BLE&T NORFOLK SOUTHERN AGREEMENTS

(November 1, 2003) - The November 1, 2003 Agreement was predominately a "money" agreement; being that it changed many pay elements to include:

This Agreement also allowed the BLET to assume responsibility for all administration activities.

(September 9, 2000)- One of the most controversial rulings made regarding Engineer seniority was made by Referee Barry Simon. It has infamously been named The Simon Award. This award established the very controversial date of January 1, 2000 and the Trainman's seniority date, as the date for Engineer seniority for all Trainmen holding seniority on the Norfolk Southern regardless of prior rights, before January 1, 2000 who had not established Engineer seniority.

(March 1, 2000) - Designated Supervisor of Engineers Agreement. This letter of understanding provides for engineers to be utilized to do FRA re-certification monitor rides and LET observations. Engineers selected under this agreement are paid $240 per day per ride.

(January 1, 2000) - The January 1, 2000 Agreement, amongst other things, rescinded much of the rules associated with deadheading (Article 12) and allowed the basic day payment to post 1985 Engineers.

(July 1, 1999) - The BLE / Norfolk Southern Agreements for the Nickel Plate Territory is a consolidated agreement that combined several agreements, some almost 45 years old, into a single book for the entire NKP and Wabash Railroads. some provisions of these prior contracts have been preserved and will denote "Applicable to Wabash only (or NKP, LEW, etc.)" at the start of the particular rule or paragraph. This could be considered a "core" agreement, that is, that everything is inclusive in this agreement. All contractual updates have been included in this agreement. Any agreement AFTER 1999, needs to be added to this agreement.

The Buffalo Terminal works exclusively under the former NKP agreements on all of its covered territories (HB/BL, HB/ST and PB/LE).

(May 1, 1996) - BLE&T / Norfolk Southern System Agreement settled the wage / rule notice separate and apart from the National Agreements (NA) negotiated that year. This also applied the Thoroughbred Bonus to engineers which continues in force today.

Due to consistent pattern of concessions from the National Carriers Conference Committee (NCCC), the Norfolk Southern BLE&T General Chairmen decided to bargain with the Carrier independently. Paid Holidays (Article 37), Personal Leave and Vacation Synthesis (Article 36) and Health and Welfare agreements are still negotiated on a national level.

This decision to bargain independently aside from the NCCC, with the exception of the above listed issues, is the primary reason the General Committees have continuously negotiated far better agreements than the national average. Greater wage increases, established much sooner and a general pattern of timeliness of signing, can all be contributed to this fact.

UTU NORFOLK SOUTHERN AGREEMENTS

Unlike the BLE&T, the UTU still negotiates under the NCCC. At times, this could cause delay in applying changes in a National Agreement onto the property as well as delay wage increases.

(July 1, 2002) - The July 1, 2002 Agreement opened the door to allow Carriers throughout the country on Class 1 railroads to utilize the Remote Control within yard territories. It also introduced the Trip Rate system of pay, a payroll simplification process that pays a set amount per trip rather than a combination of factors such as car count, to the Norfolk Southern.

(April 1, 1999) - The UTU / Norfolk Southern Agreement for the Nickel Plate Territory, similar to the BLE&T Agreement, is a consolidation of several older agreements dating back a half century. It encompasses all former Nickel Plate and Conrail territories but does not include former Wabash routes.

For copies (hard or pdf on cd-rom) of any of these agreements please e-mail Local Chairman Curran.