OMAHA, Neb. — In a reflection of escalating tension between Class I railroads and their union workers — both as national contract negotiations drag on and because of friction arising from Precision Scheduled Railroading — the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen has taken out a newspaper ad aimed at shareholders of Union Pacific and BNSF Railway parent Berkshire Hathaway.
A post on the union’s Facebook page says the half-page ad in Thursday’s Omaha World-Herald ad is “educating” shareholders for the two companies ahead of their respective shareholder meetings — April 30 for Berkshire Hathaway in Omaha, and May 12 for Union Pacific online. The ad includes questions from the union it says Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, BNSF CEO Katie Farmer, and UP CEO Lance Fritz “do not want to be asked” regarding treatment of workers at both railroads. These include questions about BNSF’s “Hi-Viz” attendance policy, which unions are attempting to address in arbitration after a potential strike was blocked by court order [see “Unions turn to arbitration …,” Trains News Wire, March 24, 2022].
The railroads are two of the four ordered to appear before the Surface Transportation Board next week to address rail service issues, a hearing prompted by complaints to the board from shippers and rail unions.
A portion of the ad is shown at right; a PDF of the full ad is available here.
This is it in a nutshell.
“If you have never worked, or lived with a railroader, then you have no understanding of the lifestyle. We are on call 24 hours a day, every single day of the year, which eliminates being able to get too far away from your calling location. Once you’re called, you have approximately 90 minutes to wrap up whatever you are doing, get your things packed and show up ready to go wherever, for an undetermined amount of time. A normal person considers their time at work to be from the time they leave their house to go to work to the time they return to their house. If a railroader does the same then they are, on average, at work for possibly 40 hours every time they go to work. The railroad tries to say that the time we are expected to rest at the hotel is not time at work, but I cannot spend time with my family … or take care of any other essential chores that are needing to be done at my house. They will even go as far as to say any 24 hour period spent in the hotel away from our homes and families is our day off, to reset our federally mandated time off. A 24-hour period at our away-from-home terminal, away from our families or our homes, is … not a day off. I think back over my career and think about all the things that I have missed out on in my children’s lives and especially now wonder why … I did all this for a company that has no appreciation for me or any sacrifice that I or any other TYE employee has made. Now, with this new Hi-Viz policy, it’s going to be even more sacrifices for us and for BNSF to make an even bigger record profit, on the blood, sweat, and tears of exhausted trainmen … This entire thing is just a part of the problem: The entire world has gone mad with greed … Employees are just as essential to the profits of the company as the owners, stockholders and customers.”
Joe, thank you. Well said, Mr. McFarlane doesn’t ever seem to have any idea when he refers to the real railroad or what TY&E put up with (yardmasters are Union) Love to see him work for any C1 for three months, after training to be a conductor, then open mouth with the right to say how happy life is. Jurys as professionals, Yea right, bought and paid for!!
I’m pretty sure if I was Fritz I’d answer that question about pay…and then wonder why the engineers and conductors can’t work when they make 6 figures(maybe only the engineers, but conductors aren’t poorly paid either). As for career opportunities…just exactly where do they think their careers can go, you go from conductor to engineer…then what’s next, nothing in the operating field(and don’t anyone even say, yardmaster, road foreman, etc.,), you can only move into management(which I imagine those above positions are listed as).
The comments about BNSF and it’s Hi-Viz attendance policy: jury duty, you can get out of it if your employer won’t let you have time off for it, it’s not a requirement that you be allowed time off for jury duty(still say we should have professional jurors). For the surgery one, that’s tricky, was it necessary surgery or was it elective? If elective, I can see why you wouldn’t get the time off, if it was medically necessary, then that’s a problem. I don’t know if they can do mandatory overtime, but would the crews prefer that instead?
Spoken like someone who doesn’t have a clue. Are you a foamer because you sure as hell don’t sound like someone who has the slightest clue about the job T&E does every day and how they are being treated.
Mandatory overtime? How about a few 16 hour days a week ( when 12 is your max) because someone was too lazy to call you a ride or because we can’t get trains over the road because of PSR? How about literally more time on a train than in your bed or at your home when it was never designed to be that way. We have people on FRA rest constantly because of the mismangement of manpower. The employees didnt furlough anyone or sell our engines helping to create this situtation. That goes for the supply chain situation as well.
How about the taxpayers of this country and the consumers who are and will be taking it in the rear because a few people at the top of these companies are manipulating the market to make themselves rich? Taxpayers will be left to pick up the ashes and consumers will continue to do without as prices keep going up.
How about the families of those mutilated or killed because of the low safety standards and training being provided all in the name of making a few people rich?
Maybe put your money where your mouth is and sign up and see how long you last. We can’t get people because of how they treat their employees on several different fronts.
Some of you need to pull your heads out of the fantasy rail sand and start dealing with the reality on the ground.
Gerald doesn’t seem to know or take the time to educate himself about what elective surgery is. I mean, really, Gerald? Ever use Google? Elective surgery includes cosmetic surgeries but hold on a second…it actually includes EVERYTHING that is “medically necessary” but not urgent or an emergency, like hernias, kidney stones, hip replacements, appendix, etc. Some folks are ridiculous despite their intentions but I think maybe a few people choose it.
Did it appear in the Wall Street Journal? Those readers run the railroads now, perhaps they should be in the loop!
Here we go again! How did these ads do back sixty years ago in the battle over Firemen? At least the Omaha World-Herald or Whatever got somead revenue!
In New York they worked just fine, we were grandfathered and job guaranteed without furlough and a higher pay rate, not bad at all
Yes you would have thought they would have picked something people actually read.