ASWC Agreement is Ratified

ASWC Agreement is Ratified
April 14, 2004 – General Chairman Mike Davis has advised that the new ASWC wage and rules agreement has been ratified by members voting 585 in favor to 388 against. The total vote tally includes all Amtrak on board ASWC craft employees represented by TCU, TWU and HERE. The vote count for TCU was 360 in favor and 176 against. The contract passed by a majority in all three unions.

Amtrak has been notified that the agreement has been ratified so that the company can implement the 3.5 percent hourly wage increase that was effective April 1, 2004 and also pay the $400 signing bonus.

Portions of the new agreement still need to be codified into contract language. Meetings have been scheduled with the company in order to do this.

General Chairman Davis stated, “The negotiations that produced this agreement were the most difficult ever.” He advised that it took over three years to obtain the wage increases contained in the new agreement. New notices can be served in November 2004, right after the next federal elections. Davis advised, “If we are going to do better next time and into the future, we need worker friendly and Amtrak friendly representatives in the White House and in control of Congress.” He has called on all Amtrak members to help elect politicians who do not want to break up Amtrak and destroy good jobs; who do not want to contract out the work; and who value the expertise, the hard work and the sacrifices that the Amtrak members have made to keep intercity rail passenger service alive.

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