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NCFO Rail Members Ratify National Rail Agreement
Historic Contract Best in a Generation
2007
National Rail Agreement
NCFO
members working for the nation’s major freight railroads have
ratified a new four-year contract by a resounding 2-1 margin.
“As I
said when recommending approval of this agreement, it’s a great
victory for us and the other unions who stood together in the
Rail Labor Bargaining Coalition (RLBC),” says NCFO President
George Francisco, who chaired the RLBC.
“It’s
no coincidence that we won the best contract we have in decades
at the same time that rail labor stood more united than at any
time during my working life,” he adds.
As a
result, the contract protects all existing work rules, holds the
line on contacting out, hikes wages 18.2 percent, expands the
availability of in-network health services to cover 90 percent
of all employees, and caps the employee share of health and
welfare contributions.
“I
hope that every NCFO member and every working person in America
will take two lessons from this contract battle,” Francisco
adds. “One is that fighting in the political arena often is an
important element in the fight for fair treatment and economic
justice. The other is that an old labor adage is as true as
ever: there is indeed strength in unity.”
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