Revised at Cleveland May 4, 1918

AGREEMENT

ARTICLE I

(a) We affirm the right to make and interpret contracts, rules, rates and working agreements for locomotive engineers shall be vested in the regularly constituted committee of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and, conversely, the right to make and interpret contracts, rules, rates and working agreements for locomotive firemen and hostlers, shall be vested in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen; provided, That on roads where but one organization has representation or maintains a committee, such organization shall have the right to negotiate schedules for all men in engine service.

(b) Where joint agreements are made in the future the two committees shall endeavor to obtain yard engineers' rate of pay for hostlers required to make main line movements, and when such rate is obtained these positions shall be filled by engineers as fast as vacancies occur.

ARTICLE II

In case of a dispute between the two organizations which the joint committees or officers placed in charge thereof, fail to adjust, the matter shall be referred to the two Chief Executives, with a statement of the facts upon which each side base their contentions. The two Chief Executives shall consider and decide the matter in controversy, and their decision shall be final. In case the Chief Executives fail to agree the matter shall be submitted to arbitration and the decision of the arbitrators shall be final. When a decision has been reached, as above provided, both organizations shall unite in enforcing such decision.

ARTICLE III

The right of an engineer, fireman or hostler to seek membership in either or both of these organizations, in accordance with their respective laws, is conceded: Provided, That members who belongs to both organizations shall not be permitted to serve on the local or General Committees of Adjustment, or local or General Grievance Committees.

ARTICLE IV

Engineers or firemen in actual service, members of both organizations, shall be required to pay all dues and assessments required of members of each organization.

ARTICLE V

(a) When a member of either of these organizations has been expelled for any cause, except nonpayment of dues and assessments, the lodge or division shall notify the other organization of such expulsion together with a statement of the cause.

(b) A member or an ex-member of either of these organizations shall not be admitted to membership in the other until he is square on the books of the organization to which he has originally belonged: Provided, a member or ex-member shall not be considered in arrears unless he has made written application to proper officers of division or lodge to be carried, and same has been favorably acted upon and recorded in minutes of meeting.

ARTICLE VI

In case of a strike involving both organizations, each man shall receive benefits from the organization having jurisdiction of the class of service in which he is engaged; the engineers from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, and the firemen and hostlers from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, under their respective laws. No man shall receive strike benefits from both organizations.

ARTICLE VII

(a) The right of any engineer, fireman or hostler to have the regularly constituted committee of his organization represent him in the handling of his grievances, in accordance with the laws of his organization and under the recognized interpretation of the General Committee making the schedule involved, is conceded.

(b) When a member of either organization has a grievance which the local committee of his organization is unable to adjust with the local officers of the company, the matter shall be referred to the two General Chairmen, who shall unite and work jointly in handling such grievance to its final conclusion.

(c) Neither General Chairman shall take up a case of any kind without the assistance of the other, but this does not necessarily mean that both General Chairmen shall be present at every conference on the different cases, it being understood that either Chairman 5has the right to designate his Vice-Chairman or the Chairman of the other organization to represent him. This is not intended to permit the Chairmen to work independently of each other, but is for the purpose of expediting the work and to reduce the expense, it being expressly understood that both Chairmen shall be present when any case of importance is to be adjusted.

(d) In case either organization shall make an issue and declare a strike independent of the other organization, whether there is a joint working agreement or' not between the committees, the organization making the issue will not order a strike of its members who are working under an agreement made by the other organization, and it shall be understood that should the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers order a strike, it will not require its members who are firing, to quit their positions as firemen, and if the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen shall order a strike, it will not require its members, who are running engines, to quit their positions as engineers.

(e) When a strike is called by one organization the members of the other organization shall not perform any service that was being performed, before the strike was called, by the members of the organization who are on strike.

(f) In case of any dispute between the two organizations that is finally decided in favor of either organization, as against the contentions of the other, or in case any General Chairman or General Committee fails or refuses to act jointly with the General Chairman or General Committee of the other organization, the organization in whose favor the decision is made shall not be limited in its power to enforce the decision ' made in its favor by the limitations of paragraph (d)  hereof.

ARTICLE VIII

When any grievance has been handled by a committee of one organization, except jointly as herein provided, it shall not thereafter be handled .by the committee of the other organization.

ARTICLE IX

The principle of joint schedules for engineers, firemen and hostlers is affirmed, and it is the recommendation of this Committee that joint meetings of the General Committees on every system of railroad be arranged for in future schedule negotiations. The policy of joint action herein subscribed to shall also apply to concerted wage movements.

ARTICLE X

(a) Firemen shall rank on the firemen's roster from . the date of their first service as firemen when called for such service, except as provided in Section (k), and when qualified shall be promoted to positions as engineers in accordance with the following rules:

(b) Firemen shall be examined for promotion ac-. cording to seniority on the Firemen's roster, and those" passing the required examination shall be given certicates of qualification, and when promoted shall hold their same relative standing in the service to which assigned.

(c) If for any reason the senior eligible fireman or engineer to be hired is not available and junior qualified fireman is promoted and used in actual service 7out of his turn, whatever standing the junior fireman so used establishes shall go to the credit of the senior eligible fireman or engineer to be hired, provided the engineer to be hired is available and qualifies within thirty days. As soon as the senior fireman or engineer to be hired is available, as provided herein, he shall displace the junior fireman, who shall drop back into whatever place he would have held had the senior fireman to be promoted or engineer to be hired been available and the junior fireman not used.

(d) As soon as a fireman is promoted he will be notified in writing by the proper official of the company of the date of his promotion, and unless he file a written protest within sixty days against such date he cannot thereafter have it changed. When a date of promotion has been established in accordance with regulations, such date shall be posted and if not challenged in writing within sixty days after such posting, no protest against such date shall afterwards be heard.

(e) No fireman shall be deprived of his rights to examination, nor to promotion in accordance with his relative standing on the firemen's roster, because of any failure to take his examination by reason of the requirements of the company's service, by sickness, or by other proper leave of absence: Provided, That upon his return he shall be immediately called and required to take examination and accept proper assignment.

(f) The posting of notice of seniority rank, as per section (d), shall be done within ten days following date of promotion and such notice shall be posted on every bulletin board of the seniority district on which the man holds rank.

(g) Firemen having successfully passed qualifying examination shall be eligible as engineers. Promotion and the establishment of a date of seniority as engineer, as provided herein, shall date from the first service as engineer, when called for such service, provided there are no demoted engineers back firing. No demoted engineer will be permitted to hold a run as fireman on any seniority district while a junior engineer is working on the engineers' extra list or holding a regular assignment as engineer on such seniority district.

Note—On roads where promotion is to road service only, promotion and establishment of seniority date as road engineer will obtain.

(h) On a seniority district where firemen are required to fire less than three years, all engineers will be hired:

If required to fire 3 and less than 4 years, I promoted and 1 hired;
If required to fire 4 and less than $ years, 2 promoted to 1 hired;
If Required to fire 5 and less than 6 years, 3 promoted to 1 hired;
If required to fire 6 and less than 7 years, 4 promoted to 1 hired;
If required to fire 7 and less than 8 years, 5 promoted to 1 hired.

On seniority districts where firemen are Required to fire eight years or more, all engineers will be promoted. The foregoing will not prevent committees from having discharged engineers re-employed or reinstated on their former seniority districts at any time.

(i) If the engineer to be hired is not available when needed and the senior qualified fireman is promoted, the date of seniority thus established shall fix the standing of the hired engineer, who, if available and qualified within thirty days from date senior qualified fireman is promoted, will rank immediately ahead of the promoted fireman. The promoted fireman will retain his date of seniority as engineer and will be counted in proportion of promotions.

(j) In case an engineer is hired and used in actual service when,, under requirements of section (h), a fireman (or -firemen) should have been promoted, the date of seniority thus established shall fix the standing of the senior qualified fireman (or firemen) due to be promoted, providing he or they are eligible and qualify within thirty days, who shall rank immediately ahead of the hired engineer on the engineers' seniority list. The hired engineer will retain his date of seniority and be counted in proportion of engineers to be hired.

(k) The seniority date of the hired engineer shall be the date of his first service as engineer, except as provided in Sections (c), (i) and (j) of this Article. It is further provided that engineers hired, or permanently transferred from one seniority district to another on any railroad, shall be given a date of seniority as fireman corresponding with their date as engineer.

ARTICLE XI

(a) When, from any cause, it becomes necessary to reduce the number of engineers on the engineers' working lists on any seniority district, those taken off may, if they so elect, displace any fireman their junior on that seniority district under the following conditions:

First: That no reductions will be made so long as those in assigned or extra passenger service are earning the equivalent of 4000 miles per month; in assigned, pooled or chain-gang freight, or other service paying freight rates, are averaging the equivalent of 3200 miles per month; on the road extra list are averaging the equivalent of 2600 miles per month, or those on the extra list in switching service are averaging 26 days per month.

Second: That when reductions are made they shall be in reverse order of seniority.

(b) When hired engineers are laid off on account of reduction in service, they will retain all seniority rights; Provided, they return to actual service within 30 days from the date their services are required. This rule also applies to firemen.

(c) Engineers taken off under this rule shall be returned to service as engineers in the order of their seniority as engineers, and as soon as it can be shown that engineers in assigned or extra passenger service can earn the equivalent of 4800 miles per month; in assigned, pooled, chain-gang or other regular service paying freight rates, the equivalent of 3800 miles per month, or in extra service the equivalent of 3000 miles per month.

(d) In the regulation of passenger or other assigned service, sufficient men will be assigned to keep the mileage or equivalent thereof within the limitations of 4000 and 4800 miles for passenger and 3200 and 113800 miles for other regular service, as provided herein. If, in any service, additional assignments would reduce earnings below these limits, regulation will be effected by requiring the regular assigned man or men to lay off when the equivalent of 4800 miles in passenger or 3800 miles in other regular service has been reached.

(e) Under this rule it is understood that after all engineers who have been taken off have been returned to service as engineers, this rule shall not apply with respect to further additions.

(f) It shall be the policy of both organizations, when working jointly, to insist upon having a guaranteed monthly wage of not less than 25 days for all extra engineers and extra firemen retained in service, and when this is guaranteed no reductions in the force will be insisted upon by either organization.

Note—In making reductions and replacing firemen upon the service lists, the same mileage shall apply as in the case of engineers.

ARTICLE XII

(Proposed joint working- agreement for the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen:) , (a) For the purpose of securing better wages and better working conditions, and affording protection to their members, it is hereby agreed that the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen on the............railroad will work jointly.

(b) When the committees have been convened jointly they shall first proceed to the election of a Chairman, Vice-Chairman and Secretary from among their members. If the Chairman is elected from one organization, the Vice-Chairman and Secretary shall be elected from the other. The duties of the Chairman shall be to preside at the meetings of the joint committee and in» his absence the Vice-Chairman shall preside.

(c) The powers and duties of the Chairman or Vice-Chairman shall be purely parliamentary, and they shall hold office only for the session for which elected. The two General Chairmen shall conduct the hearings with the officials of the company, and shall have charge of the committee when not in joint session, sharing equally in this work.

(d) It shall be the duty of the Secretary to keep a true and correct record of the proceedings, which shall be read each day, and at the close of the session for which he was elected he shall furnish each committee with a copy thereof.

(e) Having elected officers as above, the two committees shall meet jointly and deliberate upon all questions that may be presented in accordance with and subject to the laws of the respective organizations.

(f) All questions may be disposed of by a majority vote of the members in the committee of the whole, but either side may, by a majority vote of its members, demand an organization vote, in which case each organization shall have but one vote, regardless of its numerical strength. In case of a deadlock due to one organization voting against the other, the matter may be further considered, and should neither side recede from their position, the Chairman, acting in conjunction with the Vice-Chairman, shall appoint a conference committee, composed of an equal number of member's (not to exceed three) from each organization to consider and propose a solution of the question.

ARTICLE XV

This agreement shall not be amended, revised or annulled, until after thirty days' written notice has been served by order of the Convention of either organization.

RESOLUTION

It shall be the policy of both organizations, acting through their General Committees on each railroad, to open negotiations with the proper officials of such railroad for the purpose of securing their co-operation in placing in effect the rates of wages and rules of employment agreed to herein; Provided, That provisions of notice in existing schedules and laws of both organizations will be observed in re-opening schedules to accomplish this purpose.

EFFECTIVE AS REVISED MAY 4, 1918
For the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.
W. S. STONE, Grand Chief Engineer
M. W. CABLE, Asst. G. C. E. .
M. E. MONTGOMERY, Asst. G. C.
E. A. JOHNSTON F. S. EVANS C. D. JOHNSON

For the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen.

TIMOTHY SHEA, Acting President
A. PHILLIPS, Vice-President
C. V. McLAUGHLIN, Vice-President
O. D. HOPKINS
T. M. SPOONER
I. C. CLARK