CLEVELAND, January 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Yesterday, members of the Brotherhood of Engineers and Locomotive Workers (BLET) and the Transport Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transport Unions (SMART- TD) who work for the BNSF Railroad have launched measures to go on strike following the Railroad’s announcement of its so-called “Hi-Viz” attendance policy, which the National Chairman of the BLET Denis Pierce and President of SMART-TD Jeremy Ferguson called “the worst and most egregious attendance policy ever adopted by a rail carrier”.
Presidents Pierce and Ferguson said the impending policy, which BNSF plans to implement the February 1st, repudiates many of the collectively bargained agreements currently in place throughout the BNSF system. It is so restrictive that employees would be penalized if they took time off work to attend the funeral of an immediate family member.
“This unprecedented BNSF policy rejects direct and clear contractual language and, in its application, will attempt to force our members to report to work regardless of their medical condition as we struggle to emerge from a pandemic,” said President Pierce and President Ferguson. “It also robs our members of any ability to avoid working fatigue when they are regularly called upon without warning due to the complete absence of reliable train queues, creating the potential for even more dangerous railroad overtime. “In an industry where safety is so critical does not just repudiate our agreements, it risks inflicting irreparable harm on hundreds of full-time employees whose non-work obligations keep them from being at work every day of their life. »
BNSF’s new Hi-Viz policy is a points-based system that penalizes employees – who in many cases have no assigned days off – every time they miss work for virtually n any reason. In an FAQ that BNSF sent to its employees, the carrier asserted that it “needs to improve crew availability to remain competitive in the industry” and that its revised Hi-Viz program helps address this issue “by encouraging a constant and reliable presence”. BNSF goes on to say that a reduction in absenteeism will improve the predictability of work assignments. However, affected employees and their unions have made it clear that they view BNSF’s approach to this issue as one of juxtaposition. That is, if the carrier instead focused its efforts on predictable assignment planning and competent management of its furloughed employees, there would be no need to impose such draconian attendance policies.
“Our members are simply fed up with the treatment they receive from the BNSF Railroad,” said Chairman Pierce and Chairman Ferguson. “The company’s half-hearted attempt to label this policy as ‘enhancement’ and ‘inducement’ is nothing short of dishonest and downright insulting. Although BNSF won’t admit it, it has establishes what is called Precision Scheduled Railroading and attempts to do more with less by intimidating our members, under threat of disciplinary action and/or termination, into working extra shifts while continuing to lay off junior employees. members have worked tirelessly to keep goods flowing during a global pandemic, but the railroad is once again placing monetary profits on people to appease shareholders and Wall St. Our members are tired, frustrated and fed up with the treatment they continue to receive.As is the growing trend among all major rail carriers, working conditions at BNSF have deteriorated to the point that many Permanent employees are leaving the rail industry because they can no longer stand the treatment they have to endure on a daily basis. This new attendance policy could be the tipping point in what could be the “great resignation of the railways”.
At January 12, President Pierce and President Ferguson gave permission to their organizations’ respective BNSF General Adjustment Committees to begin polling their members regarding a removal from service in this major dispute. Under BLET internal law, a majority of the members of a given railway, or their local presidents, must vote in favor of a strike and the national president and general presidents must approve the date of any removal from service. . Under the SMART constitution, the union leadership can authorize a strike after the general presidents concerned have obtained the approval of a two-thirds majority of the local presidents under their jurisdiction.
Collectively, the unions represent over 17,000 active members at the BNSF.
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Officers represents nearly 57,000 professional locomotive engineers and officers across United States. The BLET is the founding member of the Rail Conference, International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
The SMART Transportation division is made up of approximately 125,000 serving and retired members of the former United Transportation Union, who work in a variety of occupations in the transportation industry.
CONTACT: John Bentley,
Public Relations Department
Telephone 216 241 2630
E [email protected]
SOURCE Brotherhood of Locomotive Train Engineers and Officers (BLET)