AMTRAK AGREEMENT OVERWHELMINGLY RATIFIED BY IBEW MEMBERS

March 12, 2008

In a vote counted earlier today, AMTRAK IBEW members ratified by over 2 to 1 the recently negotiated agreement between Amtrak and the IBEW.  The vote was 495 in favor and 209 against.  Counted in IBEW System Council 7 office in Philadelphia, the ratification ends the eight year contract dispute with the nation’s passenger railroad.

“Our members, through their perseverance and solidarity, have finally gotten the contract that they have deserved for the last eight years,” stated Michael Giansante, System Council 7 General Chairman.  “I’m pleased that this process has finally come to a conclusion in the way it has.”

Almost the entire Amtrak unionized workforce has been without a contract since January 2000.  The agreement reached was based on the recommendations of a Presidential Emergency Board report issued by appointees of President Bush in January, and applying to nine Rail Labor organizations.  IBEW President Ed Hill, speaking on the ratification, stated, “It was nice to see the solidarity amongst the Rail Labor organizations, and the end result is a product of that solidarity.  They are to be commended for sticking together through these difficult times.”

The ratification sets the stage for wage increases and back-pay checks covering the last 8 years for the approximately 1,100 IBEW represented Amtrak workers.  The agreement will run through December 31, 2009.