The unions in the coalition include:  American Train Dispatchers Association; International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers; International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers; Transportation Communications International Union (TCU) and Brotherhood of Railway Carmen (a division of TCU), and the Transport Workers Union.

Negotiations are continuing with the other unions in national handling.

The service of the so-called “Section 6” notices comes at a challenging time for the industry, which has not been spared the consequences of the worst economic downturn the country has faced in decades.

In Section 6 notices served on all 13 unions, the National Carriers Conference Committee (NCCC), which represents the railroads in bargaining, said both sides must work together to meet the challenges facing the industry. That cooperation, it said, is needed “to help ensure that the railroad industry not only survives, but prospers in the years ahead.”

While noting it will provide more detailed proposals later, the NCCC said it will seek a compensation package that “fairly reflects economic conditions” and called for railroad employees to “bear a share” of rising healthcare costs that is “more representative of comparable U.S. industry norms.” Class I railroads will pay about $1.6 billion in 2009 to provide medical, dental and vision benefits to their employees, nearly double the cost a decade ago.

Railroad workers are among the nation’s most highly compensated workers with average compensation totaling more than $100,000 a year, putting them in the top 9 percent of all U.S. workers, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Formal negotiations in the 2010 round of national (multi-employer) bargaining will begin early next year, 15 months after the railroads successfully concluded the round of bargaining that began in November 2004. The bargaining takes place under the 1926 Railway Labor Act (RLA), which governs collective bargaining between railroads and the organizations that represent railroad employees.

More than 30 railroads, including BNSF, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific, participate in the bargaining.

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The announcement was made by Michael Ward, the chairman and chief executive officer of CSX Transportation, Inc. and chairman of the NRLC Executive Board.

Gradia, 58, who has been vice chairman of NRLC since 2002, began his career at the conference in 1984 as labor counsel and served in that position until becoming director of labor relations in 1994. In his current job, he has helped negotiate collective bargaining agreements on behalf of one of the country’s most heavily unionized industries. Before joining NRLC, Gradia was a lawyer at the Federal Railroad Administration. He is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Dickinson College and earned his law degree at Georgetown University.

He will become the sixth chairman since the freight railroads formed the Washington-based NRLC in 1963. The NRLC is a not-for-profit association whose membership consists of all major (Class I) U.S. freight railroads and many smaller lines. Through its National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC), the NRLC represents most of its members in national (multi-employer) collective bargaining with the 13 major rail unions.

“With his extensive knowledge of the industry and the rail bargaining process, Ken is uniquely qualified for this job,” Ward said. “Over the last 25 years at the NRLC he has proven to be an exceptionally talented manager who has earned the trust and respect of people on both sides of the bargaining table.”

Allen joined the NRLC as chairman in 1993 and since then has negotiated more than 40 agreements with the 13 unions that today represent more than 145,000 freight rail employees in national bargaining.

“Bob Allen has done a superb job in guiding labor relations for our industry both in difficult economic times and through the rail renaissance that has seen the industry grow and prosper,” Ward said. “The successful resolution of three rounds of national bargaining over 15 years with no rail strikes is testament to his professionalism and effectiveness as a negotiator.”

Download: Press Release [pdf]