Re: WP&Y railway being sold to Carnival Corporation

> Question --- Will it remain a common-carrier
> railroad, with employees covered under Railroad
> Retirement? Will there be an implementing
> agreement to retain at least one union of the
> property? This could be bad for the employees.

Presuming it is a common carrier railroad still, they are subject to the Surface Transportation Board (ST, successor to the ICC. I just checked, and they haven't filed notice yet to transfer ownership and control. I believe the Canadians have an equivalent government agency and process, and there may be addiitonal steps through the applicable state/province agencies.

If they are a common carrier, they will either be assuming the common carrier rights and responsibilities; or will need to apply for a discontinuance. A discontinuance is different than an abandonment, as it only allows a railroad to suspend service, not to abandon and salvage the line. But, the Railroad Retirement Board several years ago declared the American Orient Express as providing "transportation", and as such their on-board service employees were subject to RRB (the higher costs being one reason claimed for AOE's demise). So if White Pass is providing "transportation" for hikers and such (versus just a rid for tourists off the cruises), they might be considered a common carrier anyway.

The union question is a little more interesting. This was argued out in federal court circa 1990 when the Class 1 railroads started selling off branches and secondary lines to new companies. If a Class 1 (large) railroad buys any other railroad where a union contract is in effect, then the union contract goes with the sale and labor protection is imposed. If a Class 1 railroad sells a line to a Class 2 or 3, the union contract does NOT go with the sale, but the selling Class 1 is responsible for any labor protection for their affected employees. White Pass should be a Class 3 (small) railroad, so typically there is no legal requirement for the union contract to be included in the sale (since the new owners would still be a Class 3), though the existing employees (through their union) can ask for labor protection from the selling company if their employment is adversely affected (not sure if it would be imposed or not). So the new ownership/operator of White Pass could either be non-union (but likely with most of the former employees anyway) or they could potentially work a deal with one or more unions and voluntarily continue some kind of union representation and contract. Even if White Pass chose the non-union route, the railroad's employees have the right in the future to request a vote for union representation under the Railway Labor Act, which the employer can't interfere with. Most of the "new" union contracts for small railroads I have seen offer very little improvement wage wise for the employees over non-union employment.

Dan