Today, the National Carriers Conference Committee (NCCC) reached its third tentative national collective bargaining agreement this week. The latest deal, with the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers – Mechanical Department (SMART-MD), follows similar agreements announced yesterday with the Transportation Communications Union (TCU) and the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen (BRC). The NCCC reached these agreements on behalf of represented railroads that had not previously reached local agreements with these unions.

Building on the early progress made across the industry over the past several months, these tentative national agreements – announced just days after the parties exchanged section 6 notices to open the national bargaining round – reflect terms consistent with those pattern agreements and are subject to member ratification on the railroads where they apply.

“The NCCC is pleased to announce the tentative national agreement with SMART-MD,” said Jeff Rodgers, chairman of the NRLC and the NCCC. “This agreement – the third reached just this week – continues to reinforce the pattern set by early agreements between carriers and unions at the local level, which will help guide prompt, stable outcomes for the entire industry.”

The NCCC’s goal is to negotiate national agreements that build on the freight rail industry’s core strengths: safe, high-paying jobs for employees with professional growth opportunities, affordable and reliable service for customers, and ongoing reinvestment in infrastructure and innovation.

About the National Bargaining Round
The current round of national bargaining began with the service of Section 6 notices on November 1, 2024. Prior to the start of the round, several NCCC member railroads reached local agreements with a number of rail labor organizations that:

  • Increase pay by 18.8% over five years, and based on current inflation projections, will translate to real wage growth for covered railroaders along with pay certainty for the life of the contract.
  • Enhance world-class health and welfare benefits with no increase to the employee contribution rate. In 2025, health care premiums will decrease to about $277/month, well below the national average of more than $500/month for employer-provided family coverage.
  • Give employees access to more paid vacation time earlier in their careers.


The new local agreements, which already cover thousands of rail employees, build on the historic 24% wage increase from the 2022 bargaining round. Taken together, wages for employees covered by these agreements will increase by nearly 50% (compounded) from 2020–2029. The NCCC’s Section 6 notices propose early resolution of the national bargaining round based on the pattern established by these local agreements.

A list of carriers and unions participating in national handling can be found here. Carriers and unions that have reached a ratified agreement to resolve the bargaining round for a particular craft do not participate in national handling with respect to that craft. Additional information about the bargaining round can be found at railnegotiations.com.