(Source: Trains Magazine, May 16, 2022)
Rail labor leaders have given mixed reviews to a call from CSX Transportation CEO Jim Foote for railroads to mend fences with their unionized employees and negotiate new contracts, with the union officials saying the relationship with management is the worst it has been in decades. Dennis Pierce, president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, says railroads have lost touch with their employees due to the way they are treated under Precision Scheduled Railroading, which has brought longer days, more time spent away from home, less rest between trips, and fewer days off. Foote’s remarks surprised the BLET leadership. “Our bargaining unit was completely flabbergasted,” Pierce says, noting CSX and the union have not met since January and no contract negotiations are currently scheduled. “He’s got the tools to fix it and he’s never used them. So we’re not sure what he’s talking about,” Pierce says of Foote’s comments. “Two weeks ago, he’s the one that said that the solution to all the railroad’s problems was letting them have one-person crews, which equally offended every engineer and conductor out on the railroad because they all hold seniority in that job. And then two weeks later, he steps forward and says he wants to mend fences. Well, he’s the one tearing them down.”
Full story: Trains Magazine