In a recent letter released to employees, BNSF states the issues they will use in the recent bargaining of national negotiations. The letter states: The railroads seek to negotiate compensation and health benefits that reflect current economic conditions and to reform labor agreement rules to improve safety, customer service and employee utilization. As an update
In a letter to Congressional Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Ryan, AFL-CIO President Rich Trumka urges Congress to abandon the planned rollbacks of the nations health care programs: “On behalf of the 12.5 million working people represented by the AFL-CIO, I write to you as the congressional leaders of the Republican party. I
Kentucky Republicans have changed legislative rules to speed through anti-worker legislation, without public hearings or comments, under the guise of “emergency legislation.” In addition to repealing prevailing wage laws and eliminating paycheck deduction, Kentucky is now poised to become the 27th ‘Right-to-Work’ state in the nation. Of course, we know what these bills are really about:
The Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) released a booklet on how Medicare effects railroad workers. The booklet is issued for general information and does not cover certain limitations, exceptions and special cases. The Medicare program covers railroad workers just like workers under social security. Railroad retirement payroll taxes include a Medicare hospital insurance tax just like
In accordance with the IAM Constitution and as noted in the attached letter, their monthly per capita tax is increased by using the average of the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) as published by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics and the
National negotiations between the freight railroads in national negotiations and the TCU Coalition remain stalled, hostage to the carriers’ unremitting demands for major concessionary changes to the plan design of GA-23000. Negotiations began in January of 2015. TCU invoked mediation in October 2015. The parties have met regularly since then under the auspices of the
In a recent release from the Transportation Trades Department AFL-CIO (TTD) of which TCU is a member: Transportation union leaders across all sectors gathered for their post-election meeting to assess the landscape in Washington and lay the groundwork for a unified effort under a Trump Administration. “Our discussion was focused on boosting investment in transportation
In a recent release from the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB): The amounts of compensation subject to railroad retirement tier I and tier II payroll taxes will increase in 2017, while the tax rates on employers and employees will stay the same. In addition, unemployment insurance contribution rates paid by railroad employers will continue to include
In a statement letter from TCU President Bob Scardelletti: On behalf of the Transportation Communications Union (TCU/IAM), an American labor union and an International Transport Workers’ Federation affiliate, I write to express my support of the Korean unions’ general strike on November 30th, as well as their demand that you resign immediately. The right to
The lifetime maximum under the negotiated medical plan for early retirees will increase by $6,200 from $151,600 to $157,800, effective January 1, 2017, due to automatic adjustments based on medical cost inflation. The change affects members enrolled in the Railroad Employees National Early Retirement Major Medical Benefit Plan, GA-46000. This early retirement plan provides a
