The Section 6 notices served by the Carrier are an eye opener, to say the least, but I am sure you get the general idea of what the notices are all about.
The United Transportation Union will serve our notices to change the agreement in November of 2004. The items contained in the notices are formulated from suggestions from the membership of each local. This should be discussed at your regular monthly meetings and each local should send a list of what their membership would like on the next agreement. I put the 1994 and 1999 notices on this page for you to use as an example. I have also put a form example below for the membership to use to submit any proposed agreement changes. All proposed changes should be given to your Local Chairperson who will forward it to the General Chairperson’s Office. I encourage each local to participate in this process as it will give me a better understanding of the desires of the membership over the system.
Proposed agreement changes that do not have the required information that is name, craft, local number and date will not be considered.
I have provided spaces for 18 proposals on the example below, but you can submit as many as you desire on additional pages.
I truly need to know what you want on the next agreement, so send in your proposals and they will be included in this committee's recommendations to the international.
Paul Emert
The United Transportation Union's present agreement expires on December 31, 2004. The Railway Labor Act contains a provision called Section 6 which is the part of the Act that provides that each party, Management and Labor, can serve a notice on one another on the changes each side wants in the next agreement for the following contract period. The last contract period was for 5 years, January 1, 2000 through December 31, 2004. Both sides would be free to serve notice at least 30 days prior to the expiration of the current agreement but no sooner that November 1, 2004.
Section 6 of the Railway Labor Act reads as follows:
Railway Labor Act Section number 6.
Carriers and representatives of the employees shall give at least thirty days’ written notice of an intended change in agreements affecting rates of pay, rules, or working conditions, and the time and place for the beginning of conference between the representatives of the parties interested in such intended changes shall be agreed upon within ten days after the receipt of said notice, and said time shall be within the thirty days provided in the notice. In every case where such notice of intended change had been given, or conferences are being held with reference thereto, or the services of the Mediation Board have been requested by either party, or said Board has proffered its services, rates of pay, rules, or working conditions shall not be altered by the carrier until the controversy has been finally acted upon as required by Section 5 of this Act, by the Mediation Board, unless a period of ten days has elapsed after termination of conferences without request for or proffer of the services of the Mediation Board.
There is also a moratorium provision in every agreement baring the parties from serving notice to change the agreement. The moratorium in the United Transportation Union 2000 agreement reads as follows:
ARTICLE X – GENERAL PROVISIONS
Section 1 – Court Approval
This Agreement is subject to approval of the courts with respect to participating carriers in the hands of receivers or trustees.
Section 2 – Effects of this Agreement
(a) The purpose of this Agreement is to fix the general level of compensation during the period of the Agreement and is in settlement of the dispute growing out of the notices dated November 1, 1999 served by and on behalf of the carriers listed in Exhibit A upon the organization signatory hereto, and the notices dated on or subsequent November 1, 1999 served by the organization upon such carriers, except as otherwise provided in Article IV of this Agreement.
(b) This Agreement shall be construed as a separate agreement by and on behalf of each of said carriers and their employees represented by the organization signatory thereto, and shall remain in effect through December 31, 2004 and thereafter until changed or modified in accordance with the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, as amended.
(c) The parties to this Agreement shall not serve nor progress prior to November 1, 2004 (not to become effective before January 1, 2005) any notice or proposal for changing any matter contained in:
1. This Agreement,
2. the proposals of the parties identified in Section 2(a) of this Article, and
3. Section 2 (c) of Article XV of the Agreement of January 27, 1972,
And any pending notices which purpose such matters are hereby withdrawn, except as otherwise provided in Article IV of this Agreement.
(d) The parties to this Agreement shall not serve nor progress prior to November 1, 2004 (not to become effective before January 1, 2005) any notice or proposal which night properly have been served when the last moratorium ended on January 1, 2000.
(e) This Article will not bar management and committees on individual railroads from agreeing upon any subject of mutual interest.
Every agreement has the same or similar moratorium. The other organization had the following moratorium in their 2000 agreement:
ARTICLE VI – GENERAL PROVISIONS
Section 1 – Effects of this Agreement
(a) The purpose of this Agreement is to fix the general level of compensation and other terms and conditions of employment during the period of the Agreement and is in settlement of the dispute growing out of the notices dated November 1, 1999 served by and on behalf of the carriers listed in Exhibit A upon the organization signatory hereto, and the notices dated on or subsequent November 1, 1999 served by the organization upon such carriers.
(b) This Agreement shall be construed as a separate agreement by and on behalf of each of said carriers and their employees represented by the organization signatory hereto, and shall remain in effect through December 31, 2004 and thereafter until changed or modified in accordance with the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, as amended.
(c) The parties to this Agreement shall not serve nor progress prior to November 1, 2004 (not to become effective before January 1, 2005) any notice or proposal for changing any matter contained in:
1. This Agreement,
2. the proposals of the parties identified in Section 1(a) of this Article, and
3. Section 2 (c) (3) of Article VIII of the National Agreement of March 6, 1975.
And any pending notices which purpose such matters are hereby withdrawn.
(d) The parties to this Agreement shall not serve nor progress prior to November 1, 2004 (not to become effective before January 1, 2005) any notice or proposal which might properly have been served November 1, 1999, and any pending notices which proposed such matters are here by withdrawn.
(e) This Article will not bar management and committees on individual railroads from agreeing upon any subject of mutual interest.
Signed at Norfolk, Virginia this 6th day of March, 2000.
The moratoriums are self explanatory and basically state that neither party can serve notice to change the agreement prior to a certain date which brings up the following question. Why did the railroad negotiate an agreement with the other organization 15 months before the current agreement expired? Is it possible that NS has had a change in heart and they want to pay labor more money? I don’t think so! I wonder if this agreement was a good deal for the Engineers or a good deal for NS. Time will tell, but I have always heard that after the sheep have gotten out it’s too late to fix the fence. There is one strange thing that has happened concerning every Engineer agreement since 1996; Norfolk Southern Corporation has stated on several occasions that the Engineers agreement “is a good agreement”. I have never heard Norfolk Southern Corporation say that about any United Transportation Union agreement.
The next several pages are copies of the Section 6 Notices that were served by each party in 1995 and 1999, I am sure you will find them very interesting.