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The federal Surface Transportation Board issued the following statement on Friday, May 6:

The Surface Transportation Board today announced that it will require certain railroads to submit service recovery plans as well as provide additional data and regular progress reports on rail service, operations, and employment.  These measures are meant to inform the Board’s assessment of further actions that may be warranted to address the acute service issues facing the rail industry and to promote industry-wide transparency, accountability, and improvements in rail service.

This decision follows extensive testimony on severe rail service issues reported by a wide range of witnesses — including agricultural, energy, and other shippers, as well as government officials, rail labor, and rail experts — during the Board’s April 26 and 27, 2022 public hearing in Urgent Issues in Freight Rail Service. The Board has also continued to review and monitor weekly rail service performance data, which indicate trends in deteriorating service. The decision focuses on the adequacy of recovery efforts involving BNSF Railway Company (BNSF), CSX Transportation (CSX), Norfolk Southern Railway Company (NS), and Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP), and it requires more comprehensive and customer-centric reporting of all Class I railroads’ service metrics.

“Our freight rail service hearing highlighted the grave concerns of shippers and others regarding freight rail service,” said Chairman Martin J. Oberman. “While the railroads have faced certain challenges over the last few years, the evidence produced at last week’s hearing is overwhelming that the railroads’ longstanding practice of reducing operating ratios by cutting employment levels, mothballing locomotives, and eliminating other essential resources are the central reasons  why farmers have been hours away from depopulating herds, manufacturing facilities have reduced operating hours, and shippers cannot get their products to market on time or receive essential raw materials for their companies. These failures are harming the nation’s economy and, in my view, are contributing to the inflationary forces affecting food and fuel in particular.”

“Requiring additional reporting from railroads may not be the final result of our hearing on service issues. Today’s decision is an immediate step the Board can take to enable needed monitoring of the improved efforts the railroads have been promising for months, and to determine if additional regulatory steps are necessary to promote reliable service.”

Today’s decision requires all Class I carriers to submit several specific reports on rail service, performance, and employment.  In addition, BNSF, CSX, NS, and UP are required to submit service recovery plans, progress reports, historical data, and participate in bi-weekly conference calls with Board staff.

A recording of the Board’s April 26 and 27, 2022 hearing in Urgent Issues in Freight Rail Service, may be viewed on the Board’s YouTube page.  Today’s decision in Urgent Issues in Freight Rail Service—Railroad Reporting, Docket No. EP 770 (Sub-No. 1), may be viewed and downloaded here.

While waiting for a response to our recent request to the National Mediation Board that a proffer of arbitration be issued by the Board to move our contract dispute to the next level, CBC unions participated in two additional days of mediated bargaining sessions with NCCC this week.

Once again, the nation’s class 1 rail carriers showed just how far removed they are from the realities that their employees and shippers are experiencing. Without regard for the beating that these rail carriers took in front of the Surface Transportation Board a week ago, and ignoring their continued record profit reports, the rail carriers continue to advance proposals at the bargaining table that they have previously been told are unacceptable to the CBC Unions and our members.

Due to the NCCC’s refusal to negotiate a fair agreement in good faith, all CBC Unions again request that the NMB proffer arbitration to the parties to stop the endless delays by the rail carriers.

As we advised in January and April, we had hoped that the involvement of the NMB would cause the industry to refocus on addressing the legitimate needs of the men and women whose labor generates their positive financial returns. That has not happened, and there is no indication that it will without allowing the remaining steps of the Railway Labor Act to play out to compel a favorable settlement.

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The unions comprising the Coordinated Bargaining Coalition are: the American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA); the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen / Teamsters Rail Conference (BLET); the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS); the International Association of Machinists (IAM); the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB); the National Conference of Firemen & Oilers/SEIU (NCFO); the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW); the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU); the Transportation Communications Union / IAM (TCU), including TCU’s Brotherhood Railway Carmen Division (BRC); and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART–TD). Collectively, the CBC unions represent more than 105,000 railroad workers covered by the various organizations’ national agreements, and comprise over 80% of the workforce who will be impacted by this round of negotiations.

Follow this link for a pdf of this release.

An arbitrator’s recent decision in a Public Law Board case brought by the SMART Transportation Division against BNSF resulted in a victory over the carrier.

In September 2017, BNSF unilaterally altered the working conditions for SMART-TD members in GO-386, who serve in and around Superior, Wisconsin, under the guise of Article IX of the 1985 UTU National Agreement (ID service notice), after the parties were unable to reach an amicable agreement. The changes included consolidating many Thru-Freight Service Pools into a single pool, as well as altering working rules under the collective bargaining agreement.

General Chairperson Larry Miller (GO-386) initiated Section 3 arbitration with the assistance of SMART-TD Vice Presidents John Whitaker and Jamie Modesitt. The union argued that BNSF’s ID Notice and changes to the working conditions were improper under the conditions allowed by Article IX of the 1985 National Agreement.

After hearing the case Dec. 14, 2021, arbiter Joshua M. Javits issued his decision April 14, 2022. He found:

  • that BNSF utilized the Article IX process to make efficiency changes, even though there was no new Interdivisional Service established;
  • that all of the evidence presented at the hearing suggested that BNSF was attempting to alter existing rules and agreements between the parties in a manner not intended by Article IX; and
  • that BNSF’s unilateral changes to employees’ negotiated working conditions were unreasonable, or justified under the Article IX process, and that the BNSF’s actions had improperly altered the work conditions of previous collective bargaining agreements.

Javits directed BNSF to reinstate the rules and working conditions that were in effect prior to the carrier’s imposition of the changes in October 2017.

“GC Miller and the rest of GO-386, as well as Vice Presidents Whitaker and Modesitt, should hold their heads high and be proud of this win,” SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson said. “These types of victories are the building blocks for labor’s future success. These battles surely are not glamorous and they take time. We need to remain focused, persistent and maintain our determination that we all will hold carriers accountable while battling as a unit against their unjust impositions such as these. This is a huge success for SMART-TD once again and shows we are defending the agreements and protecting members rights to a fair and reasonable interpretation of agreements, especially as we start down the same path of arbitration for the Hi-Viz attendance policy.”

In response to the decision, members of SMART-TD Local 832 (Superior, Wis.) and 1175 (Duluth, Minn.) issued the following letter:

We would like to take a moment to thank General Chairperson Larry Miller and 1st Vice Chairperson of GCA 386 Tim Flynn for their unwavering hard work which resulted in a favorable ruling for our members regarding the contested Article IX that was imposed upon us in Superior, Wis.

Our local membership as a collective felt we were being unfairly disenfranchised from longstanding agreements put in place to create equitable outcomes for all parties tasked with supporting the multiple customers who depend on our ability to service their needs year-round, 24/7. Whether it’s spring flooding events or 45 degrees below zero, the agreement stated all parties would work together to create a reliable pact that our customers and community could count on.

Somewhere along the way, that alliance was broken, and with it our resolve. A feeling of isolation, dismay and resentment fell over the membership, yet we carried on for multiple years. So did Larry, Tim and others to make our voices heard. It would be easy to dwell on the negative impacts and feelings of animosity that soon arose after and during this time. Looking forward, hopefully with collaboration this ruling creates an opportunity to once again bring everyone into the fold and create an environment of inclusivity instead of isolation.

To Larry, Tim and everyone behind the scenes we haven’t named, we want to thank you for never losing sight of what this favorable outcome would mean for the working environment and overall mental well-being of the Superior, Wis., terminal and their families. Once again THANK YOU!

We are proud to have you in our corner and grateful for your representation throughout this time.

Sincerely,

Your Brothers and Sisters

SMART-TD Locals 0832 Superior WI & 1175 Duluth, MN

The full case, Public Law Board 7986, Award No. 1, is available to view below in PDF form.

PLB_7986_Award_1Download

CLEVELAND, Ohio —Upon the announcement by President Joe Biden of his nomination of five candidates to serve upon the Amtrak Board of Directors, SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson, in conjunction with the TD National Legislative Department, issued the following statement on April 29, 2022:

“As has been the case since the very onset of his administration, President Biden has taken a measured and conscientious approach in making choices for the good of the nation. He continues to prioritize the concerns of labor as he and the DOT pursue an unprecedented and historic transformation of the nation’s passenger-rail network. We appreciate this focus, and we pledge to remain actively engaged as the Build Back Better vision is pursued. We hope for a swift confirmation process for the nominees so that Amtrak can expand its service thanks to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and provide robust employment opportunities well into the future.”

Read more about the nominees here.

Effective April 25, 2022, the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is offering in-person appointments at its nationwide network of 53 field offices.

Individuals can schedule appointments by calling the agency’s toll-free telephone number, (877) 772-5772, and speaking to a representative. If they experience a lengthy wait time on this call, they may be given the option of receiving a return call, although this feature is not available at all times due to large call volume. RRB representatives are available between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. each weekday, except for Federal holidays. For planning purposes, please note that the agency’s busiest times are early in the week and during the first part of each month.

Customers can also reach out to individual offices by mail or fax, as well as by sending a secure message using the link on each field office’s web page at RRB.gov. Using the “Field Office Locator” tab at the top of the home page allows someone to access each office’s web page and contact information.

While most business with the RRB does not require in-person service, but can be handled by telephone or in writing, the agency has also added secure lockboxes or door slots at the office entrances for customer convenience. These can be used if someone needs to quickly drop off documents without needing to communicate with a representative and will be checked on a daily basis.

Other options for obtaining services 24 hours a day without the need to talk to an agency representative include the automated menus available through the toll-free number and the myRRB system on the agency website. The following services are accessible through these avenues.

  • Letters verifying retirement/survivor benefit rates;
  • Service and compensation statement;
  • Replacement Medicare card;
  • Duplicate most recent tax statement (1099, 1099-R);
  • General benefit information;
  • Unemployment/sickness benefit application/claim status and payment information; and
  • RRB field office addresses.

For certain automated phone services, an individual’s social security number and/or railroad retirement claim number are required. In addition, for certain unemployment or sickness application/claim information, a person must provide their social security number and the benefit PIN printed on the back of the provided claim form.

Railroad employees who have established a myRRB account can login and complete the following actions:

  • Apply for and claim unemployment benefits;
  • Claim sickness benefits;
  • Check the status of their unemployment or sickness benefit claims;
  •  View their railroad service and compensation history; and
  • Get an estimate of retirement benefits.

RRB offices have been closed to the public since March 16, 2020, three days after the coronavirus pandemic was declared a national emergency. Since that time, services have been limited to telephone and electronic communication, with agency employees continuing to process benefit applications and incoming mail.

The Coordinated Bargaining Coalition released the following statement on April 25, 2022:

On January 24, 2022, after more than two years of bargaining with the major U.S. Class I railroads, the 10 Rail Unions bargaining as part of the Coordinated Bargaining Coalition (CBC) announced that they had applied to the National Mediation Board (NMB) for the assignment of a federal mediator to assist in the negotiations.

As we advised then, the carriers represented by the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC) simply were not bargaining in good faith. Unfortunately, nothing has changed during the four mediated bargaining sessions that the CBC has held with the NCCC. Having reported record 4th quarter 2021 profits, followed by 1st quarter 2022 record profits, the rail carriers continue to refuse to withdraw their demands for work rule and health and welfare concessions. Even more ridiculous and unacceptable is their refusal to agree to meaningful wage increases while making record profits during the highest level of inflation seen in years.

Adding insult to injury, the NCCC not only refused our request to bargain on wages at our mediated session last week, they then sent the CBC Unions a national proposal offering to pay lump sum payments of $600.00 (maximum payment) in the remaining months of 2022 while the parties remain stuck in endless and unproductive mediation. Regardless of the gaslighting the NCCC has done on their proposal, it is not all they say it is. The payments will have to be repaid from any backpay payments that may be in the ultimate national contract settlement. If there are insufficient backpay earnings to repay the lump sums, the employee will owe the employer the balance. All CBC Unions, responding in a united front, have rejected the latest NCCC proposal.

This latest proposal, somewhere between a loan and a pay day advance, is just further evidence that the NCCC has no intentions of reaching a voluntary settlement any time soon. You don’t offer temporary proposals if you plan to offer a complete contract settlement. In fact, the CEOs of UP and CSX both said in their earnings reports this past week that there would be no national contract settlement for months.

The members of our Unions, who have carried the rail carriers through a pandemic and to record profits, deserve a full contract settlement now. Due to the NCCC’s refusal to negotiate such a proposal, all CBC Unions have filed requests with the NMB asking that our contract dispute be advanced to the next steps of the Railway Labor Act process, which is for the NMB to proffer arbitration to the parties. Should either party reject the proffer, it would start a 30-day cooling off period before any party could exercise self-help.

As we advised in January, we had hoped that the involvement of the NMB would cause the industry to refocus on addressing the legitimate needs of the men and women whose labor generates their positive financial returns. That has not happened, and there is no indication that it will without allowing the remaining steps of the Railway Labor Act to play out to compel a favorable settlement.

Read a PDF version of this statement.

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The unions comprising the Coordinated Bargaining Coalition are: the American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA); the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen / Teamsters Rail Conference (BLET); the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS); the International Association of Machinists (IAM); the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB); the National Conference of Firemen & Oilers/SEIU (NCFO); the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW); the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU); the Transportation Communications Union / IAM (TCU), including TCU’s Brotherhood Railway Carmen Division (BRC); and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART–TD).

Collectively, the CBC unions represent more than 105,000 railroad workers covered by the various organizations’ national agreements, and comprise over 80% of the workforce who will be impacted by this round of negotiations.

Amit Bose

Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose last week addressed a shippers’ conference and said that part of his agency’s rationale in approaching a minimum crew size rulemaking will be taking into consideration the carriers’ use of longer trains, Trains Magazine reported April 8.

“We think having a consistent standard for crew size across the country benefits the rail industry, benefits safety, and gives certainty on the regulatory environment when it comes to train safety,” Bose told the North East Association of Rail Shippers. “Also, coupled with that, don’t forget: The trains are running longer. The length of trains is growing.”

In 2014, FRA issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on a minimum size for freight rail crews. Public comment was sought, thousands of Americans responded, including fire chiefs, police chiefs and emergency responders, with the vast majority of those submitted in favor of establishing a standard of at least a certified conductor and certified engineer present in the cab.

However, the NPRM was shelved by the Trump administration and former rail CEO Ron Batory in May 2019, who argued that there was no safety data to support the rule and tried to wipe out legislation passed by nine states that had ensured safe rail operations by establishing minimum freight crew sizes of two on a crew. Batory’s overreach was later struck down by a federal appeals court, and the NPRM was returned to FRA for consideration.

The agency has not relaunched the NPRM process for the minimum freight crew size rule, but when it does, Bose says FRA will be actively seeking comments from labor, the public and the carriers.

Read the full article from Trains Magazine.

The negotiating team is scheduled to engage in mediation for the latest national railroad contract on the following days:

  • March 31, 2022
  • April 6, 2022
  • April 11, 2022
  • April 20, 2022
  • May 4, 2022
  • May 5, 2022

We were released from mediation by the NMB on June 15. A proffer of arbitration was made, which the unions rejected. A 30-day cooling-off period began on June 17. The next scheduled meeting with the NMB for July 12 was fruitless. President Biden has issued an executive order establishing a Presidential Emergency Board.

Class I railroad officials have a two-day-long hearing before the federal Surface Transportation Board (STB) to prepare for later this month.

Reports from shippers to STB regarding poor service — the latest being a letter directly from the National Grain and Feed Association, a group representing more than 8,000 facilities — as well as a letter from Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson regarding precision scheduled railroading (PSR) and the self-inflicted worker shortages that have come with it have led up to the April 26 and 27 hearing.

The board, an independent and bipartisan federal agency charged with the economic regulation of various modes of surface transportation, primarily freight rail, announced the meeting April 7 in the light of indications of poor performance data.

“Rail network reliability is essential to the Nation’s economy and is a foremost priority of the Board. In recent weeks, the Board has heard informally from a broad range of stakeholders about inconsistent and unreliable rail service. The Board has also received reports from the Secretary of Agriculture and other stakeholders about the serious impact of these service trends on rail users, particularly with respect to shippers of agricultural and energy products. These reports have been validated by the Board’s weekly rail service performance data.”

Board Chairman Martin Oberman went into additional detail about how job cuts in particular have hampered the carriers.

“I have raised concerns about the primacy Class I railroads have placed on lowering their operating ratios and satisfying their shareholders even at the cost of their customers.  Part of that strategy has involved cutting their work force to the bare bones in order to reduce costs,” he said. “Over the last six years, the Class Is collectively have reduced their work force by 29% – that is about 45,000 employees cut from the payrolls.

“In my view, all of this has directly contributed to where we are today – rail users experiencing serious deteriorations in rail service because, on too many parts of their networks, the railroads simply do not have a sufficient number of employees.”

Carriers summoned to appear include BNSF Railway Company, CSX Transportation, Inc., Norfolk Southern Railway Company, and Union Pacific Railroad Company. Executive-level officials from the other three Class Is also were invited to attend, as were labor organizations and shippers.

The hearing will take place at the Board’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., with each session beginning at 9:30 a.m.

On Friday, April 1, the SMART Transportation Division sought Surface Transportation Board Administrator Martin Oberman’s intervention in ending the precision scheduled railroading (PSR) onslaught that has caused continual havoc in the United States’ supply chain and gutted the rail workforce.

SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson detailed the anti-worker attendance policies implemented by the nation’s largest freight rail carriers while echoing concerns expressed March 24 by the head of the National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA), a group representing more than 8,000 facilities and firms that provide goods and services to the nation’s grain, feed, and processing industries.

“We believe intervention from the STB is critically warranted and necessary to right the ship,” Ferguson wrote. “Simply put, the railroads cannot sustain the same level of production they had to prior to the advent of PSR given the number of drastic cuts they’ve made across their systems.”

Railroads have cut thousands of workers since the onset of PSR in 2017, placed thousands of locomotives in storage and have been running longer and slower trains to drive down their operating ratios (OR). NGFA President Mike Seyfert said this has led to “significant service disruptions,” for its represented companies served by BNSF, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, in particular.

“The service issues that our member companies are raising indicate that the problem is a network problem affecting entire regions of the country,” Seyfert said. “NGFA members have done as much as possible to keep animals fed, but the ability to stretch resources is exhausted.”

Rail carriers such as the Warren Buffett-owned BNSF, the Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern enjoyed record profits in 2021, even as rail traffic and carloads fell short of previous high marks. A main source of this revenue has been through tens of thousands of workforce cuts implemented well before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the service difficulties reported by NGFA, rail carriers have been doing less with less and reaping higher rewards at the expense of customers and workers.

“Not only has morale dropped to an all-time low, but employees are leaving the industry in unprecedented numbers,” Ferguson wrote to Oberman. “The freight rail network is at a breaking point. It cannot sustain any more reductions. Substantial changes must be made and they must be made quickly.”

According to union-collected data, Ferguson wrote, more than 500 employees have quit the industry since BNSF implemented a points-based policy Feb. 1. The “Hi-Viz” policy requires workers to be available to work 29 out of 30 days a month in order to avoid punitive deductions on their attendance records that eventually would lead to suspension and dismissal.

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The SMART Transportation Division is comprised of approximately 125,000 active and retired members of the former United Transportation Union, who work in a variety of crafts in the transportation industry.