Railroad equipment maker Wabtec and two Erie, Pennsylvania, chapters of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America reached a tentative contract agreement on Thursday.
“The agreement provides wage increases, improves the grievance process, improves holidays and personal days for new employees, and transitions the Erie workforce to Wabtec’s standard employee benefits with additional benefits new to the union membership,” the company said in a statement to Manufacturing Dive.
Union chapter leaders did not respond for a comment, but members will vote on the agreement on Thursday and the union is expected to release the results later that day, according to a UE press release.
If the members vote to ratify the contract, it will bring an end to a 10-week strike at Wabtec’s Erie plant. UE 506 and 618’s 1,400 members went on strike on June 22 after six weeks of contract negotiations failed to bring a new labor agreement.
Wabtec’s updated four-year contract proposal with UE Locals 506 and 618 includes additional guaranteed annual pay increases, such as a 3% bump after the first year, as well as a lump sum $1,500 payment during terms of the agreement.
Other highlights from the new offer include promotion opportunities, an expanded employee vacation plan, Wabtec contributions to employees’ health reimbursement arrangement, a 40-hour cap on employees using personal time for family and medical leave and the right to strike after the union exhausts the grievance process or if subcontracting results in layoffs.
The proposed agreement also includes Wabtec’s right to employ subcontractors for business reasons such as new construction or cost savings.
The new contract would establish a continuous improvement committee comprised of Wabtec management and bargaining unit employees. The committee will carry out manufacturing improvement initiatives at the Erie plant to increase productivity, streamline operations, reduce waste and upgrade safety.
Wabtec has subcontracted manufacturing jobs to continue production at its Erie site during the strike, which the company said will end once the contract has been ratified.
Tensions between the union and the rail manufacturer have run high over the past two months. Earlier this month, Wabtec filed an injunction order against the two union chapters, ordering members not to interfere with Wabtec’s business activities as well as restricting picketing at the Erie plant.
And earlier this month, Erie County Executive Brenton Davis said that Wabtec may close the plant, after a third-party manufacturer visited the site.
This is the second time in four years that UE Locals 506 and 618 have conducted strikes against Wabtec. The chapters last went on strike in 2019, after the plant’s previous owner, GE Transportation, merged with Wabtec in February of that year.
The strike lasted nine days but negotiations lasted 128 days, ending with a new four-year contract agreed upon in June 2019.
