Effective Date of New Rates BLET 2007 National Agreement

From: CLIFFJOHNSON@UP.COM [mailto:CLIFFJOHNSON@UP.COM]
Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2007 9:09 AM
To: Gil Gore
Cc: 'BDMac'; 'Mike Young'; 'D. W. Hannah'; 'C. R. Rightnowar'; larrybumpurs@utugo577.com; PGKENNY@up.com; Tim Donnigan; tjutu27@hotmail.com; TAZABAWA@up.com; ROROSCO@up.com; TERRYOLIN@UP.COM
Subject: Re: Rates on new BLET National Agreement

Gil,
In TCS, the new rates (other than trip rates) will go into effect immediately for all jobs called 7/1/07 or later.  We are making the final updates today and tomorrow so they can be viewed via the RJ R function anytime after Saturday.  The TCS trip rates have been computed but we cannot put them into the TCS system until after we close out the last half of June.  Once we close June (on July 5th), we will immediately start putting in the new trip rates with this process being completed by Saturday the 7th.  Employees will start being paid the new trip rates as soon as we load them, some as early as the 6th.  Because TCS is a very old, outdated system, the loading process is manual, cumbersome and time consuming.  Once we get the new trip rates loaded in TCS, we will run a repay program to go back to reprocess all trip rated timeslips from 7/1/07 to the date the final load was completed.   This is the process we run for each increase.  
For those territories that are fortunate enough to be cutover to CMTS, the new rates, including trip rates, will go into effect immediately on 7/1/07. The regular, non-trip rates, have already been entered and we are completing the trip rates today.  All will be available for viewing starting tomorrow.
The report of trip rates and offsets that we maintain on the timekeeping web page which is available to all employees, should be on-line by the end of next week.  
With regard to the back pay, this is a very complex and time consuming process and we want to make sure we get it right.  It is our goal to make the payments by the 60 day time line referenced in the agreement , if at all possible.  That would put us near the end of August.  We have meetings scheduled with Labor Relations at various stages along the way to keep them updated on our progress.  If there is some unforeseen delay, it will be communicated to you by their office.
Thanks,
Cliff Johnson
Sr. Director - Timekeeping Operations
1400 Douglas Street - STOP PNG07
Omaha, NE 68179-0710

Phone: 402-591-2003  Fax: 402-591-2122
Email: cliffjohnson@up.com
Gil Gore" <thegores1@cox.net>

06/28/2007 08:10 AM
Cliff,
Can you shed some light on when UP expects to have the new rates in effect established under the 2007 BLET National Agreement?  It is my understanding that the effective date of the agreement is July 1, 2007.  Is the UP computer system going to begin paying those rates effective July 1, 2007 or at a later date?
Additionally, does the timekeeping dept have any projected information or timeline regarding the payment date and method of payment regarding the back time contained in the agreement?
Thanking you in advance for your effort to gather this information, I remain.
Sincerely,
Gil Gore

 

BLET Members Vote YES for New Contracts

By a majority of 2-1, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen members nationwide voted in favor of the new freight rail contract negotiated by the Rail Labor Bargaining Coalition. The BLET members’ votes were the first in the coalition to be counted. Later in June the votes from the other unions: Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division; Firemen and Oilers; Sheetmetal Workers; Train Dispatchers; Railroad Signalmen; and Boilermakers will be counted. “These results show that this is a strong national contract that will benefit our members,” said Don Hahs, National President of the BLET. “Our members will see increases in wages and a cap on health and welfare contributions. We worked hard to negotiate the terms of this new five-year contract. Together with the other members of the Rail Labor Bargaining Coalition we were able to keep the carriers at bay.” The national five-year contract covers more than 17,000 freight rail workers on part of CSX, Union Pacific, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, and Kansas City Southern. “When the carriers served their section six notices in 2004 they had staffing and consolidation in their sites,” said Hahs. “But we stood together and won a good contract with worthwhile improvements.” Along with the national contract, votes were counted for the Burlington Northern Santa Fe on property agreement. The results were 10-1 in favor. “I want to congratulate our general chairmen for helping communicate with our members about the many benefits this new contract will provide,” said Hahs. “I believe this contract is further evidence of the increased power rail labor has now that we have merged with the Teamsters Union and are a part of the Teamsters Rail Conference.” Tuesday, June 19, 2007 bentley@ble.org http://www.ble.org/pr/news/newsflash.asp?id=4493 © 1997-2007 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen http://www.ble.org