On October 12, members of UE Locals 155, 977, 1077, 1177, and 1477 voted overwhelmingly to ratify a new four-year national collective bargaining agreement with their employer, Hallcon Inc. Base wages will increase between 11 and 25 percent over the duration of the contract. In the first year, most wages will increase between five and 10 percent.
Hallcon is one of three main companies hired by the Class I freight railroads to transport rail crews within and between rail yards. Some UE members work as yard drivers, whose work is shifted and generally occurs within the confines and surroundings of a railyard. Others work as road drivers, who transport crews on an as-needed basis for the railroad, typically in long-haul trips. The new agreement, which is the third national master contract between the UE and Hallcon, covers drivers living everywhere from the country’s largest cities — Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston — to some of its most remote rural towns — places like Vaughn, NM, Keddie, CA, and International Falls, MN. Five UE locals are party to the contract, four of which exclusively represent rail crew transportation drivers. UE Local 1177 represents drivers in the Midwest and UE Local 977 represents drivers in the South, while Hallcon drivers in California, New Mexico, and New Jersey are represented by UE Locals 1077, 1477, and amalgamated Local 155 respectively.
The UE bargaining committee began to prepare for negotiations in January of 2026, and officially kicked off bargaining in late June. Less than two months later, on August 16, UE Local 977 President Nandell Baines, a member of the bargaining committee, passed away after a hard-fought battle with cancer. She died just two days before scheduled bargaining in her hometown of Houston.
Drivers in Baines’ local, Local 977, are the lowest-paid drivers in the national bargaining unit. Bargaining committee member and Local 1077 President Diana Martinez said that after Baines passed, “the bargaining committee resolved to make sure that Local 977’s members won big in the contract, even if their local didn’t have an actual seat at the bargaining table during the last month and a half of negotiations.” They were successful in meeting this goal: drivers in Local 977 won the largest wage gains in the entire contract, including immediate gains of 13 percent in Louisiana. “The new raise is going to help all of us employees down South”, said Local 977 Recording Secretary Chyrl Davis. “It’s going to mean more income in our pockets.”
Beyond base wages, drivers won gains to paid time off, night and weekend shift differentials, and cell phone reimbursement pay. Notably, this new contract provides road drivers, whose hours are not guaranteed, with much-needed relief in the form of a biweekly bonus simply for accepting trips and driving safely. Every pay period, drivers who meet trip acceptance and safety criteria will pocket an additional $100, on top of wages earned by driving for the company. This creates some much-needed consistency, since road drivers’ take-home pay was previously determined entirely by how many hours they worked. “Road drivers in my area have been dealing with fluctuating hours for too long”, said Lauren Sims, Los Angeles Area Chief Steward for Local 1077 and bargaining committee member. “Now, road drivers will get a bonus for accepting the calls they do get, even if not many calls come in that week.”
The CBA also includes improved workplace safety language. Because Hallcon’s vehicles run round-the-clock, they are prone to mechanical issues that occasionally raise serious safety concerns. UE Local 1477 steward and Western Region executive board member Ray Silva appreciates new language that ensures drivers continue to get paid if they refuse to drive an unsafe van: “The new CBA does a lot more for our safety,” he says. The union successfully defeated company attempts to dilute the grievance procedure and disciplinary protections. According to Local 1177 Chief Steward and bargaining committee member Clarence Hill, “We told the company that unless it stops unfairly disciplining drivers without due process, and starts responding to grievances in a timely manner, we had no reason to defang our contract language.”
None of these wins came without a fight. Hallcon made sure to constantly remind the union that the railroads were threatening to outsource more work to Uber, Lyft, or other transportation contractors. “They even lectured us about how gas prices affected their bottom line, as if gas prices aren’t also affecting us”, said Erin Frimpong, Local 1177 Chief Steward and bargaining committee representative. Drivers called the company’s bluff; even with a tight economy, Hallcon could share more of the wealth. In early August, over 200 UE members surprised Hallcon representatives by logging onto the Zoom bargaining session to witness the company provide its first economic counterproposal. Then, drivers organized a series of bannering events at railyards across the country, alerting the railroads that they meant business. In the final days of the contract fight, hundreds of drivers signed a strike pledge.
Along with Davis and Silva, UE 1077 San Bernardino Area Chief Steward Jaime Valencia was one of over 200 UE members who played a role in organizing their coworkers while the bargaining committee travelled around the country for negotiations. Valencia says that he is personally proud of the work that he and his coworkers put into their contract campaign. Although he is satisfied with the final contract, he acknowledges that it is not perfect. After ratification, Valencia said, “Our fight for better wages, benefits, and working conditions does not end here. We will continue organizing, strengthening our membership, and preparing to fight for an even stronger contract in 2030.”
The UE Bargaining Committee consisted of Nandell Baines, Local 977, Diana Martinez and Lauren Sims, Local 1077, and Miya Bell, Erin Frimpong, Clarence Hill, and Larry Hopkins, Local 1177. They were assisted by Field Organizer Noah Wexler. Staff Coordinator J Burger and Field Organizer Fred Hatef provided additional support during negotiations and throughout the contract campaign.