TCU/IAM and its Brotherhood Railway Carmen Division, together, are in the process of preparing our National Freight Section 6 Notices to be served in November on the national rail carriers for the bargaining round beginning January 1, 2020.
“We are anticipating a very difficult round of bargaining, given that we have both a Republican President and a Republican National Mediation Board, and every Trump appointment at every agency we work with has been anti-union. We will be walking into a hostile environment before we even get started. We must be prepared for massive resistance. The Trump administration has relentlessly attacked American workers, taking chunks out of their rights wherever it can. This further emboldens the Carriers. The Rail Industry can rely on a political atmosphere that fosters corporate greed without being checked and trades decency and compassion for bottom lines,” said National President Scardelletti. He then said, “A fair contract for rail workers that provides for adequate wage increases and other benefits is what your union will be seeking.”
In anticipation of this fight, and in order to establish what the central issues to our membership are going into this next round of national bargaining, we have developed a survey that includes general categories that we believe are the most important issues for us to be focused on.
On July 1, 2019, separate Carmen and Clerical bargaining surveys were distributed to all Local Chairpersons with members expected to be covered under the next National Freight Agreement. In it, they are asked to rank the bargaining topics in order of importance according to their membership.
Members are encouraged to contact their Local Chairperson and make their bargaining priorities known.
The Carmen survey can be viewed here.
The Clerical survey can be viewed here.