Update on Current Labor Negotiations: A Message from John Fleps
Our number one proposal to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the United Transportation Union (UTU) in the current bargaining round is to bring crew consist into the modern age. This will enable BNSF, our employees and the communities we serve to get the full benefit of the latest safety-enhancing technology, and afford the company the same freedom our trucking competitors have to operate our capacity-constrained business with the right number of people on each job or assignment, and to do the work in the most safe and efficient manner. Antiquated crew consist is constraining our business, and we are extremely serious about modernizing through the collective bargaining process.
We must continuously try to balance our structural business costs with safety and financial security. If we can modernize crew consist through a voluntarily reached agreement with the unions that leverages proven technology to provide a safer working environment, BNSF is prepared to provide extraordinary levels of job protection, higher earnings opportunities and generous retirement/voluntary resignation benefits.
We want to make this commitment clear to the union leadership, but they have declined to continue negotiations on these issues, at least for the time being. You can get more news about their refusal on the Labor Relations Web site.
BNSF remains extremely committed to negotiating with union leaders over these important issues at the bargaining table. BNSF’s Leadership Team realizes that our Transportation employees should see these two unions’ refusal to talk as creating an awful lot of risk for our employees. That’s why this message is posted on the Labor Relations Web site: BNSF employees need to be aware of this risk.
Just saying “no” won’t make the issue go away. That approach has never worked. To the contrary, if BNSF cannot reach a voluntary agreement with the unions on this subject, the issues will likely be resolved through a third-party process under the federal government. We’ve all been there in the past on various issues. Crew consist reform did not go away in the early 1990’s when union leaders tried similar avoidance tactics.
We realize that some people think they have pretty good job security under the old-fashioned crew-consist rules. Do our people really have anything to gain if their union representatives go back to the bargaining table on this issue? Yes! First, the issue won’t go away. As we discussed before, BNSF and the other major railroads have a very, very strong case for change. New technology promises a safer as well as more efficient railroad industry, better positioned to handle the big transportation challenges facing us today. This technology, combined with a workforce that includes more and more people ready to retire, underscores the importance of making this change now!
In short, we have a great opportunity now to resolve the issue in a way that benefits not only our customers and shareholders, but also the people who have already committed to work for BNSF. On the other hand, if we cannot reach a voluntary collective bargaining agreement, and have to go through the federal government process, none of these benefits for employees would be guaranteed. That’s a huge risk.
Today, with especially promising new technology already here, coupled with the demographics of an aging workforce, our case for change is stronger than it has ever been. All Team BNSF members need to be aware of these considerations – and understand what is at risk -- before we get too much further down the road in the collective bargaining process.