Railroads File for Mediation to Return Negotiations
To Substance Rather Than Union ‘Shape of Table’ Tactics
WASHINGTON – March 16, 2005 -- The National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC), in response to a Teamsters-led coalition’s refusal to bargain on issues of substance until a detailed set of needless ground rules are resolved, has filed a request for help with the National Mediation Board.
“We regret the necessity of filing for mediation at this time,” Robert F. Allen, chairman of the NCCC, wrote to members of the National Mediation Board on Wednesday.
The seven-union coalition’s “insistence that bargaining be deferred until the carriers address demands on non-substantive matters such as process and shape of table issues . . . raises questions about its intentions and motivation,” Allen wrote.
He said the NCCC was left with no choice but to request mediation on behalf of nation’s railroads to preclude any self-help action by the union coalition, which could take place following the required 10-day waiting period after the first day of talks on March 9 ended abruptly.
The union coalition had insisted on first negotiating a list of process-oriented ground rules even though such matters “are nothing new and have been successfully managed informally by the parties in decades of past bargaining rounds,” the NCCC application letter stated.
He said that the carriers had suggested that the process issues be set aside, without prejudice to either side’s position, in order to continue work on the substantive issues of pay, benefits and working conditions as mutually agreed in their January introductory meeting.
“The Rail Labor Bargaining Coalition refused, insisting that its proposal on ground rules be resolved before commencing bargaining,” Allen wrote. As a result, the negotiating session was ended, and no further meetings are scheduled.
Allen added that the carriers “hope that the (union) coalition is not using this issue to delay negotiations or to manufacture a confrontation simply to appeal to its internal constituents. It’s time to put rhetoric and tactics aside and get on with the real business at hand—working toward voluntary agreements that fairly and equitably address the serious challenges to the future success of the railroad industry and its employees.”
The National Carriers’ Conference Committee of the National Railway Labor Conference, headquartered in Washington, DC, is the national bargaining agent for the 32 railroads, including all of the nation’s major freight carriers, involved in the current round of bargaining with 13 major rail unions.
Joanna Moorhead
National Railway Labor Conference
(202) 862-7257
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