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September 5, 2008 10:38:36 PM CDT

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Amtrak Deal Prevents Strike

Posted Jan 18, 08 5:03 PM CST in US,  Business 

(Newser) – Amtrak struck a deal with nine of its labor unions today, heading off a potentially catastrophic strike that was scheduled to begin at the end of the month, the AP reports. Union members still must ratify the specifics, but sources say the deal grants the unions full payment of back wages while giving Amtrak none of its desired concessions on work rules.

Hundreds of thousands of travelers and commuters would have been affected if the first strike in the railroad's 36-year history had materialized. The deal executes the recommendations of a presidential emergency board, which authorized a legal strike if no agreement had been reached. The back wages are said to average nearly $13,000 per employee, and the deal stipulates a pay raise of 3.1% a year until 2009.

Source Associated Press

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Travelers wait for Amtrak and commuter trains at Penn Station in New York, Thursday Jan. 10, 2008. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)   (Associated Press)
A skycap stands next to an Amtrak train waiting for passengers a platform in New York's Penn Station, in this file photo of Nov. 17, 2005. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)   (Associated Press)
A Metro North commuter train arrives at the Harlem station in New York, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews)   (Associated Press)
A Metro North commuter train arrives at the Harlem station in New York, Tuesday, Nov. 20, 2007. If a long-standing labor dispute between Amtrak and nine unions is not resolved, and there is a strike,...   (Associated Press)
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