RAILROAD UNIONS REACH MERGER AGREEMENT

RAILROAD UNIONS REACH MERGER AGREEMENT       Leaders of the two unions representing U.S. and Canadian railroad operating and other transportation employees have reached an agreement to merge the United Transportation Union and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers
   The agreement, subject to a vote from each union’s rank and file membership, follows three-and-a-half years of on-again, off-again discussions.
   The merger will increase the power and authority of the unions at bargaining sessions, in state legislatures, provincial parliaments (in Canada) and in national legislatures in Washington, D.C. and Ottawa, Canada, said UTU president Byron A. Boyd, Jr. and BLE international president Edward Dubroski.
   The merged union will be named the United Transportation Union/Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and the logos of both unions will be retained.
   If approved by the unions’ membership, the merger will take effect Jan. 1. The new union would have about 185,000 members.