INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, July 31, 2020 — Bargaining teams from 10 unions that make up the Coordinated Bargaining Coalition (CBC) for this round of national freight rail negotiations participated in a Zoom conference with National Railway Labor Conference (NRLC) Chairman Brendan Branon and participating Carrier representatives on July 28, 2020. This meeting was held for the sole purpose of reviewing power point presentations relative to each side’s respective positions on issues contained within their Section 6 Notices. While there were no negotia-tions during the Zoom conference, the meeting was beneficial to both sides in an effort to keep the process moving forward in a good faith effort to achieve a voluntary agreement.

The first formal negotiating session took place, in person, earlier this year on February 26 and 27 and a second meeting had been scheduled for March 31. This meeting was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and all subsequent scheduled meetings were also cancelled. Tuesday’s conference was the first time the parties had convened in any manner since February.

Members of the unions participating in the CBC will be kept apprised of further developments on your contract negotiations as developments warrant.

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The unions comprising the Coordinated Bargaining Coalition are: the American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA); the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen / Teamsters Rail Conference (BLET); the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS); the International Association of Machinists (IAM); the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB); the National Conference of Firemen & Oilers/SEIU (NCFO); the Interna-tional Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW); the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU); the Trans-portation Communications Union / IAM (TCU), including TCU’s Brotherhood Railway Carmen Division (BRC); and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART–TD).

Collectively, the CBC unions represent more than 105,000 railroad workers covered by the various organizations’ national agreements, and comprise over 80% of the workforce who will be impacted by this round of negotiations.

https://www.ble-t.org/pr/news/newsflash.asp?id=12379