NWE TRIANGLE

In recognition of the capacity constraints and increased business projections on the
Northwest Division, the parties agree that a directional pool overlay is necessary to
meet the business demands. The following conditions will apply:
1. A pool of engineers will be established and maintained at Auburn sufficient to take
care of traffic in the manner prescribed hereinafter on the following basis:
(a) Freight service pools shall be regulated on the basis of assigning a
sufficient number of engineers so as to provide an average within the
range of 3,200 and 3,800 line miles per month.
(b) The phrase “within the range” means that miles will be regulated within the
prescribed limits.
(c) The parties recognize the right to “index” miles and the mileage regulation
range.
(d) The parties also recognize that the pool should be regulated so as to
protect triangle pool work.
(e) Pasco and Vancouver will be the away from home terminals.
2. BLET-NP schedule rules will apply to this service.
3. Compensation
(a) Engineers working in this 10 service shall be paid at the rate applicable for
the mileage encompassed in a basic day, as outlined in Article I of 1996
BN/BLE Agreement dated June 1, 1996. All miles run in excess of the
miles encompassed in a basic day shall be paid for at a rate provided in
Article IX, Section 2 of Arbitration Award 458, as amended by Article 1,
Section 8 of BN/BLE Agreement dated June 1, 1996. Weight on drivers
will apply to mileage rates calculated in accordance with this provision.
(b) Engineers will be paid the trip rate established for the service performed.
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i. The Auburn- Pasco trip rate is $473.41.
ii. The Pasco- Vancouver trip rate is $406.96.
iii. The Vancouver- Auburn trip rate is $396.35.
(c) Ellensburg and Wishram are not terminal release points for engineers
called in this service between Auburn and Pasco, and Pasco and
Vancouver.
(d) Engineers in this triangle pool will operate directionally. That is, the
engineer will work from Auburn to Pasco, Pasco to Vancouver and
Vancouver to Auburn.
(e) Engineers in this service may receive/deliver their train from/to lnterbay (or
a location short of lnterbay) and the trip rates include these additional
miles.
(f) The parties recognize that inbound crews will not be used beyond Pasco
or Vancouver general switching limits, and doing so would be a penalty.
4. At each away from home terminal, the Triangle pool engineer will be placed last out
among other away from home terminal engineers (e.g., blend with the AFHT
Vancouver engineers at Pasco, blend with the AFHT lnterbay engineers at
Vancouver, etc.), for service to the next terminal in the rotation.
(a) The engineer will be positioned in the same manner as other away from
home terminal engineers (e.g., based on tie-up time, or arrival time, etc.).
(b) The engineer will rotate, first-in/first-out, until the engineer is called for
service.
5. The held away from home terminal (HAFHT) rule is modified to provide that, once
started, pay will continue until the employee is on duty for service.
(a) Currently, the HAFHT rule provides that an employee goes on pay for
eight hours after being held at the away from home terminal for 16 hours,
and this cycle is repeated as long as the employee is at the away from
home terminal. The rule is now modified to provide that once the
employee goes on HAFHT pay (after the 16 hour grace period), the
employee will remain on pay until placed on duty.
(b) The parties recognize that the 16 hour grace period applies at each away
from home terminal in this Triangle Pool. For example, an employee tied
up at Pasco will have a 16 hour grace period and will then go on HAFHT
pay until placed on duty. When the employee later ties up at Vancouver,
the 16 hour grace period will restart. If/when the employee later goes on
HAFHT pay, it will continue until placed on duty for service/deadhead.
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(c) If an employee is called and released, that call and release will not
interrupt the continuous held away from home terminal pay under this
section.
6. In cases of “emergency,” meaning washouts, derailments or any other unavoidable
or unplanned service interruption, engineers may be deadheaded from any
intermediate layover point to the engineer’s home terminal.
(a) An engineer deadheaded under the terms of this Section shall be
compensated for service actually performed and a comparable trip rate for
the deadhead to the engineer’s home terminal.
(b) The Parties understand in the event of an emergency, as described
above, the pool may be operated bi-directionally through Ellensburg.
However, an employee will not be tied up for rest more than once at each
away from home terminal without an intervening tie-up at the home
terminal.
7. Engineers in this service who lay-off, or who are unavailable to perform service for
any other reason, will take their turn with them for the duration of the unavailability
period. Upon marking up, the engineer shall go last-out on the pool rotation board
at Auburn.
8. Engineers arriving at the home terminal may book 24 or 48 hours rest.
(a) Engineers will not book rest at either of the away from home terminals.
(b) Booking additional rest must be accomplished during tie-up on the
inbound trip.
(c) Engineers that have booked rest will continue to rotate in the pool until the
rest period is expired.
(d) If the complete rotation takes 72 hours or more, the engineer will also
have the option of booking 72 hours rest. This measurement period will
start with the on-duty time at Auburn and end once the employee cycles
around the triangle and shows off-duty at Auburn.
9. An engineer’s extra board may be established at Auburn to protect service in this
pool.
(a) An extra crew may be called at the home terminal to make a round trip
pursuant to the terms of this agreement.
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i. This Section shall not be interpreted to require BNSF to call an
extra crew for the entire round trip; rather, it is a permissive
option.
(b) If the Auburn engineer’s extra board is exhausted, the Tacoma engineers
extra board will be the next source of supply followed by the order of call
in the NP schedule and the previously agreed upon decision tables.
i. For vacancies protected by the Tacoma engineers extra board, if
the Tacoma engineers extra board is exhausted, the Auburn
engineer’s extra board will be the next source of supply followed
by the order of call in the NP schedule and the previously agreed
upon decision tables.
10. An employee not able to perform a full round trip, under RSIA, may be bypassed
without penalty to use an engineer that is able to make the full round trip.
(a) In the event an employee is not called to perform the service due to the
determination that the individual lacked sufficient time to complete the
service (limbo, hours worked, consecutive starts, etc), and it is ultimately
determined that the employee had sufficient time remaining in order to
complete the service, then the employee not called shall be “made whole”
to earnings lost.
11. BNSF shall provide lodging that meets or exceeds the standards provided pursuant
to existing lodging agreements at each away-from-home terminal.
(a) BNSF shall provide or make arrangements for suitable transportation at
the away-from-home terminals between the BNSF facilities and the
lodging facility. BNSF shall also make arrangements for or provide
suitable transportation between either the BNSF facilities or the lodging
facility and the eating facility; provided that the one-way distance exceeds
%mile.
(b) On runs established hereunder crews will be allowed an away from home
terminal expense reimbursement of $30.00 at each of the away from
home terminals.
i. This payment is in lieu of the away from home terminal meal
allowance(s).
12. When an engineer is required to report for duty or is finally relieved from duty at a
point other than the on and off duty points fixed for the service established
hereunder, BNSF shall authorize and provide suitable transportation for the
engineer.
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13. Engineers assigned to the Auburn triangle pool or Auburn extra board will have a
six-month hold down and will not be subject to displacement, unless the
displacing engineer is unable to hold any position as an engineer on his/her
seniority district. Engineers awarded a six-month hold down are also restricted
from exercising seniority outside of the Auburn triangle pool or extra board as an
engineer, unless the engineer is unable to hold a position in the pool or upon the
condition of a hardship case, (i.e., a serious illness of a family member). Such
cases will be handled locally by the Superintendent of Operations and the
respective Local Chairman. If the issue can not be resolved at this level, then it
will be referred to Labor Relations and the respective General Chairman for
disposition.
(a) The six-month hold down will begin the date the engineer is qualified on all
runs protected by the Auburn triangle pool. An engineer unable to hold a
position in the Auburn triangle pool will not be released from the
assignment until the replacement is qualified on the triangle or advised by
BNSF that the employee is released. The incumbent engineer will be
compensated under Article 5 of the June 26, 2007 BNSF-BLET
Memorandum of Agreement, and the yet to be released engineer will be
compensated as the working engineer and will receive the 10% instructor
allowance under Article 2 of the BN-BLE agreement dated November 23,
1992 (Ops 92-02).
14. Every employee adversely affected either directly or indirectly as a result of the
implementation of this Agreement shall receive the protection afforded by Sections
6,7, 8 and 9 of the Washington Job Protection Agreement of May 1936, except that
for the purposes of this Agreement, Section 7(a) is amended to read 100% (less
earnings in outside employment) instead of 60% and extended to provide period of
payment equivalent to length of service not to exceed 6 years and to provide further
that allowances in Sections 6 and 7 be increased by subsequent general wage
increases (Consistent with Article VIII of the 1971 National Agreement).
(a) The parties agreed to use a May 1, 2011 snapshot of the following
terminals to identify employees who may qualify for protection, subject to a
showing that the employee was adversely affected:
i. lnterbay
ii. Vancouver
(b) BNSF will also snapshot the following pools on implementation day,
ranking the engineers in each pool in seniority order:
i. lnterbay-Vancouver
ii. Vancouver-Pasco
(c) The parties will also follow the bump chain of the lnterbay-EIIensburg pool,
Tacoma-Ellensburg pool and the Pasco-Ellensburg pool, that were
abolished on or about April 10, 2011 for maintenance on the line, as a
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substitute bump chain for the purpose of determining the possible adverse
effect, treating this event as if the bump chain occurred on implementation
day.
(d) If, in the first month following implementation, BNSF cuts the existing
pools by numbers lesser than or equal to the number of allocated turns at
Auburn, then the parties will follow the resulting bump chain of those
displaced in order to determine who was adversely affected, if any.
(e) After implementation, if the addition of an allocated turn in the Triangle
pool directly results in a reduction to the corresponding pool (i.e., the
addition of a Vancouver allocated turn results in a reduction to the
Vancouver-Pasco pool), the Carrier will auto-certify engineers identified in
the snapshots identified above in reverse seniority order on a one for one
basis.
(f) Relocation packages will be offered to Pasco and Vancouver engineers.
These relocation packages will be consistent with Article VIII and shall be
applicable only in the case of a bona fide relocation.
i. For each five pool turns at Auburn, one engineer at Pasco will be
eligible for a relocation allowance (the third turn in a series of five).
ii. For each five pool turns at Auburn, two engineer at Vancouver will
be eligible for a relocation allowance (the second and fifth turns in a
series offive).
iii. Note that payment of a relocation allowance is only due for the
move from Pasco or Vancouver to Auburn. Additionally, only one
relocation allowance is due per allocated turn.
For example: There are ten turns in the pool and Vancouver is paid their
four relocation allowances. Later, the pool is reduced to nine turns which
means Vancouver only has three allocated turns. When the pool is later
increased to 10 turns, and Vancouver gets back its fourth allocated turn,
no additional relocation allowance is due as four relocation allowances
were already paid.
15. Discipline investigations
(a) Disciplinary hearings or investigations involving crew members in this
interdivisional service will be held at their home terminal, except when the
majority of the principals and witnesses who are to attend live at other
locations. If the investigation is held at other than the home terminal, crew
members will be paid for actual reasonable travel time and the time
consumed by the hearing on a minute basis at the pro rata rate of pay
which they received for the last service performed.
(b) Should a crew member lose a full round trip as a result of attending an
investigation which does not establish a violation, which results in his
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record suspension, suspension, or discharge, he will be compensated
under this section only for the equivalent of the earnings of the appropriate
crew member in whose place he would have worked.
(c) If it is established by the evidence heard that an employee charged is
found guilty and he is assessed record suspension, suspension, or
dismissed, no compensation under paragraphs (a) and (b) of this Section
will be allowed.
(d) Should a crew member be tied up at other than the location where the
investigation is held, the provisions of Article 11 (Expenses Away from
Home) of the June 25, 1964 Agreement, as amended, will apply.
Transportation to and from investigations held at other than home terminal
will be provided by the Carrier.
(e) Travel to attend investigations will not be subject to any rule applicable to
deadheading.
16. Except as specifically modified herein, all other Agreements and understandings
remain in effect.
Signed at Ft. Worth, TX on Jt..t ly tl ~ , >2014 and effective
.3’u.ly llp-t.b , 2014.
FOR THE BNSF RAILWAY CO.:
(/i,fZ~ General Director – Labor Relations
M.A. Beasley
Senior Director- La or
FOR THE BROTHERHOOD OF
LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS AND
TRAINMEN:
‘
General Chairman
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Side Letter #1 -Continuous held away from home terminal pay
In Section 6 of this agreement, the held away from home terminal rule is modified to
provide that, once started, pay will continue until the employee is placed on duty. As
long as this Triangle Pool is used, this modification to the held away from home terminal
rule is extended to the Vancouver-Pasco pool and the Vancouver-Pasco assignments,
and the lnterbay-Vancouver pool.
Agreed:
FOR THE BNSF RAILWAY CO.:
. Ringstad
General Director- Labor Relations
FOR THE BROTHERHOOD OF
LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS AND
TRAINMEN:
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Side Letter #2 -Away from home terminal meal allowance
During our discussion of the enhanced allowance for meals at the away from home
terminal (Section 12. b. of the Agreement) the parties recognized that this enhanced
allowance was not subject to future general wage increases. However, if the away from
home terminal meal allowance in other through freight service is increased to the point it
exceeds the allowance identified in Section 12.b. of this Agreement, the employee will
be paid the higher of the two rates.
Agreed:
FOR THE BNSF RAILWAY CO.:
q;j{kl~ . Ringstad
General Director- Labor Relations
FOR THE BROTHERHOOD OF
LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS AND
TRAINMEN:
M.O. Wfison BLET General Chairman
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Side Letter #3 – Hold Down
Once a sufficient number of engineers become qualified on the Triangle, the parties
may discuss shortening or eliminating the 6-month hold down.
Agreed:
FOR THE BNSF RAILWAY CO.:
M.A. Beasley
Senior Director- Labor
FOR THE BROTHERHOOD OF
LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS AND
TRAINMEN:
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Side Letter #4- Signing Bonus:
Each engineer assigned to road or yard service at Pasco, Seattle/lnterbay,
Tacoma/Auburn and Vancouver on November 1, 2013 will receive a one-time lump sum
payment in the gross amount of $3,000, within thirty days of the date this Agreement
ratifies and becomes effective.
The parties have validated the list of employees eligible for the bonus. Engineers
working elsewhere or in some other status (e.g., other locations, medical leave, exempt,
etc.) do not qualify for this bonus.
Agreed:
FOR THE BNSF RAILWAY CO.:
Siegele
– Labor Relations
iil19stad
General Director- Labor Relations
FOR THE BROTHERHOOD OF
LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS AND
TRAINMEN:
M.O. Wilson BLET General Chairman
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