Skagway Alaska USA - Members of the SMART Transportation Division (SMART-TD) have voted in favor of ratifying a tentative agreement the union recently reached with the White Pass & Yukon Route (WP&YR).
 
The more than two-dozen unionized workers for WP&YR, the largest employer in Skagway, and a tourist railroad serving thousands of visitors who come to the southeast Alaska town of 1,200, had been working since late 2017 without a new contract.
 
"This has been a hard-fought and long, nearly six-year journey, for our membership and our negotiating team. Our members have spoken and are in favor of this agreement. After working through a pandemic and then dealing with the surge in both inflation and ridership as tourists have come back, they feel that the carrier has extended an acceptable offer. This is a prime example of how collective bargaining works. We look forward to serving riders aboard the WP&YR now that negotiations have been resolved," said lead negotiator Jason Guiler, SMART-TD general chairperson.
 
The new contract, effective 1 Jan 2018, with a wage package that began upon ratification on 26 Jul 2023, includes a wage increase through the length of the nine-year agreement.
 
It also prevented the carrier from eliminating the brakeman position.
 
"General Chairperson Guiler and the membership of our Local 1626 in Alaska who work for WP&YR should be very proud of what they've accomplished with this success. It proves what can be done when workers stand together for themselves. I congratulate them on an outstanding job," said Vice President Brent Leonard, who assisted in the negotiating process throughout.
 
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