UTU reaches tentative agreement with Texas shortline

DITTLINGER, Texas — The UTU has reached a tentative collective bargaining agreement with shortline Western Rail Road on behalf of train, engine and mechanical workers who now will vote on ratification.

The negotiations were led by UTU General Chairperson Doyle Turner (GO 347), who heads the UTU’s shortline outreach program.

Western Rail Road employees selected the UTU as their collective bargaining agent in February after meeting with UTU organizers Rich Ross and Mike Lewis.

This tentative agreement, as with others negotiated with shortlines, is intended “to bring parity in wages, benefits and work rules to the thousands of employees in the shortline railroad industry, along with the many other protections offered by union membership,” Turner said. “The seniority, scope and discipline rules these members now enjoy are what makes union membership valuable.”

Western Rail Road connects a quarry and cement plant at Dittlinger with Union Pacific’s Austin, Texas, subdivision. Dittlinger is four miles south of New Braunfels and about 50 miles south of Austin.