CLEVELAND — Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers set up informational pickets in New Orleans today in conjunction with a meeting of CSX Transportation’s Board of Directors.
The purpose of the informational picketing is to remind corporate officers that locomotive engineers are the rail industry’s most highly trained and productive workers — they are the true professionals who the railroad should be relying upon to operate cutting-edge remote control technology that it introduced earlier this year.
BLE members focused on the positives in their corporate awareness campaign, conveying the message that locomotive engineers set the standard for rule compliance and safety for all other rail workers. Locomotive engineers are proven professionals who safely deliver tons of potentially hazardous cargo to customers each and every day. Engineers undergo rigorous monitoring and testing to earn and maintain their Locomotive Engineers Certification Cards — a license to operate a locomotive.
Earlier this year, CSXT and other major railroads took steps to implement remote control technology on a limited basis. Remote control technology allows unmanned trains to move from one location to another through the use of a “black box.”
Locomotive engineers believe that, among other issues, public safety and public interest will demand that federally qualified and certified locomotive engineers be at the controls of those trains.
The Board of Directors meeting will take place on a special train traveling overnight from New Orleans to Nashville, Tenn. The CSXT locomotive engineers coordinated the informational picketing with BLE members from the Union Pacific Railroad, Kansas City Southern, and the Burlington Northern-Santa Fe Railway.
Locomotive Engineers working the informational pickets in New Orleans have constructed several large banners for members of CSX Transportation’s Board of Directors to read as their train rolls by.
Select banner messages read as follows:
- Have A Safe Trip
This is more than a casual statement to locomotive engineers. It is our responsibility to our families and co-workers to ensure all trips are safe trips.
You Are In Safe Hands with the BLE
This message is intended to instill confidence in both passengers on the Board of Directors’ train and people in the community.
First In Safety
In rail transportation and in the rail industry, locomotive engineers rank among the safest employees. While the number of locomotive engineers employed by CSXT increased approximately 25% over the past two years, injuries and accidents have decreased approximately 20%. Much of the BLE SENSE Safety process has been adopted by the railroad to improve their overall approach to safety.
Leaders in Safety
Locomotive engineers set the standards in rule compliance and safety.