From the Casper (WY) Star Tribune, September 27:
Tens of thousands of unionized railroad workers across the country are poised to vote next month on the last-minute agreement that averted a likely Sept. 16 strike and possible shutdowns at Wyoming mines.
It’s now up to the members of two major unions to decide whether the tentative deal brokered by Biden administration officials — which union leaders say is the most favorable iteration yet — does enough to address lingering concerns about the impacts of strict time off policies on workers’ quality of life.
For the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), the ratification process started Sept. 22 with a 15-day question-and-answer period involving local representatives and culminating in further discussion, as needed, between the unions and the railroads.
BLET hopes to send ballots to involved members “on or around Friday, October 14,” and tally the responses about a month later, though the dates aren’t final, according to a union press release.
The vote comes after pushback against railroads’ earlier proposals, led by the BLET and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART), resulted in a standoff....
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