Norfolk Southern is 1st railroad to give all workers sick time as others negotiate with unions

OMAHA, Neb. — Norfolk Southern become the primary main North American freight railroad with offers to supply paid sick time to all of its workers Monday, however the different railroads are making growth, with just about 65% of all rail workers securing this elementary get advantages because the get started of the yr.

All of the main freight railroads have stated they’re dedicated to resolving this key factor that just about led to a strike in remaining yr’s sour contract talks. But maximum of the ones railroads — which come with CSX, Union Pacific, BNSF, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City — are nonetheless negotiating with various their unions.

Also Monday, Union Pacific introduced a deal that may supply paid sick depart to about 5,600 engineers within the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union that provides that railroad agreements with 12 of its 13 unions.

Most of the sick time offers, together with the only Norfolk Southern introduced for yardmasters Monday, supply 4 days of paid sick time and give workers the choice to convert 3 days of private depart time into sick days. The conductors and engineers who bear essentially the most unpredictable schedules whilst working the trains were getting 5 days of paid sick depart with the choice to convert two depart days into sick time. The Union Pacific deal follows that five-day type.

So all of those offers supply up to seven days of paid sick time, and the railroads promised to pay workers for any unused sick time on the finish of every yr.

Last fall, the railroads refused to upload paid sick time to the deal that they had already been negotiating for a number of years, however they relented this yr after intense force from the general public, the Biden management and several other key lawmakers, together with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. Rail workers had been pressured to settle for a five-year deal that equipped 24% raises and $5,000 in bonuses after Congress blocked their talent to strike as a result of fears of an financial disaster, however that settlement did not deal with their quality-of-life issues.

The engineers’ union stated offering sick time to teach crews can help in making positive they don’t seem to be fatigued whilst on the controls of a locomotive.

“This agreement is really about health and safety,” stated Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen National President Eddie Hall. “It’s not in our members’, the public’s or the railroad’s best interest for engineers to be operating trains when they’re sick.”

Union Pacific CEO Lance Fritz said these agreements show “the well-being and quality of life for all employees are critically important to us.”

About 300 workers are covered by this latest Norfolk Southern agreement. Jeremy Ferguson, president of the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers union that represents the Norfolk Southern yardmasters and conductors nationwide, praised the progress that has been made.

“This agreement will provide our hardworking yardmasters the time they need and deserve to take care of their personal wellbeing,” Ferguson said.

A separate larger agreement between SMART-TD and Norfolk Southern that also addresses schedule concerns for conductors was ratified Friday.

“Following national labor negotiations, we committed to address quality of life issues for our craft railroaders. With today’s agreement, we make good on that promise,” said Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan Shaw.

Norfolk Southern and the other major railroads tout the progress they have made so far, but officials with the Transportation Trades Department — the AFL-CIO labor coalition that includes all the rail unions — said much work remains to address workers’ concerns.

“For months, railroads have been at the table individually with their unions to find a path forward on the quality-of-life matters that came into the spotlight during the round’s final days. Today, railroads have new paid sick leave agreements in place to cover the majority of the unionized rail workforce,” said Ian Jefferies, who leads the Association of American Railroads trade group. “Additionally, multiple railroads have secured deals to give operating craft employees greater scheduling predictability.”

Greg Regan, president of the TTD labor coalition, said the unions have been keeping up the pressure on the railroads ever since last year’s contract talks.

“I think the the railroads probably realize the only way this is going to go away is if they actually bargain in good faith. And you know, so far it has yielded some decent results,” Regan stated.