The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET)
has formally accepted the National Mediation Board's (NMB) proffer of
arbitration regarding the union's unresolved contract dispute with the
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA).
The union issued the statement on Saturday after a report in
the Philadelphia Inquirer quoted a SEPTA spokesman indicating that the agency
would not accept binding arbitration, according to a BLET press release.
"The BLET recognizes that binding arbitration is the
fastest way to resolve this dispute without interrupting vital transportation
services to the citizens in the Philadelphia metropolitan area," wrote
BLET National President Dennis Pierce in a letter to NMB Chief of Staff Daniel
Rainey.
The proffer of arbitration is a mandatory step in the
Railway Labor Act bargaining process. If either party declines to accept the
proffer, the NMB will then notify the parties that its mediatory efforts have
failed and will release them from mediation. Release of the parties from
mediation would trigger a 30-day cooling off period, after which the parties
will legally be entitled to exercise self-help, BLET officials said.
The BLET, which represents about 220 locomotive engineers at
SEPTA, has been seeking a new contract since July 2009. The dispute entered
NMB-sponsored mediation in April 2010.
Meanwhile, the NMB last week ended its efforts to broker an
agreement between SEPTA and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
(IBEW) Local 744, which represents about 200 electricians who work on SEPTA's
rail cars. The electricians would accept arbitration, but SEPTA will not, said
IBEW General Chairman Arthur Davidson in a Friday news story posted on
philly.com.
Source: Progressive
Railroading
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