Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen

Dear Sirs and Brothers:

Please find attached letter dated March 2, 2006 from Assistant Vice President, Labor Relations, Milton H. Siegele. As Mr. Siegele has indicated, the Carrier erred in the calculation of vacation rates for those individuals that qualified for and were paid the $1,200 Longevity Bonus provided for under Article I of the 2003 BLET National Agreement and Article I the 2002 UTU National Agreement.

Those individuals that qualified for the Longevity Bonus under the 2003 BLET National Agreement and were paid in the year 2004 were shorted the equivalent of 1/52 of the bonus, or $23.08, per week in the rate allowed for the year 2005 vacation. As indicated by the Carrier these lost vacation earnings should be paid on the first half of March, 2006 and appear on the employee's 816 form under CA Code 02.

As Mr. Siegele has also advised this correction will apply to those employee's whose payment of the Longevity Bonus would have resulted in a higher rate for vacation calculation than what was previously paid. While we would anticipate that in most cases the entire amount will be owed, in some instances it is possible that only a portion of total amount or even no addition monies are due. This would be dependent upon the total earnings attributed to the vacation calculation during the 2004 qualifying year plus the $1,200 bonus. In instances where 1/52 of the total amount still produces less than the equivalent of five basic days at the rate of last service performed in yard service, or 6 basic days at the rate of last service performed in road service, no additional monies would be due. Should the resulting total fall above these road/yard minimums, but less than $1,200 above, the monies owed would be 1/52 of this difference per vacation week. For your reference we have also attached a copy of the pertinent portion of the National Vacation Agreement which describes the application of the minimum vacation allowances.

In closing, I would like to thank Vice General Chairman May for his efforts to resolve this matter. While other General Committees may have also registered complaints in this matter, Brother May first discovered the shortage here and he has persistently pursued the matter, ultimately leading the way to the attached resolution. Please post this notice for your members and advise this office if payments are not made accordingly.

Fraternally,

/s/ Dennis R. Pierce
cc: BLET General Chairmen, BNSF
 

March 2, 2006

BNSF TY&E General Chairmen:

It has come to my attention that the following provisions in the 2002 UTU and 2003 BLET National Agreements providing for the longevity bonuses to be included in the calculation of vacation pay for employees who received the bonuses were not followed in calculating the employees' 1/52nd vacation dollar amount.

2002 UTU National Agreement

Questions & Answers, Article I - Wages, Q-2, E-5

E-5 Will the Longevity Bonus be included in earnings for calculation of vacation pay?

Yes.
 

2003 BLET National Agreement

Questions & Answers, Article I - Wages, Q-2, E-5

E-5 Will the Longevity Bonus be included in earnings for calculation of vacation pay?

Yes.

What this means is that the employees represented by the UTU who were paid longevity bonuses in 2002, should have had the longevity bonus payment included in their 2003 1/52nd vacation calculation. The employees represented by the BLET and the remaining employees represented by the UTU who were paid their longevity bonuses in 2004 should have had their longevity bonuses included in their 2005 1/52nd vacation calculation.

BNSF is going to recalculate the 1/52nd vacation calculations for the TYE employees' who received longevity bonuses. In cases where the employee's 1/52nd including the longevity bonus payment would have resulted in an employee receiving more money for vacation, we will pay the employee the additional vacation amount in their regular paycheck for the first half of March 2006. When the additional amounts are paid, they will show on the employee's Form 816 under CA Code 02 (Ungranted Vacation).

If you have questions about this process, please contact George Wong, Director TY&E Compensation Systems in Topeka at (785) 435-3114.

Sincerely,
/s/ Milton H. Siegele Jr.

Cc: Marka Hughes
Jeff Ledding
Randy Luther
Gene Shire
George Wong

Section 2     Employees qualified under Section 1 hereof shall be paid for their vacations as follows:

General

(a) - An employee receiving a vacation, or pay in lieu thereof, under Section 1 shall be paid for each week of such vacation 1/52 of the compensation earned by such employee under schedule agreements held by the organizations signatory to the April 29, 1949 Vacation Agreement, on the carrier on which he qualified under Section 1 (or carriers in case he qualified on more than one carrier under Section 1(i)) during the calendar year preceding the year in which the vacation is taken, but in no event shall such pay for each week of vacation be less than six (6) minimum basic days' pay at the rate of the last service rendered, except as provided in subparagraph (b).

(b) - Beginning on the date Agreement "A" dated September 21, 1950, May 25, 1951 or May 23 , 1952, became or becomes effective on any carrier, the following shall apply insofar as yard service employees and employees having interchangeable yard and road rights covered by said agreement are concerned:

Yard Service

(1) An employee receiving a vacation, or pay in lieu thereof, under Section 1 shall be paid for each week of such vacation 1/52 of the compensation earned by such employee under, schedule agreements held by the organizations signatory to the April 29, 1949 Vacation Agreement, on the carrier on which he qualified under Section 1 (or carriers in case he qualified on more than one carrier under Section 1(i)) during the calendar year preceding the year in which the vacation is taken, but in no event shall such pay for each week of vacation be less than five (5) minimum basic days' at the rate of the last service rendered.

Combination of Yard and Road Service

(2) An employee having interchangeable yard and road rights receiving a vacation, or pay in lieu thereof, under Section 1 shall be paid for each week of such vacation 1/52 of the compensation earned by such employer under schedule agreements held by the organizations signatory to the April 29, 1949 Vacation Agreement, on the carrier on which he qualified under Section 1 (or carriers in case he qualified on more than one carrier under Section 1(i)) during the calendar year preceding the year in which the vacation is taken; provided that,, if the vacation is taken during the time such employee is working in road service such pay for each week of vacation shall be not less that six (6) minimum basic days' pay at the rate of the last road service rendered, and if the vacation is taken during the time such employee is working in yard service such pay for each week of vacation shall not be less than five (5) minimum basic days' pay at the rate of the last yard service rendered.

NOTe:     Section 2(b) applicable to yard service shall apply to yard, belt line and transfer service and combinations thereof, and to hostling service.