Norfolk Southern (NS) on Sept. 4 reported reaching a tentative five-year collective bargaining agreement with its final General Committee of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers–Transportation Division (SMART-TD), the railroad’s largest labor union, which represents conductors across its 22-state network. This agreement is said to bring the Class I railroad’s total union workforce covered by tentative agreements to nearly 65%.
NS has now forged tentative agreements with nine of its 13 unions. On Aug. 23, it reported deals with the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen Division/TCU; SMART-Mechanical Department; Transportation Communications Union/IAM; and multiple General Committees for SMART-TD. One week later on Aug. 30, NS announced pacts the American Train Dispatchers Association, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division, and SMART–Transportation Division Yardmasters, plus it partnered with BNSF on agreements with the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers and National Conference of Firemen and Oilers.
All the pacts come four months before the opening of the next collective bargaining round. If ratified, they will offer craft railroaders a 3.5% average wage increase per year over the next five years; more vacation earlier in their career; and “enhancements to an already robust suite of health care benefits.”
The NS agreements are in addition to tentative five-year pacts reached at CSX with 11 of its labor unions, covering 15 different work groups and amending 20 collective agreements representing more than 50% of its unionized workforce; and BNSF with six of its labor unions, covering 17% of its union-represented workforce.
The last bargaining rounds, in 2020, led to the formation of a Presidential Emergency Board in July 2022. Nearly five months later, President Joe Biden signed into law a congressional resolution (H.J. Res. 100) imposing on four holdout rail unions a collectively bargained Tentative Agreement ratified by eight others.
“At Norfolk Southern, we’re working closely with our labor leaders to support and reward our workforce, giving our valued employees the pay, health care, and vacation improvements they deserve without the multi-year wait that often accompanied previous bargaining rounds,” NS President and CEO Alan H. Shaw said. “We know that railroading is more than just a job; it’s an opportunity for a fulfilling career capable of providing a good life for employees and their families. We appreciate the partnership with SMART-TD and look forward to reaching additional agreements with all of our unions.”
“I am proud that now all our SMART-TD General Chairman have been able to negotiate the significant pay, health care, and vacation benefits of this agreement for all conductors on Norfolk Southern,” said Jeremy Ferguson, National President SMART-TD, who was recently re-elected for a second five-year term as union leader. ”We thank Norfolk Southern for stepping up at the bargaining table and partnering on a deal that will truly improve the lives of our dedicated members.”
NS employs approximately 20,000 people; craft employees represent more than 80% of its workforce.
In a related development, NS recently welcomed leadership from all 13 of its unions to its Atlanta, Ga., headquarters for a first-ever Labor Council.
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