ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times

DATE: Saturday, December 2, 1995             TAG: 9512030014
SECTION: BUSINESS                 PAGE: A-6  EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER 

RAIL AGREEMENT REACHED TENTATIVE DEAL FOR 5-YEAR CONTRACT FACES RATIFICATION VOTE BY WORKERS

The nation's largest rail union, the United Transportation Union, and 35 railroads - including Norfolk Southern and six other of the nation's largest carriers - have reached a tentative agreement on a new five-year labor contract, the union and railroads announced Friday.

Details of the agreement were not revealed because it has not been distributed to the UTU's 80,000 members yet. And information was not available Friday on when a ratification vote by union members will take place.

The UTU, based in Cleveland, Ohio, represents engine crewmen, brakemen, and yardmasters. The union is the first of 13 national rail unions to reach agreement on a new labor pact. But other announcements might be coming soon.

The railroads, represented by the National Rail Carrier's Committee, and the union have been spending a great deal of time in bargaining lately, said Joanna Moorhead, a spokeswoman for the carriers. "Bargaining is really proceeding at a fast pace," she said.

Under federal law, rail labor contracts do not expire but periodically come up for renewal. The latest contracts were opened to renegotiation on Jan. 1 and bargaining began in November 1994.

Wages, health and welfare benefits and work rules have all been points of contention during the bargaining and the proposed UTU contract resolves those and other issues, the two sides said. "I'm confident our general chairpersons [a position similar to that of a union local president] will react positively when they see the details negotiated," said UTU President Charles Little.

The 35 railroads represented by the carriers' committee move 85 percent of the nation's rail freight. "Everyone wins when we reach agreements voluntarily and without strife," said Robert Allen, chairman of the carriers' committee. "This agreement," he said, "represents a new spirit of cooperation where both sides tried to resolve mutual concerns with a real focus on customer service."

The union and railroads singled out Magdalena Jacobsen, chairwoman of the National Mediation Board, for her work over the past several weeks in helping the two sides reach an agreement. The board oversees federal labor law as it applies to the railroads and provides mediation services.

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