FORT WORTH, TX -- 11/05/09 --
BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) today announced
it has reached a tentative agreement with the Brotherhood of Locomotive
Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) to settle wage and work rule matters
concerning BNSF's locomotive engineers for the major round of collective
bargaining that will begin Jan. 1, 2010.
The agreement will settle wage and work rule issues through Dec. 31, 2014.
Health and welfare issues, however, will be addressed in upcoming
industry-wide negotiations.
BLET will release details of the new agreement to its membership as part of
the ratification process. However, the agreement affords a general wage
increase in each year of the contract, all the while reflecting today's
economic realities.
Stephen Speagle, BLET vice president assigned to work with BNSF said, "The
agreement is not all we wanted, no agreement ever is, but in this time of
economic troubles and hardship, it is an honor for me and for the four BLET
general chairmen to be able to present to our members a proposal that gives
them the security of a five-year agreement, additional income and
additional time off without a single giveback or rule change."
John Fleps, BNSF's vice president, Labor Relations, congratulated Steve
Speagle and his negotiating team on another solid achievement.
"In both 2003 and 2007, BLET and BNSF worked successfully to develop
innovative compensation arrangements and progressive work rules that have
done much to position our company and locomotive engineers to reap the
benefits of new technology and generally share in a strong future," Fleps
said. "We are pleased to build on those accomplishments, again partnering
with BLET in advancing our mutual interests, especially during this period
of economic uncertainty and challenge."
About BLET
Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers
and Trainmen is a Division of the Teamsters Rail Conference, International
Brotherhood of Teamsters. The BLET represents 55,000 professional and hard
working locomotive engineers and trainmen throughout the United States.
About BNSF
A subsidiary of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corporation (NYSE: BNI), BNSF
Railway Company operates one of the largest North American rail networks,
with about 32,000 route miles in 28 states and two Canadian provinces. BNSF
is among the world's top transporters of intermodal traffic, moves more
grain than any other American railroad, carries the components of many of
the products we depend on daily, and hauls enough low-sulfur coal to
generate about ten percent of the electricity produced in the United
States. BNSF is an industry leader in Web-enabling a variety of customer
transactions at www.bnsf.com.
Contact:
John Ambler
(817) 867-6407
