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But the contract accepted Sept. 5 by UTU Local 1626 also spells the end of cabooses in Alaska, since most trains will now be operated with a two-person crew instead of three, a move that mirrors railroad standards in the Lower 48.
The total package for the six-year contract is worth about $78 million, according to railroad and union officials.
The new contract does away with the two-tier pay system begun in 1986, when workers were hired at an average of 20 percent less than co-workers before that date.
The new flat-rate pay system will bring equity to workers and heighten morale, said Michael Weatherell, an Alaska Railroad conductor and general chairman of the union.
With some 175 members, the UTU makes up about a quarter of the Alaska Railroad's labor force. The union, one of five within the state-owned railroad, has been without a contract since Dec. 31, 2000.
Negotiations for a new contract started in October 2000 but have been stalled over the issue of wages, benefits and the extra positions on cabooses, said Weatherell.
"There was a lot of butting heads between us and the railroad," Weatherell said. "It's a relief to have it over with."
"I think the railroad is where they want to be and the (union) guys are pretty happy," Weatherell said.
The contract was ratified by 77 percent of the union membership, Weatherell said.
"We had our differences but the negotiations were cordial," said Patrick Flynn, Alaska Railroad spokesman. "It ensures a strong future for the railroad."
Flynn said the new contract will be a benefit to the railroad and the union and it's fair to both parties.
"The opportunity to run trains with a two-person crew instead of three will, in fact, save the railroad money," Flynn said. "The less expensive two-person crew will allow us to pay our train enginemen better."
Exactly how much the railroad will save with the smaller crews has not been factored, Flynn said.
A sticking point in the nearly two-year talks was the issue of cabooses on the railroad, Weatherell said.
The Alaska Railroad is one of the last railroads in the United States to use cabooses, but it has been slowly phasing out the cars as electronic monitoring equipment and automated switches have been installed.
A caboose was required under earlier labor agreements between the Alaska Railroad and the railroad union.
Linked to the back of a freight train, cabooses have been used primarily as an observation platform for railroaders. Automated switches and brakes and other equipment result in cheaper, safer and more efficient operations, according to non-union railroad officials in Alaska and elsewhere.
Crew size and cabooses mean safety, Weatherell said. The eyes, ears and muscle of trainmen make for a safer railroad than does modern technology. Often times, a person riding in a caboose can literally smell trouble ahead, Weatherell said.
Some cabooses likely will be retained on gravel trains, which often run backward as much as forward during loading, Weatherell said.
But for all other trains, the caboose is history. The railroad has eight remaining cabooses, and has sold others off in recent years. They are a hot item for roadside coffee stands, storage sheds and cabins, fetching thousands of dollars apiece in surplus sales, according to railroad officials.
"We would love to have the cabooses on the trains," Weatherell said. "But it was not a fight we could win."
No layoffs are expected due to the decrease in crew size, although about a dozen positions will be phased out over time through attrition, Weatherell said.
The railroad union has fought similar battles with railroads in the Lower 48 for the last 30 years to keep cabooses and workers to ride on them, Weatherell said.
"It's a fight that's never been won," Weatherell said.
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