Released: Aug 10, 2009

CLEVELAND, August 7 - On July 31, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and CSX Transportation reached tentative agreement on a five-year contract that provides general wage increases of 16 percent and continues and improves the current bonus plan.

If ratified, the on-property agreement would cover three CSX General Committees of Adjustment - CSX Eastern Lines, Western Lines and Northern Lines. The tentative proposal is a continuation of the Single System Agreement ratified in April of 2007.

Contract information and ballots were mailed to more than 5,000 BLET members on August 5 and tabulation will begin on September 10.

The tentative agreement includes the following elements:

-- 16% in annual GWIs beginning on January 1, 2010 (value is over 17% when compounded).

-- An increase in the Maximum Performance Bonus Payout from 10% of total wages in 2009 to 12% each year from 2010 through 2014, regardless of length of service.

-- Retention of the $15.00 per day, $0.15 per overmile Special Pay Differential.

-- An option to "snap back" at the end of 2014 that would include all GWIs from the 2007 National Agreement and upcoming national bargaining round(s).

If the tentative agreement is ratified, the current health and welfare and short-term disability plans will continue without change until the conclusion of national negotiations, at which time any changes in the National Agreement will be implemented. The tentative agreement also contains a moratorium on Section 6 notice to change any terms of the BLET-CSXT Single System Agreement until November 1, 2014, with future changes to be effective no earlier than January 1, 2015.

National President Ed Rodzwicz praised the efforts of General Chairmen Tony Smith (Eastern Lines), Don Moates (Western Lines), and Rick Finamore (Northern Lines), who finalized the tentative agreement with the assistance of Vice President Dennis Pierce. In a letter authorizing ratification of the tentative agreement, Rodzwicz said, "These are tough economic times, and there were many opportunities for your negotiations to fail. The fact that you were able to reach tentative agreement with the carrier is a testament to your determination in providing your members with the best deal available."

The final results of the ratification vote will be published after the September 10 tabulation has been completed.

A member of the Teamsters Rail Conference, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen represents 55,000 professional locomotive engineers and trainmen throughout the United States.