Under the terms of a newly ratified four-year basic agreement and three year wage agreement covering nearly 9,000 Machinists on the Nation’s Class I Freight Rail Carriers, base pay will increase approximately 14% over the term of
the wage portion of the Agreement. In addition to the wage increases, the new Agreement has many improvements, including Cost of Living pay adjustments for IAM members.

“Joe Duncan and his negotiating team did an outstanding job on behalf of our Class 1 members,” said Transportation General Vice President Robert Roach, Jr.

“Unlike the financial and managerial problems plaguing the nation’s airlines, freight rail operators have enjoyed record profits,” said District 19 President Joe Duncan. “However, this did not make the negotiations for the new freight rail Agreement easy.”

Bargaining was marked by the carriers’ not wanting to fully recognize the value of its employees and the delays inherent with negotiating under the auspices of the National Mediation Board (NMB), the agency charged with facilitating rail and airline negotiations.

“Our Railroad Members are keenly aware of the impact the Railway Labor Act, the NMB and prior ‘pattern’ settlements can have on our collective bargaining rights,” said Joe Duncan. “In spite of these obstacles we extracted everything we could from the company in this round of negotiations. Our membership recognized this accomplishment by strongly approving the Agreement. I thank each and every IAM member subject to this Agreement for their support and cooperation during this process."