BLET Members Ratify a Five-Year Deal on the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern
Published: November 1, 2026
By: Adam Burns
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen have ratified a five-year agreement with CPKC covering the railroad’s Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern lines. The union announced the vote on October 29. The contract is written to bring those workers to parity with crews on CPKC’s former Soo Line territory.
A CPKC publicity photo featuring ES44AC #9375 with a intermodal stack train.
What the contract pays
Over the life of the agreement, the hourly rate for engineers rises 41.42 percent, compounded. The rate for conductors and brakemen rises 32.63 percent, compounded. Trains reported those figures when the tentative agreement was announced on October 1, and repeated them with the ratification. The deal also raises meal allowances, gives more flexibility on personal leave days, and adds work-rule protections.
The October 1 account said the agreement covers about 250 workers and is retroactive to January 1, 2025. It also said parity with the former Soo Line territory arrives by 2029. BLET General Chairman Nick Mugavero called the wage progression one of the most significant pieces of the tentative agreement. CPKC chief executive Keith Creel said the railroad was pleased to have reached it.
Which Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern this is
Canadian Pacific bought the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern in 2007. The lines in this agreement are the ones CPKC still operates in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Missouri. In 2014 Canadian Pacific sold the western portion, mostly in South Dakota, to Genesee & Wyoming. That railroad is now the Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern. The new BLET agreement does not cover it.
Related reading on American-Rails.com
Sources
- Trains, October 29, 2026. BLET members ratified a five-year agreement with CPKC covering Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern lines. The agreement creates parity with former Soo Line territory. Engineers’ hourly rate up 41.42 percent, compounded. Conductors and brakemen up 32.63 percent, compounded. Increased meal allowances, more flexibility on personal leave days, and new work-rule protections.
- Trains, October 1, 2026, David Lassen. The tentative agreement covered about 250 workers, was retroactive to January 1, 2025, and was described as reaching Soo Line parity by 2029. Nick Mugavero on the wage progression. Keith Creel on the tentative agreement. Canadian Pacific bought the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern in 2007. The remaining lines are in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Missouri. In 2014 the western portion, mostly in South Dakota, was sold to Genesee & Wyoming and is now the Rapid City, Pierre & Eastern.
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