MERGER IMPLEMENTING AGREEMENT

(Roseville Hub)

between the

UNION PACIFIC/MISSOURI PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY

    SOUTHERN PACIFIC TRANSPORTATION COMPANY

and the

BROTHERHOOD OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS

In Finance Docket No. 32760, the U.S. Department of Transportation, Surface Transportation Board ("STB") approved the merger of the Union Pacific Corporation ("UPC"), Union Pacific Railroad Company/Missouri Pacific Railroad Company (collectively referred to as "UP") and Southern Pacific Rail Corporation, Southern Pacific Transportation Company ("SP"), St. Louis Southwestern Railway Company ("SSW"), SPCSL Corp., and The Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad Company ("DRGW") (collectively referred to as "SP"). In approving this transaction, the STB imposed New York Dock labor protective conditions.

In order to achieve the benefits of operational changes made possible by the transaction, to consolidate the seniority of all employees working in the territory covered by this Agreement into one common seniority district covered under a single, common collective bargaining agreement,

IT IS AGREED:

I. Roseville Hub

A new seniority district shall be created that encompasses the following area:  UP territory including milepost 665.0 west of Elko, Nevada to the end of the track on the former Western Pacific, Sacramento Northern and Tidewater Southern; SP territory including milepost 553.0 west of Elko, Nevada to the end of the track at Oakland/San Francisco, California, south to and including Santa Barbara, California; south from Roseville, California to and (not including) Hivolt via (including) Palmdale, and over the BNSF trackage rights to (not including) Barstow and north from Roseville to (not including) Chemult and the Modoc Line.

II. Seniority and Work Consolidation. 

The following seniority consolidations will be made:

A. A new seniority district will be formed and a master Engineer's Seniority  UP/BLE Roseville Hub Merged Roster , will be created for the engineers assigned to the Roseville Hub on September 1, 1997 or on an auxiliary board from a point inside the Hub but working outside the Hub or  the WP engineers forced to Salt Lake Hub that will return to the Hub upon release.  It does not include borrow outs to the Hub nor engineers assigned to the Hub from an auxiliary board with a home terminal outside the Hub.  In addition to the Hub Roster a separate zone roster shall be created for each zone.

B. The new rosters will be created as follows:

C.  Engineer's initially assigned to the new roster will be accorded prior rights to one of four Zones based on the on duty location the engineer was working on September 1, 1997. The new UP/BLE Roseville Merged Roster  seniority district will be divided into the following four (4) Zones:

  1. Zone 1 will include operations Roseville north to (not including) Red Bluff, east to (including) Oroville and (not including) Sparks, including helper service, west to (including) Oakland/San Francisco, south to (including) King City and (not including) Fresno.
  2. Zone 2 will include operations from San Luis Obispo north to (not including) King City, south to (including) Santa Barbara and from Bakersfield north to (including) Fresno and south to (not including) Hivolt via (including) Palmdale and the trackage rights to Barstow.
  3. Zone 3 will include operations from Dunsmuir north to (not including) Chemult and the Modoc Line to (not including) Wendel, south to (including) Red Bluff.

 

  1. Zone 4 will include operations  from Sparks, Portola and Winnemucca to but not including Elko except as defined in the Salt Lake City Hub Agreement and to (including) Wendel and (not including) Oroville.
  2. Except as provided in the interim provisions of this agreement, engineers may not move from one Zone to another except in accordance with consolidated seniority provisions which require, among other provisions, the Carrier to post a notice of the intent to promote additional engineers so that engineers may request transfer to  the Zone with the need for additional engineers.  Engineers may be held up to 9 months, in lieu of 7 months provided for in the consolidated provisions, prior to being released to another Zone.  Surplus engineers may be used in another Zone in accordance with auxillary board provisions.
  3. Consolidated seniority provisions and auxillary board provisions only apply within the four Zones of the Hub and engineers in the Hub do not have such rights in other Hubs or non-merged areas and correspondingly cannot  be forced to those other areas outside the Hub.

 

  1. SP engineers on Auxillary Boards will be placed in the same Zone as the source of supply location and WP engineers temporarily working in the Salt Lake City Hub shall be placed in a Zone based on the WP BLE ebb and flow agreement that existed prior to the effective date of this Agreement.  Engineers currently forced to positions within the Roseville Hub, borrowed out to the Roseville Hub, or working an auxillary Board position from outside the Hub will be released when their services are no longer required and will not establish a permanent date on the merged roster.

D. Engineers who are on an authorized leave of absence or who are dismissed and later reinstated will have the right to displace to any Hub and prior rights Zone which may have been established on his/her former territory , provided his/her seniority at time of selection would have permitted him/her to hold that selection. The parties will create an inactive roster for all such engineers until they return to service in a Hub or other location at which time they will be placed on the appropriate seniority rosters and removed from the inactive roster.

E. As work is moved from one Zone to another during the interim period, the following will govern:

1. Due to the rebuild of the Roseville yard and the tunnel work needed to run double stacks over former SP routes, current pool home and away from home terminals will remain, except as provided elsewhere in this paragraph (1), until the Carrier notifies the Organization of the implementation of the new pool freight runs.  The notice shall list all assignments abolished and all assignments initially posted at the new locations (both pool and extra board).  The notice shall be posted for fifteen days and successful applicants shall be notified of the assignments no later than seven days following close of the notice. (Attachment "A" sets forth the order of selection for these assignments.)   The assignments shall be phased in 30 days after the bids close. 

2. Interim pool freight  rights on existing runs shall be on the basis of prior WP and SP service except as provided in (3) below.  SP engineers shall have  rights to their former pools and WP engineers shall have  rights to their former pools only during this interim period and then Zone rights shall govern.  For example former SP engineers shall retain rights ahead of former WP engineers to the SP Oakland-Roseville pool until that pool is abolished or until the interim period is over.  The same is true for former WP engineers in their Stockton-Portola pool.

3. Service interruptions through Portola or Sparks shall be handled as follows:

  1. During the interim period it is anticipated that some temporary shifting of employees between Portola and Sparks will be undertaken to handle capital projects. If trains are shifted on a short term basis (maintenance of way windows) then the CMS Director shall discuss the situation with the Local Chairmen involved and shall alternate calls between the two pools during the window. When used at the new temporary location they shall be entitled to a driving allowance of $31.50 per round trip.
  2. At times the Portola and Sparks areas have experienced washouts and heavy snows that have prohibited traffic movement.  During these times, both interim and post interim, BLE local chairmen and the Carrier representative will consult so that  the  pools and extra boards on the disabled line shall be temporarily abolished and the other pools and extra boards shall be increased accordingly to handle the traffic.  Should traffic use alternate routes during such periods and all pool and extra board engineers are not needed, then reserve board provisions shall apply for those who hold such rights or auxillary board provisions.  During these times CMS will extend call times.  The parties understand that weather conditions in the winter may impact travel and weather conditions will be taken into account in travel time.

 

4. The work referred to in section (1) is limited to specific pool turns moved to:

(a) Roseville [Zone 1] from Dunsmuir [Zone 3] / Bakersfield [Zone 2];

(b) San Luis Obispo [Zone 2] from Oakland [Zone 1] and Los Angeles;

(c) Sparks and Portola [Zone 4] from Oakland, Stockton, and Roseville [Zone 1];

(d) Bakersfield [Zone 2] from Los Angeles; and

(e) Dunsmuir from Eugene.

5. Work already in a Zone moving to a new location in the same Zone (e.g. Stockton to Roseville) is covered under the Zone seniority rules and engineers from a different Zone may not bid on those assignments unless their is a shortage in the Zone and then only pursuant to Article II(E)(10).

6. When pool vacancies occur and extra boards are increased at  the locations identified due to the restructuring of pool operations the order of selection  for the operations listed below are found in Attachment "A":

(a) Roseville - Dunsmuir/Oakland/San Jose

(b) Roseville-Bakersfield/Portola/Sparks

(c) San Luis Obispo-East and West

(d) Sparks -East and West

(e) Portola-East and West

(f) Bakersfield - Los Angeles/West Colton / Lathrop / Yermo / Fresno

(g) Dunsmuir-Bend/Oakridge

7. Relocation allowances, either under New York Dock or in lieu of , will not be available during the interim period for movement to pool freight positions or extra boards in Sections 2 & 3 above.  Engineers required to relocate to non pool freight positions or other extra boards as a result of the merger may elect to delay their relocation allowance request until after the implementation date of the new pools in Section 1 above.

8. During the interim period as work is relocated between Zones or Hubs and a vacancy is not  filled by bid, then engineers may be forced  to the vacancy.  If forced, the junior engineer at the location on September 1, 1997, at which work is transferred from shall be forced to the vacancy.  Local Chairmen will assist in the assignment and placement process.

9. It is not the intent of this agreement to move engineers between Zones during the interim period except in response to the relocation of assignments and the equalization of engineers.  Due to the reduction of assignments due to the Roseville yard rebuild and temporary movement of work due to capital projects it will be difficult to assess the number of surplus engineers in a Hub on a long term basis.  This agreement will incorporate protection board provisions that will help identify if a surplus exists.  During the interim period Auxiliary board provisions will be used for short term vacancies when engineers are needed to cross Zone lines.

10. During the interim period if long term vacancies occur, other than the relocation of assignments in Section (E)(1) which have their own provisions, and a shortage exists in a Zone then the vacancies shall be posted in the other Zones with a surplus and if no bids received then the junior engineer on the Hub seniority roster in the surplus Zone(s) shall be assigned to the vacancy. 

F. Vacancies that do not involve transferring work between Zones shall be handled as follows:

  1. Section F vacancies, both interim and after the interim period, that go no bid or application, shall be filled by the provisions of the controlling CBA except as provided within this agreement.
  2. Pools shall have an allocation chart for priority in filling specific vacancies and all other assignments in a Zone shall be filled from the Zone roster.  After the initial relocation of assignments engineers must be holding Zone prior rights and be  working in the Zone to apply for allocated vacancies.  If engineers with allocation rights do not bid in an allocated position or there are fewer engineers with those rights than there are positions, then the Zone roster shall be used to fill the vacancies.
  3. If assignments are increased and there are not enough engineers in active service (not including the Reserve Board) to cover all assignments, Reserve Board recalls may be started to cover the number of extra vacancies prior to no bid assignments being identified.

 

  1. Engineers force assigned to a new Zone or bidding in Section E transfer of work vacancies will transfer their seniority date and prior rights to the new Zone roster.  Engineers forced to a new Zone will be permitted to make application back to their original prior rights Zone.  The application must be on file within sixty (60) days of being forced and will be honored when vacancies of a minimum of thirty (30) days exist in the original Zone and there are no engineers their senior on reserve boards or demoted in that Zone.  If an engineer is recalled and declines the recall, then his/her application will be pulled and not reentered. (See relocation section on restrictions if relocation allowances are requested).

 

  1. Should work be moved from long pool service back to short pool service (i.e. the Sparks-Oakland Pool is abolished and traffic reverts to the Roseville short pools) or lines are abandoned or sold, then those engineers who previously moved from another Zone to man this service may elect to move back to the original Zone and reinstate those prior rights.

 

G. At  the end of the interim period the Zone seniority dates shall become permanent and only auxiliary board provisions or consolidated seniority provisions will be used to perform work in another Zone.

H. All vacancies within a Zone must be filled prior to any engineer being reduced from the working list or prior to engineers being permitted to exercise to any reserve board.  All  engineers not eligible to hold a reserve board  must be displaced prior to any engineer holding a position on a reserve board.

I. Engineers will be treated for vacation, payment of arbitraries and personal leave days as though all their service on their original railroad had been performed on the merged railroad.  Engineers assigned to the Roseville Hub seniority roster at the end of the interim period shall have entry rate provisions waived and engineers hired after the effective date of this agreement shall be subject to the rate progression provisions of the controlling CBA.  The entry rate provisions shall be waived during the interim period.  Those engineers leaving the Roseville Hub will be governed by the CBA where they  then work.

III. POOL OPERATIONS.

Pool operations within the Roseville Hub shall be restructured and the following  shall represent pool operations.

A. Pools with home terminals at Sparks and Portola shall be run as follows:

 

B. Winnemucca-Elko/Wendel  shall be combined and protected from the extra board unless there is sufficient traffic to warrant a single pool.  If that occurs then a pool shall be established.  If traffic levels again fall short then the work shall be protected from the extra board. 

C. Pools with home terminals at Roseville shall be run as follows:

  1. Roseville-Sparks/Portola  service shall be operated as one pool as long as sufficient traffic permits the operation of a pool.  Should sufficient traffic not be available then the service shall be protected from the extra board.
  2. Roseville-San Jose/Oakland  shall be operated as one pool as long as sufficient traffic permits the operation of a pool.  Should sufficient traffic not be available then the service shall be protected from the extra board.
  3. Crews  destined for Sparks and Portola in single headed pools will be governed by the dual destination away from home terminal provisions of this Agreement Article III (M).  Crews with trains destined for Oakland may be either tied up at Oakland or deadheaded in combination service on to San Jose for tie-up.  If tied up at Oakland and then called to take a train from San Jose the engineer will be paid in accordance with Article III (A) (8) (a) &(b).
  4. Roseville-Dunsmuir shall be operated as one pool as long as sufficient traffic permits the operation of a pool.  Should sufficient traffic not be available then the service shall be protected from the extra board.
  5. Roseville-Fresno/Bakersfield shall be operated as one pool as long as sufficient traffic permits the operation of a pool.  Should sufficient traffic not be available then the service shall be protected from the extra board.
  6. Roseville-Oroville  shall be operated as one pool as long as sufficient traffic permits the operation of a pool.  Should sufficient traffic not be available then the service shall be protected from the extra board.

 

D. Pools identified in this agreement  running to Oakland or San Jose may operate over any of the multiple routes.

E. Pools with home terminals at Dunsmuir and Klamath Falls shall be run as follows:

  1. Dunsmuir-/Bend/Oakridge shall be operated as one pool as long as sufficient traffic permits the operation of a pool.  Should sufficient traffic not be available then the service shall be protected from the extra board.  It is not the intent to deadhead crews from Bend to Oakridge.
  2. Dunsmuir-Klamath Falls shall be operated as one pool as long as sufficient traffic permits the operation of a pool.  Should sufficient traffic not be available then the service shall be protected from the extra board.
  3. Dunsmuir-Lathrop shall be operated as one pool as long as sufficient traffic permits the operation of a pool.  Should sufficient traffic not be available then the service shall be protected from the extra board.
  4. Klamath Falls-Bend shall be operated as one pool as long as sufficient traffic permits the operation of a pool.  Should sufficient traffic not be available then the service shall be protected from the extra board. 
    1. Note: Oakridge-Klamath Falls will be coverd in the Portland Hub.
  5. Should the Modoc line reopen then the Klamath Falls-Wendel pool shall  be reinstated.
    1. Note:  Operations between Dunsmuir and Eugene shall continue their current operations until the Portland Hub is implemented.  At that time the Carrier may serve notice to implement these new operations except Klamath Falls-Bend may be operated at any time .

F. Pools with home terminals at Bakersfield shall be run as follows:

  1. Bakersfield-Fresno/Yermo shall be operated as one pool as long as sufficient traffic permits the operation of a pool.  Should sufficient traffic not be available then the service shall be protected from the extra board.
  2. Bakersfield-Los Angeles/West Colton shall be operated as one pool as long as sufficient traffic permits the operation of a pool.  Should sufficient traffic not be available then the service shall be protected from the extra board.
  3. Bakersfield-Lathrop shall be operated as one pool as long as sufficient traffic permits the operation of a pool.  Should sufficient traffic not be available then the service shall be protected from the extra board.

G. Pools with home terminals at San Luis Obispo shall be run as follows:

  1. San Luis Obispo-Los Angeles shall be operated as one pool as long as sufficient traffic permits the operation of a pool.  Should sufficient traffic not be available then the service shall be protected from the extra board.
  2. San Luis Obispo-San Jose/Oakland shall be operated as one pool as long as sufficient traffic permits the operation of a pool.  Should sufficient traffic not be available then the service shall be protected from the extra board.
  3. Crews with trains destined for San Jose may be either tied up at San Jose or deadheaded in combination service on to Oakland. When tied up at San Jose and called to take a train from Oakland to San Luis Obispo the engineer will be paid in accordance with Article III(A)(a)&(b).  If an engineer is deadheaded in combination service back to San Jose after delivering their train to Oakland, and then deadheaded again to San Luis Obispo the provisions of Article III(M)(5) apply.

H. Oakland and San Jose are separate terminals.  If an engineer is tied up for rest at Oakland or San Jose, they will not be worked or deadheaded to the other away from home terminal and tied up a second time.

I. Stockton/Lathrop-Oakland/San Jose service shall be operated during the interim period with Stockton as the home terminal.  This service shall be operated as one pool as long as sufficient traffic permits the operation of a pool.  Should sufficient traffic not be available then the service shall be protected from the extra board. This traffic may operate over multiple routes.

J. New pool operations shall be governed by Article II Section E for implementation except for Portola-Oakland which may begin upon ten days notice.  Operations in (K) below may be implemented upon proper notice/bulletin as provided in current collective bargaining agreements.  Pool operations in place prior to the implementation of this Agreement shall continue until the Carrier serves notice to implement new pool operations.

K. Any pool freight, local, work train, or road switcher service may be established pursuant to the controlling CBA to operate from any point to any other point within the new seniority district with the on duty point within one of the Zones.

L. New pool operations not covered in this implementing Agreement between Hubs or one Hub and a non merged area will be handled per Article IX of the 1986 National Implementation Award.

M. Away from Home Terminal Dual Destination. The following conditions shall apply for repositioning crews from one away from home terminal to another at the combined destinations of , Portola/Sparks, and Los Angeles/West Colton.

IV. EXTRA BOARDS

A. A single combination extra board shall be established at the following locations:

B. Roseville shall have two extra boards as follows:

  1. Roseville North - Engineer board covering the pools to Dunsmuir-Portola-Oroville-Sparks.
  2. Roseville South - Engineer board covering the pools to Bakersfield-Fresno-Oakland-San Jose and all Roseville and Sacramento yard assignments and all locals and road switchers that go on duty between Sacramento-Oroville and /Red Bluff.

C. Regional combination Extra Boards shall be established as follows:

  1. Stockton to cover Stockton-Turlock-Modesto-Tracy.
  2. Oakland to cover Oakland-Fremont-Newark-Mulford.
  3. San Jose to cover San Jose-Milpitas-Watsonville-Salinas-South San Francisco-Warm Springs.
  4. Martinez to cover Ozol/Martinez-Suisun-Port Chicago.

 

D. It is the intent of this Article to provide extra board coverage to all assignments through one of the extra boards established in sections (A)(B)&(C).  Any location not listed shall be covered by the nearest extra board or  additional extra board(s) may be established pursuant to the  provisions of the surviving CBA.

E. Exhausted extra boards.

  1. 1.If one of the extra boards in (B) above is exhausted then the other extra board may be used prior to using other sources of supply.
  2. 2.If one of the extra boards in (C) above is exhausted then the next closest extra board (secondary) shall be used prior to using another source of supply.  The secondary extra boards are :  Oakland for San Jose, San Jose for Oakland, Oakland for Martinez, and Roseville South for Stockton.  An engineer called from his/her extra board for an assignment in another area not principally covered by their extra board shall be handled as follows:
    1. Pay received for this assignment shall not be used as an offset for  extra board guarantee but shall be in addition to, however, it shall be used in computing whether the engineer is entitled to protection pay at the end of the month.
    2. An engineer unavailable at time of call shall have a deduction made in their extra board guarantee in accordance with the extra board agreement and shall have an offset to their protection in accordance with the protection offset provisions.  If miss called for secondary calls, the engineer shall not be placed on the bottom of the board. but will hold his/her place.
    3. An engineer unavailable at time of call shall not be disciplined.
  3. Prior to the Carrier using a third extra board, all other sources of supply in the area where the vacancy exists must be exhausted.

F. The extra boards identified in this Article may be implemented (consolidated) by the Carrier giving a ten day notice to the organization.  The notice shall identify which extra boards are being consolidated and/or created and/or abolished.  The extra boards need not all be handled in the same notice but may be implemented in full or partially but a different notice shall be given if done at different times.  Current Extra boards not covered by a notice shall continue to operate until a notice is served.

V. TERMINAL AND OTHER CONSOLIDATIONS

A. At all joint terminal locations all UP and SP operations shall be consolidated into unified terminal operationsYard crews will not be restricted in a terminal where they can operate.

The new terminal limits for the following locations shall be :

[both parties are identifying consolidated limits and will add at a later date]

  1. Reno/Sparks - The Sparks terminal limits will not be expanded to include the UP Reno trackage.
  2. Sacramento -
  3. Stockton -
  4. Oakland -

 

B. Upon merger implementation all other UP and SP  facilities, stations, terminals, equipment and track shall be combined into a unified operation. 

C. The provisions of (A) and (B) will not be used to enlarge or contract the  current limits except to the extent necessary to combine into a unified operation.

VI.AGREEMENT COVERAGE

A. General Conditions for Terminal Operations.

  1. Initial delay and final delay will be governed by the controlling collective bargaining agreement, including the Duplicate Pay and Final Terminal Delay provisions of the 1986 and 1991 National Arbitration Award and Implementing Agreements.
  2. Engineers will be transported to/from their trains to/from their designated on/off duty point in accordance with Article VIII, Section 1 of the May 1986 National Arbitration Award.
  3. he current application of National Agreement provisions regarding road work and Hours of Service relief under the combined road/yard service Zone, shall continue to apply.  Yard crews at any location within the Hub may perform such service in all directions out of their terminal.

B. General Conditions for Pool Operations

The terms and conditions of the pool operations set forth in Article III shall be the same for all pool freight runs whether run as combined pools or separate pools.  The terms and conditions are those of the designated collective bargaining agreement as modified by subsequent national agreements, awards and implementing documents and those set forth below. 

  1. Twenty-Five Mile Zone - At all home and away from home terminals, both inside and outside the Hub, pool crews may  receive their train up to twenty-five miles on the far side of the terminal and run on through to the scheduled terminal.  Crews shall be paid an additional one-half (½) basic day for this service in addition to the miles run between the two terminals.  If  the time spent in this zone is greater than four (4) hours, then they shall be paid on a minute basis. This payment shall be at the pro rata through freight rate.
    1. Example:A Roseville-Bakersfield crew receives their south bound train ten miles north of Roseville but within the 25 mile zone limits and runs to Bakersfield.  They shall be paid the actual miles established for the Roseville-Bakersfield run and an additional one-half basic day for handling the train from the point ten (10) miles north of Roseville back through Roseville.
  2. Turnaround Service/Hours of Service Relief.  Except as provided in (1) above, turnaround service/hours of service relief at both home and away from home terminals shall be handled by extra boards, if available, prior to using pool crews.  Engineers used for this service may be used for multiple trips in one tour of duty in accordance with the designated collective bargaining agreement rules.  Extra boards may handle this service in all directions out of a terminal.
  3. Nothing in this Section B (1) and (2) prevents the use of other crews to perform work currently permitted by prevailing agreements, including, but not limited to yard crews performing Hours of Service relief within the road/yard zone, ID crews performing service and deadheads between terminals, road switchers handling trains within their zones and using an engineer from a following train to work a preceding train and payments required by those prevailing agreements will continue to be paid when this work is performed.

C. Agreement Coverage - Engineers working in the Roseville Hub shall be governed, in addition to the provisions of this Agreement, by the Collective Bargaining Agreement selected by the Carrier, including all addenda and side letter agreements pertaining to that agreement, previous National Agreement/Award/Implementing Document provisions still applicable.  Except as specifically provided herein,  the system and national collective bargaining agreements, awards and interpretations shall prevail.  None of the provisions of these agreements are retroactive.  The Carrier  has selected the SP West Modified Agreement effective December 1, 1997, as the collective bargaining agreement for this Hub.

VII. PROTECTION.

A. Due to the parties voluntarily entering into this agreement the Carrier agrees to provide New York Dock wage protection (automatic certification) to all  prior right engineers who are listed on the Roseville Hub Merged Rosters and working an assignment (including  a Reserve Board) during the period between September 1, 1997 and the implementation date.  This protection will start with the effective (implementation) date of this agreement.  The engineers must comply with the requirements associated with New York Dock conditions or their protection will be reduced for such items as layoffs, bidding/displacing to lower paying assignments when they could hold higher paying assignments, etc.  Protection offsets due to unavailability are set forth in the Questions and Answers. 

B. This protection is wage only and hours will not be taken into account.  Due to the need to notch the tunnels and rebuild the Roseville Yard merger integration will take longer than would normally be expected.  As such an interim protection will be added to the New York Dock protection period.  If the interim period is less than one year, when the interim period is terminated,  engineers certified as part of this agreement will have their protection period start over.  If the interim period is in excess of one year the engineer's New York Dock protection period will begin after one year.

C. Engineers required to relocate under this agreement will be governed by the relocation provisions of New York Dock.  In lieu of New York Dock provisions, an engineer required to relocate may elect one of the following options:

  1. Non-homeowners may elect to receive an "in lieu of" allowance in the amount of $10,000 upon providing proof of actual relocation.
  2. Homeowners may elect to receive an "in lieu of" allowance in the amount of $20,000 upon providing proof of actual relocation.
  3. Homeowners in Item 2 above, who provide proof of a bona fide sale of their home at fair value at the location from which relocated, shall be eligible to receive an additional allowance of $10,000.
    1. This option shall expire five (5) years from date of application for the allowance under Item 2 above.
    2. Proof of sale must be in the form of sale documents, deeds, and filings of these documents with the appropriate agency.
  4. With the exception of Item 3 above,  no claim for an "in lieu of"relocation allowance will be accepted after two (2) years from date of implementation of this agreement.
    1. Note:The 2 year provision of this paragraph (4) shall be extended should the Carrier institute directional running through Sparks and Portola after the two year period beginning with implementation.  If instituted after the two (2) year period, affected employees shall have one (1) year from the start date of directional running to request an "in lieu of" payment.  This extension shall only be available to those employees at Sparks or Portola who may be affected and shall not apply to temporary directional running caused by capital projects or service interruptions covered in Article II (E).
  5. Under no circumstances shall an engineer be permitted to receive more than one (1) "in lieu of" relocation allowance under this implementing agreement. Those WP engineers at Winnemucca who previously received an allowance in the Portola-Elko ID agreement shall be entitled to New York Dock relocation provisions or an in lieu of allowance should they be required to relocate of either:
    1. $7,000 for non-homeowners; or
    2. $10,000 for homeowners
      These payments shall be paid only if engineers meet all the other requirements of the relocation provisions of this agreement.  They are not entitled to the allowances in (1), (2) or (3) above.
  6. Engineers receiving an "in lieu of" relocation allowance pursuant to this implementing agreement will be required to remain at the new location, seniority permitting, for a period of two (2) years.
  7. In addition to those engineers required to relocate, engineers shall be "treated as" required to relocate under the following situations:
    1. If assignments are abolished at one location and placed  at another location, then the number of engineers at that location equal to the number of positions abolished at that location shall be entitled to New York Dock or "in lieu of"  relocation provisions, if they meet those qualifications, should they be the successful bidder(s) on one of the positions established at a new location.
      1. Example: Ten positions are abolished at Dunsmuir and placed at other locations.  Ten engineers who reside at Dunsmuir shall be treated as required to relocate if they bid on positions at other locations.
    2. If sufficient engineers at a location do not bid or are unsuccessful bidders and displace at that location, those junior engineers, if any, forced from that location shall be treated as required to relocate.
      1. Example:  Ten positions at Dunsmuir are abolished and transferred to other locations.  Three engineers whose positions are abolished displace junior engineers at that location.  Those three junior engineers if unable to hold at that  location will be required to relocate when they displace to other locations.
    3. Except as provided in (a) above, engineers who are able to displace to an assignment that does not require a relocation will not receive a relocation allowance if they do not displace to an assignment that does not require a relocation.
      1. Example: Ten positions at Dunsmuir are abolished and transferred to Roseville.  Three engineers whose positions are abolished elect to displace to positions at Oakland when they could have displaced junior engineers at Dunsmuir.  Those three engineers will not receive a relocation allowance.
    4. Engineers who bid on a position at another location without assignments being reduced at their location are not entitled to any relocation allowance.  Since their bid was a seniority move, engineers forced to fill their vacancy are not required to relocate due to the merger transaction.
      1. Example: No positions are reduced at Winnemucca and four  engineers place on positions at Roseville.  those engineers will not be entitled to a relocation allowance.

D.There will be no pyramiding of benefits.

E. The Test Period Average (TPA) for this agreement shall be the same period as the SP West Modification Agreement (calendar year 1996).  The provisions of side letter No. 2 to the SP West Modification Agreement shall be applicable to TPAs determined under this agreement.  The TPA for union officers will be based on the two engineers above and two engineers below the officer  with regular work records on the pre-merger roster or their regular TPA whichever is larger. 

F. The establishing of interim protection is without prejudice or precedent to either party's position and will not be cited by either party.

G. National Termination of Seniority provisions shall not be applicable to engineers hired prior to the effective date of this agreement.

VIII. FAMILIARIZATION

A. Employees will not be required to lose time or "ride the road" on their own time in order to qualify for the new operations.  Employees will be provided with a sufficient number of familiarization trips in order to become familiar with the new territory.  Issues concerning individual qualifications shall be handled with local operating officers. The parties recognize that different terrain and train tonnage impact the number of trips necessary and the operating officer assigned to the merger will work with the local Managers of Operating Practices in implementing this section.

B. Engineers hired subsequent to the effective date of this document will be qualified in accordance with current FRA certification regulations and paid in accordance with the local agreements that will cover the appropriate Hub.

IX. IMPLEMENTATION

The Carrier shall give 30 days written notice for implementation of this agreement and the number of initial positions that will be changed in the Hub.  Engineers whose assignments are changed shall be permitted to exercise their new seniority.  After the initial implementation the 10 day provisions of the various Articles shall govern.

X. HEALTH AND WELFARE

A. Engineers currently are under either the National Plan or the Union Pacific Engineers Hospital Association.  Engineers coming under a new CBA will have 30 days to make an election as to keeping their old coverage or coming under the coverage of their new CBA.  Engineers who do not make an election will have been deemed to elect to retain their current coverage.   Engineers hired after the date of implementation will be covered under the plan provided for in the surviving CBA.

B. If an engineer is covered under a group life and/or disability insurance policy provided for in his/her CBA and that CBA is not the surviving CBA, the Carrier shall continue the premium payments required at the time of implementation of this agreement for those engineers presently covered under those provisions for a period of six years from the implementation date of this agreement.

XI. INTERIM OPERATIONS

This agreement is a final agreement covering the area described in Article I.  In addition to other provisions of this agreement, the interim period shall be governed by the following:

  1. The interim period shall begin with the implementation of this agreement.
  2. If surplus engineers are developed as traffic routing changes the surplus will be added to the protection board.  Protection boards are only available to engineers working as an engineer on the implementation date.  If additional assignments are added in a Zone, the senior engineer on the protection board will be recalled.
    1. Note :  The terms and conditions of Side Letter No. 4 of the SLC Hub Merger Agreement will apply in the Roseville Hub.
  3. Each Zone shall have one protection board.  An engineer may not hold a protection board unless they are unable to hold any position in their Zone.
  4. If any Zones have a surplus and other Zones have borrow-outs, force assigned, or a shortage of employees, and insufficient engineers on their protection board,  the provisions of Article II (E) (10) shall govern.
  5. Engineers on the protection board shall be paid the greater of their earnings or their protection.  While on the protection board they shall be governed by basic New York Dock protection reduction principles when laying off or absent for any reason as set forth in the questions and answers to this agreement.
  6. The interim period shall terminate upon filling the assignments  identified in Article II (E) (1) and all protection boards shall be eliminated at that time.

This Agreement is entered into this 24th day of Feb. 1998.

For the Organization:

For the Carrier:

M.A. Mitchell

W.S. Hinckley

General Chairman, BLE WP

General Director Labor Relations

E.L. Pruitt

T.L. Wilson

General Chairman SP West

Director Labor Relations

D.M. Hahs

Catherine J. Andrews

Vice President BLE

Assistant Director Labor Relations

J.L. McCoy

 

Vice President BLE