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BLET gearing up for contract negotiations CLEVELAND, March 11 — The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen is conducting a random survey of its membership in preparation for the upcoming round of national contract negotiations. The six-page survey seeks membership input on a variety of issues and will provide the National Division with demographic information for analysis of the returns. Section 6 of the Railway Labor Act requires that the company and/or the union provide advance notification of their intent to engage in contract negotiations. This notification is commonly referred to as a Section 6 notice. The BLET is eligible to serve its Section 6 notices on the carriers regarding a new National Agreement and a new Agreement with Amtrak beginning November 1, 2009. The written survey was mailed to 2,000 randomly selected members on March 10. In addition, the National Division is also conducting an identical online survey in the Members’ Area of the BLET website. Members chosen for the random survey are not eligible to participate in the online survey. The survey is located on the BLET website at: http://www.ble-t.org/survey Access to the online survey is password protected. Those interested in participating can use the same password they normally use to enter the Members’ Area of the BLET website. A registration area for those who do not have a password is provided at the link above. Those who don’t have a password must register using their seven-digit membership identification number (found on the mailing label of the monthly Newsletter) or their Social Security Number and their date of birth. Deadline to complete the random surveys is April 15, 2009. Deadline to complete the online survey is April 30, 2009. Labor contracts or collective bargaining agreements do not expire under the Railway Labor Act, but become amendable at the end of their term. The current BLET National Contract was ratified in June of 2007, and the wage increases were retroactive to July 1, 2005. Part of the 2007 National Agreement was a standard moratorium clause under which the parties agreed not to seek any changes for a defined period of time. The National Agreement becomes amendable on January 1, 2010, and the parties agreed in 2007 that notices can be served 60 days before the Agreement becomes amendable. “Thanks in advance for participating in this survey and helping to shape our bargaining goals for the upcoming round,” BLET National President Ed Rodzwicz said. Wednesday, March 11, 2009 bentley@ble.org © 1997-2010 Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen

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