Ratified UTU contract locks 17% pay hike

The United Transportation Union announced that its members in each of the six crafts eligible to vote, by a 60%-40% margin, have ratified a national rail contract, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2010, that provides 17% wage increase over 60 months (18.24% when compounded).

UTU said the contract delivers a 78-month cap on health care insurance contributions, plus improvements in health care benefits. It also provides certification pay, a faster process for new hires to reach full pay rates, no work-rules givebacks, and has no prior cost-of-living adjustment offsets.

“The 17% wage increase over the life of this agreement is significantly higher than the rate of price inflation—providing a greater boost in purchasing power than any other national contract in the past 40 years,” said UTU International President Mike Futhey, who led the negotiating team.

“The $200 monthly cap on health care insurance contributions, through July 1, 2016, is less than half what federal workers currently are paying, and is more than $140 less than the average currently paid by private-sector workers. With health care costs continuing to rise, this cap will be even more extraordinary in each successive year of this contract,” Futhey said.