ARTICLE 40

NATIONAL WAGE AND RULES PANEL

A. 1. The parties, realizing the complexities of the changing rail industry and environment, and to alleviate any adversarial relationships emanating from such, agree to establish a non-binding joint review Panel to study and examine those unresolved subjects.

The National Wage and Rules Panel (Panel) shall consist of three (3) partisan members representing the United Transportation Union, three (3) partisan members representing the Carriers, and _________________, who shall be considered as Chairperson. The President of UTU and the Chairperson of the National Carriers' Conference Committee (NCCC) shall be ex officio partisan members of the Panel. On any matter, the UTU, NCCC, and the Chairperson shall each be deemed to have a single vote.

2. The parties will assume the compensation and expenses of their respective partisan members. The fees and expenses of the Chairperson and any incidental expenses incurred in connection with Panel meetings shall be shared equally by the parties.

B. The Panel is authorized to comprehensively examine the following subjects:

  • System for compensation and related alternatives
  • Quality of Work Life
  • Inter-craft pay relationships
  • Claim and Grievance Handling
  • Flowback
  • Eating en route for road service employees
  • Use of Surplus Employees
  • Employee Utilization
  • Common Extra Boards
  • Standardized Calling Rules
  • Yard Starting Times
  • Runarounds
  • Road/Yard
  • Entry Rates

C. The Panel shall promptly establish its operating procedures, which shall be designed to review and evaluate the facts regarding the aforementioned subjects and to expedite and enhance the opportunity to reach joint voluntary solutions to matters in dispute between the parties with respect to those subjects. The Panel may, by unanimous vote of the members and with the consent of the respective Carrier(s) and General Committee(s) involved, develop and implement pilot projects and similar initiatives that would permit the Panel to test and evaluate, on a limited basis, potential alternatives to existing arrangements that would resolve issues of concern to the parties.

D. 1. If the parties have not reached agreement on issues pertaining to the matters covered by Paragraph B. by January 1, 1999, the Panel shall make recommendations for disposing of all unresolved issues not later than July 1, 1999. While the Panel's recommendations shall not be considered final and binding, the parties shall exert good faith efforts to utilize those recommendations as a basis for settlement of the issues involved. Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, the Panel may be dissolved at any time by a majority vote of the members.

2. It is agreed that antecedent proposals exchanged between the parties relating to those items subject to the Panel shall not be considered precedential or cited in further handling of any issue before any tribunal established to resolve disputes under the Railway Labor Act.

 

This page last updated: March 02, 2005