Shipping and Logistics

Second Rail Union Rejects National Tentative Labor Agreement

Written by Laura Miller

October 27, 2022

Just weeks after a union representing rail workers across the nation rejected a proposed labor agreement, a second union has now also voted down the national tentative agreement, further reigniting the potential for a national railway strike.

rail transportation

The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS) voted against ratification of the tentative agreement which was reached on Sept. 15. The BRS’s collective ‘no’ joins the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division’s ‘no’ expressed earlier this month.

Nearly 61% of the 4,639 workers voting in the BRS ballot rejected the agreement. The BRS represents more than 6,000 members active in the rail negotiations.

“For the first time that I can remember, the BRS members voted not to ratify a national agreement, and with the highest participation rate in BRS history,” commented BRS president Michael Baldwin.

The national tentative agreement reached by the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC) and the Presidential Emergency Board “failed to recognize the safety-sensitive and highly stressful job BRS members perform each day to keep the railroad running and supply chain flowing,” Baldwin stated. “Without Signalmen, the roadways and railroad crossings would be unsafe for the traveling public, and they shoulder that heavy burden each day.”

As a result of the rejection of the agreement, the BRS will now reengage with the NCCC in a “status quo” period.

By Laura Miller, Laura@SteelMarketUpdate.com

 

Laura Miller

Laura Miller is a reporter and editor for Steel Market Update. She has held a variety of positions within the steel industry since 2007, including reporting and editing for Steel Business Briefing/Platts, the Association for Iron and Steel Technology, and Kallanish Commodities, as well as marketing for what was then known as ThyssenKrupp Steel USA (now AM/NS Calvert). After a five-year hiatus working across other industries, she returned to steel in 2021 and has covered the flat rolled, tubular, and trade areas of the industry. She is a member of the Association of Women in the Metal Industries and a past-president of the AWMI Pittsburgh Chapter. She holds a BA in Latin American Studies from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. She can be reached at laura@steelmarketupdate.com or 724-759-7869.

Read more from Laura Miller

Latest in Shipping and Logistics

CRU: Baltimore bridge collapse affects more than half of US thermal coal exports

A container ship collided with the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore on March 26, causing it to collapse. This has blocked sea lanes into and out of Baltimore port, which is the largest source of US seaborne thermal coal exports. The port usually exports 1–1.5 million metric tons (mt) of thermal coal per month. It is uncertain when sea shipping will be restored. But it could be several weeks or more. There are coal export terminals in Virginia, though diversion to these ports would raise costs.