Several hard-fought wins — including a remarkable 34.1% compounded salary increase over seven years — are among a host of benefits negotiated into the IBEW's recently ratified agreement covering more than 1,200 electrical workers at Amtrak.

"This is a historic agreement. We have never accomplished anything like this before," said Arthur J. Davidson, general chair of Railroad System Council 7, which oversees 14 passenger and freight railroad contracts.

On top of the agreement's significant salary boost, which will be paid out in annual increments, the IBEW's negotiators gained skill differential compensation of an additional $3 per hour for 500 certified positive train control, automatic train control and cab signal electrical workers.

Also benefiting from a $3 skill differential are licensed radio maintainers and building system specialist technicians who handle Amtrak's Bridge and Buildings infrastructure work as well as high-voltage power distribution systems.

The IBEW's railroad electricians operate differently from many of their brothers and sisters in the construction trades, Davidson noted.

"We do all railroad electrical maintenance and repair work," he said, "which includes rolling stock equipment such as locomotives and coaches, power distribution systems, communication systems and bridge and buildings work."

Railroad Director Al Russo praised Davidson's negotiating style and the resulting wins.

"Arthur did a great job — very skillful and very tactful," said Russo, who also took part in the negotiations. "It was like watching a championship boxing match."

Bargaining for this agreement began before the term of the last one ended in 2022 and continued for nearly two years. Davidson noted that under the federal Railway Labor Act, contracts for passenger and freight railroads remain in effect beyond their end dates until an amended, ratified agreement replaces them.

"The bargaining process under the Railway Labor Act can be very difficult," Davidson said. "For example, unions can't just strike at the end of a contract term."

There is the contract negotiation process, he said. Then, if necessary, comes federal mediation, possibly followed by the establishment of a Presidential Emergency Board if a union can convince the government that the parties in mediation reach an impasse. It's a long, difficult process, he said, that might take years before a union could strike.

"Getting skill differential compensation into the agreement also took considerable effort," Davidson said. "The technical nature of work our members perform, in view of our skills and the continuing increase in technology as applied to railroad equipment and infrastructure, justifies that we receive skill differentials."

"We convinced Amtrak how important wage boosts are for getting good, talented people to come and work for the railroad," Russo said. "If you don't pay people enough money, no one's going to come work for you and then you end up with service and maintenance issues where the infrastructure starts to fall apart."

Amtrak ultimately agreed to many aspects of the IBEW's proposal, Davidson said, and in March, he sent a tentative agreement to the membership for a ratification vote.

The agreement, which was overwhelmingly ratified a month later, runs through Dec. 31, 2028, and thereafter until it's changed or modified in accordance with the Railway Labor Act.

The agreement contains language establishing a jointly administered apprenticeship program that benefits the IBEW's electrical workers and Amtrak. It also provides a shift differential of 10%, as well as a provision granting a worker up to 10 weeks of paid leave following the birth or adoption of a newborn, along with other improvements to health and welfare benefits.

"What helped the bargaining process along was having a willing partner on the other side of the negotiating table," Russo said, giving credit to Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner.

"I am pleased that we can improve the quality of life for the members we represent with this outstanding agreement," said Davidson, who has worked in the railroad industry for 51 years: 22 years as a railroad electrician with Harmon, New York, Local 1631 — 12 of those as president and financial secretary — and the last 29 years with System Council 7.

"I want to acknowledge the fine work of System Council Secretary-Treasurer Steve Corrado in negotiating this agreement and the support of Administrative Assistant Denise Ficchi," he said. "Most of all, the council thanks our local union representatives and our membership for their input, assistance and solidarity in reaching this agreement."

Hundreds of IBEW members in Wisconsin stand to benefit from an agreement with the state's four largest investor-owned electrical utilities that prioritizes hiring union workers on renewable energy projects.

"The IBEW has already had good working relationships with these utilities over the years," said Dean Miller, business manager of Stevens Point, Wisc., Local 388 and president of the IBEW Wisconsin State Conference. "The new agreement builds on those relationships and strengthens them."

The utilities' pledge covers workers who are represented by the IBEW, as well as workers from other unions. "We have a lot of experienced journeyman wiremen in the state," Miller said. A dozen IBEW locals have jurisdiction over inside construction electrical work throughout Wisconsin.

The unions, with support from the Wisconsin Building Trades Council, had pressed Alliant Energy, Madison Gas and Electric, WEC Energy Group, and Xcel Energy to make the pledge — the first of its kind in the U.S., Miller said — to seek union workers on all of their utility-scale solar, wind and battery-storage projects "to the fullest extent possible."

A crucial driver of this agreement, Miller noted, was the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. One of President Joe Biden's signature pieces of legislation, the IRA includes tax credits worth up to 30% of the cost of large-scale renewable energy projects. These credits include special incentives for employers to hire union workers on the projects, as well as for ensuring that a portion of that work goes to registered apprentices.

IBEW members have long worked on construction and maintenance at many of Wisconsin's coal- and gas-fired power plants, Miller said. But too often on renewable energy sites, jobs had been going to nonunion workers from out of state.

This new union-friendly pledge comes at a great time: According to the Climate Jobs National Resource Center, at least 95 renewable energy campuses in Wisconsin that are being built now are under review or are set to start soon. The utilities estimate that these facilities, once they're all fully operational, will add to the state's power grid at least 10 gigawatts of solar, 1.2 gigawatts of wind and 4 gigawatts of battery storage by 2030.

The Wisconsin Public Service Commission projects that nearly 19,000 electricians will be needed to build out these new clean energy developments.

The IBEW is more than ready, Miller said. "We're doing well with open calls in Wisconsin," he said, adding that organizing is "phenomenal." A recent job fair in Madison, for example, yielded 120 apprenticeship applications.

Miller stressed that the Wisconsin agreement is not related to the IBEW's national pact with the Laborers and Operating Engineers unions. That tri-trade agreement, signed last October by International President Kenneth W. Cooper and the presidents of the other two unions, is designed to help smooth out working relationships with solar developers and contractors on the construction of utility-scale solar projects across most of the U.S.

Meanwhile, the potential benefits resulting from the Wisconsin agreement are expected to extend well beyond the unions and the investor-owned utilities. A study by the Midwest Economic Policy Institute and the University of Wisconsin estimated that a $1 billion investment in renewable energy helps to locally generate about 2,700 jobs and $1.63 billion in economic activity, with $153 million in state and local tax revenue.

Miller said the Wisconsin union-utility pledge should help make utility-scale renewable energy projects more competitive and attractive for local workers. "We're laying out a plan with the other unions to make this new agreement work for all of us," he said. "Our members are pressing hard to get this work and keep it."