determined to obtain meaningful improvements to our working conditions, and this agreement does exactly that. While our fight is never over, we are confident that this will serve as a substantial step in the right direction.”

The general chairpersons also expressed appreciation to Vice President Joe Lopez, who helped lead negotiations, along with Vice Presidents Chad Adams and Jamie Modesitt.

“Our general chairpersons showed exemplary leadership and cohesion through the up-and-down nature of these discussions,” the three vice presidents said. “We congratulate them on their accomplishments and commend them on their focus on what matters — improving the quality of life and working conditions of our members.”

Tags BNSF, Journal, SMART TD, tentative agreement, Winter 2023-24, Winter Journal

“Our rail members from BNSF properties definitely had their voices heard in this process and they should be proud to see their fingerprints throughout this outstanding TA. They were very clear that they wanted a level of predictability for when their time off would be honored, and they wanted a predictable and non-punitive method of filling vacancies that directed the assignment to those who wanted the work and was not aimed at punishing those who aren’t willing to work off of their turns. This TA that our eight General Chairpersons fought for does both. Not only will our brothers and sisters get more compensated time off, but it will be less of a moving target. This is another big step ahead for SMART-TD and our BNSF members.”

— SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson

SMART-TD is proud to announce that a tentative agreement has been reached between our General Committees and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF). This agreement has been in the works since January 18, 2023, and is highlighted by many upgrades to the quality of life for our members.

All eight SMART-TD General Committees representing our BNSF properties have reached tentative agreements with the carrier and have already sent the details to their local chairpersons for distribution to their members for consideration.

The general chairpersons involved included GO-001’s Mike LaPresta, GO-009’s Scott Swiatek, GO-017’s Rich O’Connell, GO-020’s Justin Schrock, GO-386’s Larry Miller, GO-393’s Kevin Kime, GO-577’s Roy Davis, and Tony McAdams from GO-JTD.

The tentative agreements for each of the eight General Committees are founded on the same language while still giving each General Committee the flexibility to adapt the terms to fit the unique needs of their specific members. The following is a synopsis consistent for all eight of the committees.

Extra boards: Allowed to keep road and yard separate under new conditions under Section V.
6th week of vacation for 25 year or more employees.
Up to two weeks of vacation can be selected as float weeks.
PRE-layoff for all single PLD/VAC, weekly VAC and EDO days.
Continuous-held-away after 16 hours for everyone on every pool.
Extra Paid Sick Leave Day. (5 total w/same option of converting 3 PLD/VAC to total 8)
Earned Day Off: With no unpaid layoffs in a 90-day period, earn one anytime day unpaid to lay off.
Turn swapping on pools that elect this option,
Preventive care days now available to assigned jobs.
Bereavement leave changes to expand the scope of what relationships qualify for bereavement as well as creating additional flexibility as to when bereavement can be used.
Increased new-hire training from 13 weeks to 14 weeks with additional time allotted in terminals that have RCO operations.
All Reduced Entry Rates or Tiers eliminated for all properties. Everyone will be at 100%.
Student and trainer pay rate increases.

Additional details tailored to the members of each General Committee will be included with membership ratification instructions, which are currently scheduled to be mailed to eligible voters on Tuesday, October 3rd. For those members who have email addresses and telephone numbers on file with SMART-TD, electronic notifications and voting instructions will also be sent. Tabulation of the ratification votes will occur on Thursday, November 2nd, and results will be announced soon after.

In a joint statement from the eight general chairpersons of the involved committees, the GCs had this to say about the tentative agreement.

“Our goals for this TA were to defend the separation of the road and yard extra boards and to bring predictable guaranteed time off for our members regardless of their assignment or board. We believe we achieved these goals and significantly more. This TA has come a very long way from where it started back in January. The eight of us and our committees fought hard to finally get it to a point where the TA is worthy of ratification. None of us thought it was possible initially, and up until very recently, we thought it was destined to go to arbitration. But we are excited about the agreement we are putting out to the members for ratification. We would also like to thank Joe Lopez, who was the SMART-TD vice president assigned to this project, along with Vice Presidents Chad Adams and Jamie Modesitt for their assistance over this long nine-month process. Joe Lopez, in particular, went out of his way to shepherd this TA through the many highs and lows in the process. We all appreciate their dedication to the process and to the quality of life this TA has the potential to bring to our members.”

— SMART-TD General Chairpersons representing BNSF crew bases

In a combined statement from the three vice presidents who were involved in this negotiation, Lopez, Adams, and Modesitt were quick to give the 8 GCs the praise, saying, “The ability of this group of general chairpersons to stick together for the benefit of all is a true testament to brotherhood. Maintaining the same course for eight general chairpersons is no easy task, but this group successfully did it. Their effort and hard work were the difference between securing a tentative agreement and leaving the final outcome in the hands of a third-party arbitrator.

“As a group, we are proud to send this TA to the members for a ratification vote. We know that we got every inch of quality-of-life improvements out of this agreement. It’s our belief that our BNSF members are going to have more time off with their loved ones. They won’t get called right before their day off, forcing them to continuously cancel and change their family’s plans, and when they have this time away from the rail, they’ll have a little more in their pockets on top of it. All the way around, this is a good development for our men and women, and we couldn’t be more excited for them.”