TCU President Maratea Addresses Delegates at the IAM Transportation Conference

TCU President Artie Maratea addressed the over 800 delegates at the IAM Transportation Conference today. He touched on the fulfillment of the TCU/IAM merger, the contracts that TCU has completed recently, the results TCU has received for our members while protecting the agreements and the education of TCU representatives.

In a passionate speech Artie said, “TCU represents over 30,000 members in the clerical, Carmen, ARSA, yardmaster and intermodal crafts our members work on America’s freight railroads, Amtrak, Commuters, Intermodal yards as well as Disney World and many others.” He went on to thank the membership for their hard and tireless work through some of the most challenging times our country has ever faced. 

President Maratea continued about the TCU/IAM merger, “We belong the toughest Transportation Union around and thanks to President Martinez and his fulfillment of the TCU/IAM Merger Agreement we now have a powerful, unified Rail Division comprised of District 19 and TCU that promises renewed strength and growth to our membership.”

He provided an overview of the contracts that TCU has completed recently including National Freight, Amtrak, Disney and many others including the agreement for paid sick days  for our Carmen members on the freight railroads, “I am thrilled to report that Brotherhood Railway Carmen was the very first Union to reach a deal on sick leave,” said President Maratea. “It also allowed for the conversion of members’ personal leave days to sick days. This was a fantastic accomplishment and the first of its kind.”

“It set the stage for every other Freight Carrier to follow we have now reached agreement for paid sick leave on Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, Canadian National and it didn’t stop there we were able to get a similar Agreement for our BNSF Intermodal workers another huge win.”

On the Disney contract, just ratified last week, Artie said, “TCU members on Disney ratified an agreement that increased the minimum hourly starting rate to $18 an hour – which amounts to a 20% increase in the first year of the contract and a 38% wage increase over the life of the 5-year Agreement.”

On Amtrak he said, “We have reached Tentative Agreement on all 5 of our crafts, an incredible 30% in GWI increases over 7 years, no increases to any of our monthly healthcare premiums, conversion from the Vacation Agreement to PTO which will result in more paid time off for members and leave share programs, an additional holiday, Martin Luther King Day and up to 10 weeks of PAID parental bonding time…It is, hands down, the best Agreement I have ever seen at Amtrak.”

Concluding with education Artie said, “The Winpisinger Center is the best school of its kind.

It is critically important that all of our Local Representatives are given the training and resources they need so they can be effective…And our reps have been effective, not just with strong Agreements…Since 2020, TCU has put 62 wrongfully dismissed members back to work, and put over $6.8 MILLION back in the pockets of our membership – by defending our contracts.”

“Education is the baseline for fostering unity. Through unity, we will constantly seek to improve, and to find innovative ways to support and empower our members. That is what we MUST do – for our members.”