Memorandum of Agreement


This Memorandum of Agreement, as set forth below, made this 15th day of July, 2006, by and between Montana Rail Link, Inc., (the “Company”) and its employees represented by the
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (the “Union” or “BLET”), amends the September 12, 1987 Labor Agreement between the Company and the Union (the “Labor Agreement”), as subsequently amended by Agreements dated January 2, 1991, November 1, 1996 and September 19,2001. This Memorandum of Agreement is in full settlement of the Union’s Section 6 Notice dated October 3,2005, and identified as BLET ATTACHMENT A, and the parties’ desire to revise existing agreement provisions concerning rates of pay, rules and working conditions. The parties agree to revise the Labor Agreement as follows:
 

ARTICLE I
GENERAL WAGE INCREASES


The basic hourly and daily rates of pay in effect for positions subject to the Labor Agreement as set forth in Section I, Article 4, Compensation - Rates of Pay, paragraph (C), shall
be increased as follows:

(A) Effective April 1 2006, such rates of pay in effect on March 3 1,2006 shall be increased by four (4) percent.
(B) Effective April 1,2007, such rates of pay in effect on March 3 1 2007 shall be increased by three (3) percent.
(C) Effective April 1,2008, such rates of pay in effect on March 3 1,2008 shall be increased by three (3) percent.
(D) Effective April 1,2009, such rates of pay in effect on March 3 1,2009 shall be increased by three (3) percent.
(E) Effective April 1,2010, such rates of pay in effect on March 3 1,2010 shall be increased by three (3) percent.
(F) In determining new daily or hourly rates of pay, fractions of a cent shall be disposed of by rounding to the closest full cent (&, .5 cent or above will be rounded to the next higher cent).

ARTICLE II
RATIFICAT1ON PAYMENT

If member ratification of this Agreement takes place on or before July 15,2006, the Company will pay a one thousand dollar ($1,000.00) ratification payment to each eligible employee. The payment will be made no later than thrty (30) days after the effective date of this Agreement. In order to be eligible for the ratification payment, an employee must have an employment relationship (k, active, furloughed or flex time) with the Company as of the effective date of this Agreement, and must maintain that relationship on the date on which the
ratification payment is paid. Employees on approved leave of absence on the date on which the ratification payment is paid will also be eligible for the ratification payment, provided such
employees return to service under the Labor Agreement no later than December 3 1,2006. Payment will be made to such employees within thirty (30) calendar days of their return to
service.

ARTICLE III
FILLING TEMPORARY VACANCIES

Section II, Article 3, Paragraph (J), the last paragraph of which shall be revised and replaced as follows:
Any travel time payment that may accrue (pursuant to Section 11, Article 30, hereof) under t h s Agreement will be paid to any employee going to and to the last employee returning from the job. In addition, an employee returning from an outlying point to observe a previously scheduled and approved RDO shall be entitled to the travel time payment.
 

ARTICLE IV
FLEXIBLE TIME SYSTEM

Section II, Article 7 - Flexible Time System of the Labor Agreement is revised in its application as follows:

A.    Paragraph A of Article 7 shall be revised and replaced as follows:
The terms of this Agreement are intended to be in lieu of vacation, holiday, sick leave, supplemental sickness and personal leave arrangements.
B.    Paragraph B of Article 7 shall be revised and replaced as follows:

(1) In order to fully qualify for flexible time system purposes, employees who were hired before July 15,2006 must have total gross earnings of $13,600 or 160 working days during the preceding qualifying year (November 1 to October 3 1). Such employees with total earnings of $10,200 or 120 working days shall receive one-half of the applicable time system days. Effective October 3 1,2006, and each year thereafter, these dollar threshold amounts shall be increased by the annual percentage general wage increase(s) granted during the previous 12-month period. For full flex time qualification, the dollar thresholds shall be as follows:

October 31,2006 $14,144
October 31, 2007 $14,568
October 31, 2008 $15,005
October 31,2009 $15,455
October 31,2010 $15,918

For half flex time qualification, the dollar thresholds shall be as follows:

October 31, 2006 $10,608
October 31,2007 $10,926
October 31, 2008 $11,254
October 31, 2009 $11,592
October 31,2010 $11,940

(2) In order to fully qualify for flexible time system purposes, employees who were hired on or after July 15,2006 must have total gross earnings of $17,369 or 130 working days during the preceding qualifying year (November 1 to October 3 1). Such employees with total earnings of $7,349 or 55 or more working days shall receive a pro-rated share of the applicable time system days. (Days worked divided by 130 times the applicable number of flex time days rounded to the closest full day.) Effective October 31,2006, and each year thereafter, these dollar threshold amounts shall be increased by the annual percentage general wage increase(s) granted during the previous 12-month period. For full flex time qualification, the dollar thresholds shall be as follows:

October 3 1,2006 $18,064
October 31,2007 $18,606
October 31,2008 $19,164
October 31,2009 $19,739
October 31,2010 $20,331

For pro-rata flex time qualification, the dollar thresholds shall be as follows:

October 31,2006 $7,643
October 3 1,2007 $7,872
October 31,2008 $ 8,108
October 31, 2009 $ 8,351
October 31,2010 $ 8,602

(3) Any compensation received from the Company will count toward the total earnings. This qualification requirement applies both to the credits that can be taken in the next succeeding year and to the count of years necessary for incremental credits.

ARTICLE V
PAYMENT ON HOLIDAYS

Section II, Article 19 - Payment on Holidays is mended to add Good Friday to the list of holidays on which employees shall receive pay at time and one-half rates when required to work.

ARTICLE VI
TRAVEL TIME

Section II, Article 30 - Travel Time, paragraph (A), sub-paragraphs (4) and (5) are revised and replaced as follows:

Employees who have been deadheaded once in pool service in one half at the four hour rate will not be required to deadhead at the four hour rate as long as other employees are available in pool service who have not deadheaded once in pool service in the half at the four hour rate. In such circumstances, employees may be deadheaded out of turn at any time from the away-from-home terminal without penalty.

After an employee has deadheaded once in pool service in one half at the four hour rate, all subsequent deadheads will be paid at the full eight hour rate.

Note: The right of either party to cancel Side Letter No. 2 to the November 1, 1990 Agreement, found at page - in the Labor Agreement, is revoked.

ARTICLE VII
BEREAVEMENT LEAVE

A new Article 32 shall be added to Section I1 of the Agreement and shall provide as follows:

Bereavement Leave: In the event of the death of an employee’s spouse, child, step-child, parent, brother or sister, such employee will be allowed paid leave for up to three (3) consecutive workdays to attend the funeral and/or handle personal matters in connection therewith. Employees so excused shall receive a basic day’s pay at the rate of service last
performed for each day of work missed.

ARTICLE VIII
NEW EMPLOYEES

Section 111, Article 14 - New Employees, paragraph (A) shall be revised and replaced as follows:

A. Subject to the following provisions, newly hired or re-hired employees establishing a seniority date after the effective date of this Agreement shall be paid as follows:

Note: Employees in the current (February 2006) new hire training class, who successfully complete their training, shall be paid at full rates upon the completion of their Probationary Period under Section 111, Article 15.

ARTICLE IX
401(K) SAVINGS PLAN

Section IV, Article 4 - 401(K) Savings Plan shall be mended to provide that the Employer Contribution shall be increased to a fifty (50%) percent match on the first eight (8%)
percent of pay contributed by the employee. It is understood that this amendment will take effect as soon as the required Plan changes can be formally put into place.

ARTICLE X
MEDICAL AND SHORT-TERM DISABILITY PLAN BENEFITS

Section IV, Exhibit A to the Labor Agreement - Medical, Dental, Life, AD&D and Disability Insurance Plan shall be revised as follows:

A.     Medical Benefits shall be revised by the addition of a bi-annual Physical Exam Benefit for employees. Every two (2) years the Company will pay up to $500 toward the costs of a physical exam for each employee forty (40) years of age or older. Such payment will be made upon the submission of proper documentation and shall be made without regard to the employee’s annual deductible or co-insurance responsibilities.

B.     Short-Term Disability Plan shall be revised to reduce the waiting period for short-term disability benefits from thirty (30) to twenty-one (21) days. In addition, for a two-year trial period beginning July 15,2006, the waiting period shall be reduced to seven (7) days. On July 15,2008, the Company will have a one-time opportunity to return the waiting period to twenty- one (21) days if the Company’s short-term disability costs have become excessive. If the Company does not revert to the twenty-one (21) day waiting period, the waiting period shall remain fixed at seven (7) days. The Company will advise and meet with the Union not less than thirty (30) days in advance of any change in the waiting period to twenty-one (21) days, but the approval of the Union will not be required to do so.

The employee must submit medical certification of his disability in order to be eligible to receive Short-Term Disability benefits. It is understood that the Short-Term Disability Plan is a supplemental plan, meaning that Railroad Retirement sickness benefits that the employee is receiving or eligible to receive will be offset against the Short-Term Disability benefit.

ARTICLE XI
TERM AND EFFECT OF AGREEMENT

(A)     This Agreement shall be effective July 15,2006, except as otherwise noted herein, and shall remain in effect until or unless changed under the provisions of the Railway Labor Act, as amended. Except as modified herein, all previous agreements remain in full force and effect.

(B)     The parties signatory hereto shall not serve nor progress prior to October 1 , 2010 (not to become effective before April 1, 2011) any notice or proposal for the purpose of changing any provision contained herein, or which deals with matters presented by the parties during negotiations, and any proposals in pending notices relating to such subject matters are hereby withdrawn.

(C)     This article will not bar the Company and the Union from agreeing upon any subject of mutual interest.
 

SIGNED AT MISSOULA, MONTANA, THIS 15th DAY OF JULY, 2006.

 

/s/ Dennis R.. Pierce
General Chairman
FOR THE BROTHERHOOD OF
LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS
AND TRAINMEN
 
/s/ Michael R. Lemm
Vice President of Operations
FOR MONTANA RAIL LINK, INC.
 
/s/ Stephen D. Spiegle
Vice President
 

 



Side Letter No. 1

July 15,2006
 

Dennis R. Pierce
General Chairman, BLET
Suite 1010
801 Cherry Street
Fort Worth, TX 76102

Dear Mr. Pierce:

This has reference to our Agreement of July 15,2006, between Montana Rail Link, Inc. (“MRL”) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (“BLET”).

It was understood and agreed that payment of retroactive wages resulting from the application of Article I - General Wage Increases, paragraph (A) shall be made within sixty (60)
days of the effective date of our July 15,2006 Agreement.

Payment of retroactive wages will be made to all employees who had an employment relationship during the relevant time period under the existing Labor Agreement between the
Company and BLET who have not resigned or otherwise terminated their employment prior to the effective date of our July 15,2006 Agreement.

Please indicate your concurrence with this understanding by signing your name in the space provided below.
 

I concur:

/s/ D. R. Pierce
General Chairman BLET
 
Sincerely,

/s/ M. R. Lemm
Vice President of Operations
Montana Rail Link, Inc.


 


Side Letter No. 2

July 15,2006

Dennis R. Pierce
General Chairman, BLET
Suite 1010
801 Cherry Street
Fort Worth, TX 76102

Dear Mr. Pierce:

This has reference to our Agreement of July 15,2006, between Montana Rail Link, Inc. (“MRL”) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (“BLET”).

It was understood that the Carrier is in the process of modifying the form on which employees are to report their personal injuries. BLET has requested certain changes to the current form and the Carrier has agreed to accommodate those requests. The new form will not contain any requirement for the employee to disclose his social security number, nor will it
contain an authorization for the employee to release his medical records to the Carrier. In addition the “defect” box will be amended to include an option for the employee to mark
“unknown” as to the cause of the incident. Last, the form will be revised to reflect that any needed immediate medical attention must be given before the employee is required to submit the personal injury report.

Furthermore, the Carrier agreed that it will not subsequently make any changes to the form that have the effect of negating the changes agreed to in the above paragraph.

Please indicate your concurrence with this understanding by signing your name in the space provided below.

 

I concur:

/s/ D. R. Pierce
General Chairman BLET
Sincerely,

/s/ M. R. Lemm
Vice President of Operations
Montana Rail Link, Inc.


 


Side Letter No. 3

July 15,2006

Dennis R. Pierce
General Chairman, BLET
Suite 1010
801 Cherry Street
Fort Worth, TX 761 02

Dear Mr. Pierce:

This has reference to our Agreement of July 15,2006, between Montana Rail Link, Inc. (“MRL”) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (“BLET”).

It is understood and agreed that in the application of Article XI - Medical and Short-Term Disability Plan Benefits the change to a seven-day waiting period for receipt of Short-Term
Disability (“STD”) benefits shall apply to all employees not then eligible for STD when the change takes effect. However, there shall be no retroactive application of this change to
employees who are already receiving or eligible for STD benefits, or who are already within their thirty-day waiting period. Furthermore, in the event the waiting period is returned to
twenty-one days, that change shall only apply to employees who have not yet started their waiting period when the change takes effect. At that time, employees who have started their
waiting period prior to the change to twenty-one days taking effect shall continue to be governed by the seven-day waiting period for the purposes of qualifying for STD benefits.

Please indicate your concurrence with t h s understanding by signing your name in the space provided below.

I concur:

/s/ D. R. Pierce
General Chairman BLET
Sincerely,

/s/ M. R. Lemm
Vice President of Operations
Montana Rail Link, Inc.


 


Side Letter No. 4

July 15,2006

Dennis R. Pierce
General Chairman, BLET
Suite 1010
801 Cherry Street
Fort Worth, TX 76102

Dear Mr. Pierce:

This has reference to our Agreement of July 15,2006, between Montana Rail Link, Inc. (“MRL”) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (“BLET”).


During our negotiations we agreed to the following language relative to Eligibility for the Health and Welfare Benefits provided in the Labor Agreement effective September 12, 1987, as
subsequently amended.

In order for an Employee to be eligible for coverage under the Plan during any calendar month they must have rendered service on, received flex pay for, or qualify as outlined below on
an aggregate of at least seven (7) calendar days during the preceding month.

The following will count, as though performing service, when qualifying for benefits:

In addition Employees, who make their co-payments, will qualify under the following circumstances without meeting the seven (7) calendar day requirement.

This Side Letter will not affect the provisions of Section IV, Article 5, paragraph D or Exhibit A of the Labor Agreement between Montana Rail Link and its Employees represented by
the BLET. The Agreement provisions shall take precedent in the event of a conflict between this Side Letter and those provisions.

Please indicate your concurrence with this understanding by signing your name in the space provided below.


 

I concur:

/s/ D. R. Pierce
General Chairman BLET
 
Sincerely,

/s/ M. R. Lemm
Vice President of Operations
Montana Rail Link, Inc.


 


Side Letter No. 5

July 15,2006

Dennis R. Pierce
General Chairman, BLET
Suite 1010
801 Cherry Street
Fort Worth, TX 76102

Dear Mr. Pierce:

This has reference to our Agreement of July 15, 2006, between Montana Rail Link, Inc. (“MRL”) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (“BLET”).

It is understood and agreed that Option 2 of the Helper Guarantee found at page 84 in the Labor Agreement dated September 19, 2001 shall be amended to reflect a day-for-day offset
based on the number of days in the month as follows:

Please indicate your concurrence with this understanding by signing your name in the space provided below.

 

I concur:

/s/ D. R. Pierce
General Chairman BLET
 
Sincerely,

/s/ M. R. Lemm
Vice President of Operations
Montana Rail Link, Inc.

Side Letter No. 6

July 15,2006

Dennis R. Pierce
General Chairman, BLET
Suite 1010
801 Cherry Street
Fort Worth, TX 76102

Dear Mr. Pierce:

This has reference to our Agreement of July 15,2006, between Montana Rail Link, Inc. (“MRL”) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (“BLET”).

It is understood and agreed that the provision of paragraph 2 of the January 14, 2004 Side Letter giving rest to the “turn itself’ shall also apply to helper service for their applicable rest
periods.

Please indicate your concurrence with this understanding by signing your name in the space provided below.

 

I concur:

/s/ D. R. Pierce
General Chairman BLET
 
Sincerely,

/s/ M. R. Lemm
Vice President of Operations
Montana Rail Link, Inc.


 


Side Letter No. 7

July 15,2006

Dennis R. Pierce
General Chairman, BLET
Suite 1010
801 Cherry Street
Fort Worth, TX 76102

Dear Mr. Pierce:

This has reference to our Agreement of July 15, 2006, between Montana Rail Link, Inc. (“MRL”) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (“BLET”).

It was understood and agreed that any compensation increases provided to the American Train Dispatchers Association (“ATDA”) in their upcoming round of contract negotiations in
2006 that exceed those provided to employees represented by BLET and that are not associated with productivity gains obtained by ATDA will be granted to BLET.

Please indicate your concurrence with this understanding by signing your name in the space provided below.

 

I concur:

/s/ D. R. Pierce
General Chairman BLET
 
Sincerely,

/s/ M. R. Lemm
Vice President of Operations
Montana Rail Link, Inc.