SKAGWAY, Alaska — Operating personnel on the White Pass & Yukon Route have voted to authorize a strike, according to their union’s website.
Members of International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division (SMART-TD) Local 1626 authorized the strike in voting last week. The union says it has been negotiating with the railroad for nearly six years without resolving disputes on wages, health care, job cuts, and safety.
SMART-TD says it is seeking wages reflecting cost-of-living increases since the last contract expired in 2017, and that workers have not seen pay increases since that time. It also says the railroad wants to increase health care costs, and wants to reduce the workforce by a third by removing brakemen from all trains. The union says that position is “safety-critical” and that its removal “would endanger passengers and the public.”
Negotiations are currently in mediation in accordance with the Railway Labor Act. The Skagway News reports the National Mediation Board has assigned federal mediator Gerry McGurkin to the dispute, and that the next mediation session is scheduled for Saturday, July 8, with additional sessions in July and August.
If mediation fails to resolve the dispute, the parties will be offered arbitration. If both parties do not agree to arbitration, a 30-day cooling-off period would begin, after which a strike could begin.
The White Pass & Yukon is Skagway’s largest employer, and plays a significant part in the community’s economy. Mayor Andrew Cremata told public broadcaster KTOO that more than half of the cruise-ship passengers that come through the town ride the WP&Y, “so losing operations on the railroad would definitely have a significant impact.”
The railroad is owned by Blackstone Infrastructure Partners, an investiment group including cruise company Carnival Corporation. White Pass & Yukon Executive Director Tyler Rose told KTOO while the strike vote was in progress that the railroad was “committed to working toward the resolution of these negotiations in the interests of all involved” but that further comment would not be appropriate.
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