ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, July 24, 1996 TAG: 9607240031
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Freight railroads reached a tentative agreement on a new contract with the last of their 13 major unions Tuesday night, three hours before the end of a presidentially ordered cooling-off period.
Negotiators for the Transportation Communications International Union representing 32,000 clerks and inspectors and the industry's National Carriers' Conference Committee reached the accord shortly after 9 p.m., said John Fitzpatrick, a spokesman for the Association of American Railroads.
A 30-day no-strike, no-lockout period was to end at 12:01 a.m. today, but the TCU had pledged Tuesday not to strike for at least seven days.
While the contract dispute involves only freight railroads, a shutdown could have affected thousands of travelers and commuters because Amtrak and other passenger lines operate over tracks owned by the freight companies.
Settlements between the railroads and several other unions were reached after three presidential emergency boards issued recommendations June 23 for new agreements that would run into 2000.
``This is a triumph for the collective bargaining process,'' said Robert Allen, chairman of the carrier's conference, which represented 35 major freight railroads in the talks. ``It demonstrates that the rail industry and its unions can resolve important issues without threatening vital rail services and without congressional intervention.''
Earlier Tuesday, TCU leaders Robert Scardelletti and Richard Johnson sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Federico Pena pledging not to strike before July 31 and asking him to oversee negotiations in the interim.
``We are trying hard to reach agreement with the railroads, but the industry will not bargain if they know Congress will bail them out by imposing the terms'' of the presidential emergency board, the union leaders had said in a statement.
Congress can impose a settlement to avoid or end a shutdown that would damage the economy.
Fitzpatrick said Tuesday night that the only remaining hurdle is a dispute involving whether labor protections in the accord also cover members of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees who work for Conrail. The track workers and the carriers conference reached tentative agreement on all other issues Monday.
Both Pena and his deputy, Mort Downey, have met with railroad and union officials in the past week in an effort to encourage a settlement, Transportation Department spokesmen said.
A national railroad shutdown could have a staggering effect on the economy, disrupting the flow of both finished goods and parts. The president's Council of Economic Advisers estimated the cost of a shutdown at $1 billion a day in l99l.
Among the economic sectors most likely to be affected by a shutdown are the automobile, paper, chemical and coal industries.
Congressional resolutions ended a 48-hour railroad shutdown in 1992 and a 26-hour work stoppage the year before.
The railroads reached a settlement last week with the International Association of Machinists, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and Sheetmetal Workers International. A tentative agreement was initialed Monday with the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees.
Details of those agreements have not been announced pending ratification by union members.
LENGTH: Medium: 67 linesby CNB