THE SKAGWAY NEWS.

SMART-TD union, WPYR continue negotiations

Union votes to authorize strike

By Gretchen Wehmhoff

Twenty-seven members of Skagway SMART-TD Local 1626 were issued ballots June 26 polling member’s willingness to give leadership the authorization to call a strike as negotiations between engineers, conductors and brakemen continue a nearly six-year-long bargaining process with White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad (WPYR).

According to the SMART website on July 6, the vote did indeed authorize a strike.

The voting process covered a 72-hour voting period to accommodate work schedules. The final vote is based on the majority of votes cast by active members.

Local 1626 members have been without a new contract since 2017, leaving workers under a contract last negotiated prior to 2017. Per the rules of the Railway Labor Act (RLA), in the absence of an updated contract, workers continue to work under the most recent prior agreement until a new settlement is approved by both labor and management.

A lack of a renewed agreement means there has not been a bargained pay increase for members since at least 2017. Members still receive the health benefits and wages from the current contract.

SMART-TD and the previous owners, TWC Enterprises of WPYR (Skagway Port and Rail), were in position to begin negotiations in 2017. SMART-TD filed a Section-6, a formal notice to bargain under the RLA.

Those talks were paused when WPYR gave notice to the union of the pending sale to the current owners. The sale was finalized in 2018.

The new owners, Survey Point Holdings, with investors Rail Management Services, Carrix and Carnival, began bargaining with SMART-TD in December 2018.

Due to the prolonged negotiation history, not all members of the SMART-TD negotiation committee are the same as the original group who filed the Section 6 notice.

Jason Guiler, a conductor for the railroad and the current chairman of Local 1626, and four other local members represent the union along with Brent Leonard, vice-president of the national union. Guiler is the third general chairman since the process began.

WPYR has been represented at the table through the process by Executive Director of Human Resources and Strategic Planning Tyler Rose and Superintendent of Railroad Operations Mark Taylor.

A global pandemic, gradual return of cruise ships and a landslide prone mountain above Skagway’s Railroad Dock added to the delay.

As with most labor negotiations, final discussions are centered around wages and benefits. Rose did not publicly disclose the specifics of the discussions or how far apart the parties were. He acknowledged that Skagway is a small, close-knit community and that all of the parties live in the same town.

Guiler mentioned that the union is seeking retroactive wages. Tyler chose not to respond publicly to the retroactivity demand during mediation.

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Busking - a new Skagway experience

By Melinda Munson

Ordinance 23-10, passed April 20, allows performance artists to busk in two locations south of First Avenue. A pet project of former mayor Monica Carlson who died in 2018, the code update is meant to “enhance the vibrancy, vitality and ambience of the municipality,” according to the ordinance. The municipality defines a busker as “a street performer who may do balloon twisting, card tricks, clowning, comedy, contortions, dancing, singing, juggling, magic, mime, a mime variation where the performer is a living statue, musical performance, visual arts and puppeteering.”

Three buskers submitted applications to the Visitor Department and all three were approved.

Two sites are available for busking: one by the centennial statue and the other by Pullen Pond bridge. The spots are each marked by a red sign, positioned next to a bench commissioned by

Douglas Smith of Woodsmith. The red and black of the benches tie into the Northwest Coast Formline that adorns the outside of the Shoreline Park restrooms. Busking is limited to four consecutive hours per participant per day and is first come, first served. Amplification of sound is not allowed, nor is the sale of merchandise.

“It’s an experimental year. This is completely new for the city,” said Andrew Na-

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