As a result of an agreement reached with BLET last year, BLET’s engineers employed at Union Pacific are supposed to be working under a negotiated schedule that provides for a four-day rest period after 11 days on the job. But the railroad has been slow to honor its commitments. Currently the rest agreement has only been implemented for 40 percent of BLET members at UP. The union, through legal action, negotiation, and public pressure has been pushing management to live up to their bargain. This failure by management and the union’s pushback was the focus of a national news story published by the Associated Press last week.
Mark Ganong, a member of BLET Division 857 in Tyler, Texas, interviewed for the article and attested to the improved quality of life under the 11/4 agreement. “…It’s improved my overall health, my attitude and my ability to schedule things,” Ganong said. In stark contrast, a former UP engineer told the AP that he quit the railroad because of the unpredictability and constant time away from family.
But despite the 11/4 rest agreement improving the quality of life for members and helping the railroad both recruit and retain skilled workers, not only is the carrier slow to provide the agreed upon time away for the majority of its BLET represented workers, UP is gaming the schedule for those currently under the 11/4 rest schedule. As an example cited by the Associated Press, engineers who are coming back from their scheduled time off are now being put at the top of the list for the next train, but that has the consequence of bumping other engineers down and making their lives less predictable.
BNSF also has been slow to implement negotiated rest schedules negotiated with the union but has made steps in recent days to fully implement its agreement.
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Photo courtesy of Cory Rusch, BLET Division 659