BARGAINING TEAMS FROM 10 unions that make up the Coordinated Bargaining Coalition used Zoom to pick up where they left off after an in-person meeting was postponed due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
The 10 CBC unions, which includes the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, met online via Zoom conference on July 28 with National Railway Labor Conference Chairman Brendon Branon and participating carrier representatives.
While there were no negotiations during the Zoom conference, the meeting was beneficial to both sides in an effort to keep the process moving forward in a good faith effort to achieve a voluntary agreement. The first formal negotiation session took place in person in February. With a planned March session cancelled, along with all subsequent scheduled meetings, Tuesday’s conference was the first time the parties had convened in any manner since February.
Members of the participating CBC unions will be kept apprised of further developments regarding contract negotiations as developments warrant.
The unions comprising the Coordinated Bargaining Coalition are: the American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA); the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen / Teamsters Rail Conference (BLET); the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS); the International Association of Machinists (IAM); the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB); the National Conference of Firemen & Oilers/SEIU (NCFO); the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW); the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU); the Transportation Communications Union / IAM (TCU), including TCU’s Brotherhood Railway Carmen Division (BRC); and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART–TD).
Collectively, the CBC unions represent more than 105,000 railroad workers covered by the various organizations’ national agreements and include over 80% of the workforce who will be impacted by this round of negotiations.
