Arlington, VA (November 5, 2022) – The National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC), which represents the nation’s freight railroads in national collective bargaining, today issued the following statement:

We are pleased to announce that the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), and its approximately 5,000 rail members, has ratified its recent tentative agreement with the nation’s freight railroads.

The IAM agreement, like the agreements with six other rail unions that have already ratified, implements the recommendations of Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) No. 250, including the largest wage package in nearly five decades, maintains rail employees’ platinum-level health benefits, and adds an additional day of paid time off for IAM-represented workers.

The successful result announced today follows an initial unsuccessful ratification attempt by the IAM last month. The ratified agreement is consistent with the framework recommended by the PEB.

At present, seven labor organizations have ratified agreements to resolve the national bargaining round that are based on the PEB’s recommendations, and tentative agreements with three other labor organizations remain subject to ratification. The two remaining unions have failed to ratify agreements based on these recommendations and do not currently have a tentative agreement pending ratification. BMWED, one of these unions, has the earliest strike deadline and could initiate a work stoppage as early as November 19, before members of the two largest unions – BLET and SMART-TD – would even complete voting on their tentative agreements.

For additional information about the bargaining round, including the status of all pending ratification votes, please click here.