Wabtec Negotiations 2023

On June 22, after nearly two months of negotiations, the 1,400 members of UE Locals 506 and 618 voted down Wabtec’s last, best and final offer. Ten weeks later, they ratified a new contract that “represents a substantial improvement over what Wabtec had on the table in June,” according to Local 506 President Scott Slawson. “We are proud of the resolve of the membership over 70 days on the picket line. As a result of the action taken by our members, we made both economic and non-economic gains.”

The 1400 members of UE Locals 506 and 618 today ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with their employer, Wabtec, bringing an end to the ten-week strike at Wabtec’s Erie, PA plant that began on June 22.

“This contract represents a substantial improvement over what Wabtec had on the table in June,” said Local 506 President Scott Slawson. “We are proud of the resolve of the membership over 70 days on the picket line. As a result of the action taken by our members, we made both economic and non-economic gains. The membership has voted to ratify this agreement. It's time to get back to work.”

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has released a video featuring the voices of striking UE members in Erie, PA.

On Saturday, July 29, Green Locomotive Project volunteers in California brought the fight for green locomotives and green jobs to the entrance of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF) rail yard. The activists distributed leaflets explaining the struggle of striking UE Local 506 and 618 members in Erie. The 1400 members of the two locals have been on strike since June 22 demanding a fair contract and that Wabtec invest in making green locomotives in their plant.

On Saturday, striking members of UE Locals 506 and 618 got support from a “convoy” of supporters from Pittsburgh who drove to Erie to join the picket line at the Wabtec locomotive plant. On the same day, in California, volunteers with the Green Locomotive Project distributed literature at the Barstow Rail Yard, where Wabtec operates a receiving facility, and on Friday, members of UE Local 150 distributed leaflets at the Wabtec plant in Maxton, North Carolina.

On Wabtec’s second-quarter earnings call with investors yesterday, the company was forced to address the ongoing strike by members of UE Locals 506 and 618 at the company’s locomotive plant in Erie, PA. Chief Financial Officer John Olin admitted that “margins were down a little bit more than we expected. The key driver of that … was the inefficiencies we're experiencing at our facility in Erie behind the strike.”