The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported in a Sunday front page story that in the aftermath of the devastating 2023 East Palestine chemical spill and fire, Norfolk Southern invested hundreds of millions of dollars to boost safety through improved training programs, new technology, and a close call reporting program held in conjunction with BLET. In contrast, Union Pacific has not made the same level of commitment.
Last year, federal rail regulators canceled a safety culture assessment at UP alleging the railroad coached employees and threatened discipline.
In the article, that appeared online and in print on November 9, BLET National President Mark Wallace stressed that the union hasn’t taken a position on the merger yet based on a BLET-led review of 2024 safety data from the FRA, NS “has a far superior record in almost every category as compared to (UP).”
Wallace noted that NS has taken the lead over other Class I railroads on implementing C3RS, or Confidential Close Call Reporting, the voluntary program that allows railroad workers to anonymously report safety concerns without fear of discipline from their employer. While BLET and NS have collaborated on a C3RS pilot project for the past two years, UP has paid lip service and has been reluctant to join. A UP spokesperson was quoted as saying that the railroad is still “working through the process.”
President Wallace also was critical of UP’s dangerous push to expand remote control operations, in which the railroad has been operating long trains by remote control on mainline tracks and in densely populated areas outside of the confines of rail yards.
The AJC reached out to other rail unions for comment. Josh Hartford of IAM, which represents thousands of workers at both carriers, said that safety issues related to the merger is “a definite concern.” “There is a difference” between the two companies’ cultures he told the newspaper. SMART-TD “declined to comment on the two railroad’s safety records.”
The full story, “Norfolk Southern got safer after Ohio crash. Unions warn of merger risk,” is available here on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution website (behind a paywall).
Locomotive photos by Cory Rusch, BLET Division 659