Coordinated Bargaining Coalition Unions Support BMWED/SMART Mechanical Request For An End To Mediation

Key Facts

By letter dated February 24, 2022, the rail bargaining coalition made up of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division of the Teamsters Rail Conference and the Mechanical Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers Union petitioned the National Mediation Board (NMB) for a proffer of arbitration, requesting to be released from further mediation sessions.
The Coordinated Bargaining Coalition (CBC) Unions*, which are likewise in negotiations with the same rail carriers, support the BMWED/SMART Mechanical request to be released from mediation and agree that the parties are at impasse and should be allowed to move the contract dispute to the next steps of the Railway Labor Act's negotiation process.
Although the CBC Unions are also in mediation with their next NMB-mediated bargaining session scheduled in March, the CBC made it clear to the NMB upon entering mediation that there is little if any hope of reaching a voluntary agreement in light of the rail carriers' refusal to bargain in good faith with any of the Rail Unions.
Therefore, the CBC fully expects to be making the same request for a release, and once all Rail Unions are released from mediation, the CBC will stand alongside the BMWED/SMART Mechanical Coalition through the final steps of the Railway Labor Act negotiation process to bring the bargaining round to a successful conclusion.