Railroad Engineers to Merge With Teamsters

The union representing 40,000 engineers at Union Pacific Corp. and other railroads tentatively agreed to merge with the Teamsters, the largest transportation union, to raise bargaining power.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and the Teamsters this week set up committees that in the next six months will work out details such as dues, Teamsters spokesman Rob Black said.

Members of the Cleveland-based engineers union still have to vote on the merger, said BLE spokesman John Bentley.

The agreement doesn’t require a Teamsters membership vote, Black said.