Amtrak, Union Reach Tentative Deal

Amtrak and its track workers reached a tentative contract Sunday, ending the threat of a shutdown at the national passenger rail service.

The pact announced by Amtrak, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees and Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater at a news conference calls for increased productivity in return for pay increases.

The union’s general chairman, Jed Dodd, said he expected his membership to ratify the agreement in about 30 days.

But Amtrak’s future depends heavily on how the agreement is viewed by Congress.

Congress is making the release of $2.3 billion in money for badly needed Amtrak capital investments conditional on legislation that would change the way Amtrak does business.

Key lawmakers were watching the negotiations closely to see if Amtrak management would hold down costs.

But details of the pact were sketchy. Slater, who took part in a number of all-night negotiation sessions, said the parties agreed to keep the terms confidential while union members and Congress were notified.

“We have been able to put together an arrangement that will allow us to make the wage increases based on savings and also based on other appropriations and resources that we have on hand,” Slater said. “We will not have to go back to Congress but for dealing with our annual appropriations.”

Nevertheless, Slater acknowledged the key role to be played by Congress in Amtrak’s future. “We anticipate tomorrow continuing efforts that have already begun where we engage the leadership of the Congress, especially on the Senate side.”

A Department of Transportation statement said Amtrak and the union had agreed on unspecified wage increases over the next three years below the 3.5% recommended in July by a presidential emergency board.

The workers who maintain and service Amtrak’s tracks, bridges and other infrastructure would also get retroactive cost-of-living adjustment covering the two years Amtrak and the union were in talks.

To help pay for the wage increase, the union agreed to work-rule and productivity reforms that would save $13 million over the next three years.

A prolonged Amtrak strike could have disrupted many commuter rail services in major cities in addition to Amtrak’s national passenger routes that carry about 54,000 passengers daily. The intensive talks that began last Thursday afternoon were working against a strike deadline of this Thursday, although two previous deadlines had been extended.

Amtrak Chairman Thomas Downs said the pact ended a great deal of customer uncertainty that had cost ridership.

“We will work for the savings that will help pay for this contract,” Downs said.

Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) said commuters in his state can breathe easy. “Now Congress has to . . . keep this agreement from careening off track,” he said.