Union leaders at Erie Wabtec have spent the last few days going over the company's contract offer with a fine tooth comb.  They want to be sure the language is exactly what negotiators discussed in lengthy and late bargaining sessions last weekend.

The economic terms of the proposal are a mix of a percentage based pay hikes starting with 3.4% for legacy employees (those who have worked at the company since the General Electric days) and lump sum payments for all employees.

The offer also includes a dollar more an hour for newer employees who are still in the 10-year wage progression to the top of the union pay scale.

The proposal does not give back to union workers the right to strike over grievances, but it does add the right to strike if a grievance has moved to arbitration, and the company has disregarded an arbitrators decision and instead taken the matter to federal court. That's a very specific circumstance that union president Scott Slawson said has happened twice during the last contract.

For now, union employees are working under the terms of their last agreement.  That is expected to continue until the complete Wabtec contract proposal comes to union members for a vote.

On Thursday June 22, shift by shift the membership will meet with UE 506 leadership in the union hall to hear every detail of the offer and have every opportunity to ask questions.

Slawson said it is unusual in his experience to move to a vote without a tentative contract.  "I would say that this is the first time that I can think of that we came back without a tentative agreement, that we're negotiating from a last best final offer. If I had a crystal ball right now I wouldn't even venture a guess as to whether this contract's going to pass or not and this is the first time of doing this in 10 years that I wouldn't put a bet on this one," he said.

Union membership had given their executive team the authority to do whatever it took to reach an agreement, even calling a strike.  But Slawson said all 17 members of the executive board agreed that they wanted the members to decide.  Slawson said that's because everyone in the union's circumstances are different, some have families, some can weather a strike and some cannot.    "Given the fact that we have close to 300 new employees in the plant who don't necessarily understand what's happening around them, the decision was made to put the decision in the member's hands and if it's something that they believe that they can live with for the next four years, so be it. If they decide that this isn't enough, or some more changes need to be made, then they're going to make their voices heard."

Union members will vote confidentially by machine after learning the terms of the package.

Company officials declined to issue comment on the contract process at this point, a company spokesman saying only that the next steps in the process are on the union's side.