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union_pacific_logoUnion Pacific Railroad’s board yesterday elected Lance Fritz chairman, president and chief executive officer effective Oct. 1. As chairman, Fritz will succeed Jack Koraleski, who plans to retire Sept. 30.

Fritz was elected UP’s president and CEO, and to the board, on Feb. 5. A year earlier, he was named president and chief operating officer. He previously served as executive vice president-operations, VP-labor relations, regional VP of the southern region and regional VP of the northern region. Fritz began his career at UP in July 2000 in marketing and sales as VP and general manager-energy, according to a company press release.

When Koraleski retires in fall, he will conclude a 43-year career at the Class I, in which he served as executive chairman; chairman, president and CEO; executive VP-marketing and sales; and executive VP-finance and information technology.

Read more from Progressive Railroading. 

FRA_logo_wordsThe Federal Railroad Administration said Wednesday that train companies must continue reporting crude oil routes and volumes to state authorities concerned about derailments and fires. The interim regulation requiring notification will become permanent.

Oil-hauling railroads include Omaha-based Union Pacific and Berkshire Hathaway-owned BNSF Railway.

Read more from Omaha.com.

union_pacific_logoUnion Pacific Corp. said it has placed about 900 train crew employees on furlough or alternative work status to align its work force with current market conditions and demand.

The railroad employs about 47,000 people across its system, 8,000 in Nebraska.

Union Pacific Corp. also has mothballed locomotives as its transport volumes run 4 percent lower so far this quarter, compared with a 2 percent drop in the first quarter.

Read more from the Journal Star.

BNSF_Color_LogoBNSF Railway Co. won back market share for grain and agriculture commodities that it lost to Union Pacific Corp. in 2014 when the railroad owned by Warren Buffett struggled to keep up with customer demand.

In last year’s first quarter, BNSF lost about 4 percentage points of market share for carrying grain, fertilizer and other farm-related goods to its main competitors, said John Miller, vice president for agriculture products at BNSF.

Read the complete at Bloomberg Business.

osha-logo_webAn investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has determined that management of the Union Pacific Railroad added insult to injury when it blamed a worker in Roseville who was hurt on-the-job and then retaliated against him for reporting his injury in February 2011.

Investigators established that Union Pacific violated the Federal Railroad Safety Act when the company retaliated against the employee for reporting to his supervisors that he was hurt while lifting materials and equipment. As a result, OSHA has ordered the railroad to pay the worker $100,000 in punitive and compensatory damages.

This case follows a pattern of behavior by Union Pacific toward its injured employees. OSHA recently reported that the railroad has faced more than 200 whistleblower complaints nationwide since 2001.

“Union Pacific has repeatedly retaliated against workers who report on-the-job injuries,” said Barbara Goto, acting OSHA regional administrator in San Francisco. “That flies in the face of the protections that the FRSA affords.”

After being hurt, the employee in Roseville reported his injury. Although evidence at an investigatory hearing proved otherwise, Union Pacific charged the employee with causing his own injury by not using proper ergonomic and safety techniques. The company suspended him without pay for five days.

In November 2012, Union Pacific apparently changed course. The company expunged the employee’s record and paid him for the day he attended the investigation hearing and the five days of his suspension. Since the company voluntarily corrected the retaliation, OSHA assessed $50,000 in punitive damages.

Any of the parties in this case can file an appeal with the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges.

Union Pacific is the principal operating company of Union Pacific Corp, which functions in 23 states across the western two-thirds of the United States. It has 47,000 employees and operates 8,000 locomotives over 32,000 route miles.

OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the FRSA and 21 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health care reform, nuclear, pipeline, worker safety, public transportation agency, railroad, maritime and securities laws.

Employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who raise various protected concerns or provide protected information to the employer or to the government. Employees who believe that they have been retaliated against for engaging in protected conduct may file a complaint with the secretary of labor to request an investigation by OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program. Detailed information on employee whistleblower rights, including fact sheets, is available at http://www.whistleblowers.gov.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit http://www.osha.gov.

union_pacific_logoA November train derailment in the Feather River Canyon was caused by a broken rail, the Enterprise-Record has learned.

As Union Pacific Railroad prepares to replace more than 36 miles of track between Keddie and Lake Oroville, spokesman Francisco Castillo has confirmed a detail fracture caused by cracks led to the derailment of 12 train cars that tumbled into the canyon Nov. 25. The repairs are unrelated and were planned before the accident, Castillo said, part of a greater effort to improve rail safety as transport of crude oil continues to rise.

Read the complete story at the Chico Enterprise-Record.

union_pacific_logoUnion Pacific named Sherrye Hutcherson vice president of Human Resources effective May 4. Hutcherson will be responsible for leading the company’s human resources function, which includes talent management, training and development, strategic workforce planning, recruiting, compensation and benefits, and diversity initiatives.

Hutcherson h more than 20 years of experience in corporate and non-profit settings, with responsibilities ranging from human resources and finance to business development and customer satisfaction.

“Sherrye brings expertise in human resources, plus immense knowledge in employee engagement and strategic planning to Union Pacific,” said Diane Duren, Union Pacific executive vice president and corporate secretary. “Her leadership experience will be invaluable as Union Pacific continues to focus on recruiting, supporting and developing a talented and engaged workforce.”

In her most recent role as vice president of Corporate Services and chief administrative officer for Omaha Public Power District (OPPD), Hutcherson was responsible for human resources and labor relations, as well as corporate services, information technology and sustainability efforts. She previously served division manager roles for the utility’s human resources, customer solutions, and market research and product development teams. Prior to joining OPPD, Hutcherson was executive director of the Omaha Small Business Network, Inc. She started her career in Union Pacific’s Corporate Audit Department.

Hutcherson holds a master’s of business administration from Creighton University and a bachelor’s of science in accounting from the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. She is passionate about volunteerism, voting advocacy, and civil and women’s rights, having served on the boards of 75 North Revitalization, Children’s Hospital and Medical Center, the Urban League of Nebraska, and Women’s Center for Advancement (WCA).

A SMART Transportation Division member was seriously injured and a BLET engineer was killed when a taxi hired by Union Pacific Railroad to transport the men rolled off the side of a freeway near the Interstate 680/Interstate 80 interchange, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The accident happened just after 1 a.m. this morning (March 17) in Fairfield, Calif.

Scott Moffitt, 51, who was seated in the left rear seat, was injured and engineer Alexander Sassman, 51, who was seated in the right rear seat, was killed. The taxi driver was also injured. Moffitt and the driver were taken to NorthBay Medical Center in Fairfield.

Moffitt is a member of Transportation Division Local 1570 at Roseville, Calif.

The taxi was transporting the two UP employees from San Jose to Roseville.

union_pacific_logoUnion Pacific Railroad has applied for permission to haul liquefied natural gas, which would add another combustible cargo to a U.S. rail network already being criticized for transporting ethanol and crude oil through populated areas.

The Omaha-based railroad said the application for a permit from the Federal Railroad Administration is in response to a request for liquefied natural gas transportation from an existing customer. Union Pacific operates 32,000 miles of track in the western United States, which is home to many natural gas production and storage installations.

Read the complete story at the Omaha World-Herald.

More than 200 whistleblower complaints against railroad since 2001

osha-logo_webNORTH PLATTE, Neb. – For the third time since 2011, the Union Pacific Railroad has violated the Federal Railroad Safety Act at its yard in North Platte by disciplining employees who reported workplace injuries and sought medical attention, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has found. Since 2001, the company has faced more than 200 whistleblower complaints nationwide.

In the most recent case, OSHA investigators determined that Union Pacific disciplined a 35-year-employee after the locomotive freight engineer reported injuries sustained in a Dec. 22, 2013, collision and received medical attention. The company has been ordered to pay the engineer $350,000 in punitive and compensatory damages and reasonable attorney’s fees, remove disciplinary information from the employee’s personnel record and provide information about whistleblower rights to all its employees. Prior to this incident, the employee had never been disciplined.

“It is disheartening that this employee, a loyal railroad worker for 35 years, faced disciplinary action because he sought needed medical attention for a work-related injury. Union Pacific’s actions and the repeated complaints filed by their employees are indicative of a culture that doesn’t show that same loyalty to their workers or concern for their safety,” said Marcia P. Drumm, OSHA’s regional administrator in Kansas City, Mo. “Whistleblower protections play an important role in keeping workplaces safe. It is not only illegal to discipline an employee for reporting an injury and seeking medical attention, it puts everyone at risk.”

Any of the parties in this case can file an appeal with the department’s Office of Administrative Law Judges.

Based in Omaha, Union Pacific Corporation is one of America’s leading transportation companies. Its principal operating company, Union Pacific Railroad, is North America’s premier railroad franchise, in 23 states across the western two-thirds of the United States. It has 47,000 employees and operates 8,000 locomotives over 32,000 route miles.

OSHA enforces the whistleblower provisions of the FRSA and 21 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health care reform, nuclear, pipeline, worker safety, public transportation agency, railroad, maritime and securities laws.

Employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who raise various protected concerns or provide protected information to the employer or to the government. Employees who believe that they have been retaliated against for engaging in protected conduct may file a complaint with the secretary of labor to request an investigation by OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program. Detailed information on employee whistleblower rights, including fact sheets, is available at http://www.whistleblowers.gov.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA’s role is to ensure these conditions for America’s working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance. For more information, visit https://www.osha.gov/.