JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – CSX Transportation will comply with federal COVID-19 vaccine regulations by the Jan. 4 deadline, CEO Jim Foote said today.
Although CSX requires new hires and management employees to be vaccinated, the railroad has not yet decided whether it will issue a mandate for unionized employees, spokeswoman Cindy Schild says. CSX has offered financial incentives for employees to get vaccinated, however, and has asked craft employees to declare their vaccination status.
Foote says he fears the federal mandate may add to the railroad’s challenges retaining and hiring train crews. The ongoing crew shortage has hurt the railroad’s service and has limited the amount of freight CSX can haul, Foote told an investor webcast.
“It makes me nervous. Obviously,” Foote says of the vaccine mandate. “On the one hand I’m doing everything I possibly can to try to hire employees, and we’re not unique in that there are people out there that say they’re not going to get the vaccine.”
CSX is having trouble providing reliable local service due to crew shortages, which Foote says is part of broader labor issues that are also affecting the railroad’s merchandise and coal customers as well as the warehousing and trucking industries. “I’m not worried about us hiring too many people just simply because of the attrition rate,” Foote says.
CSX is closely watching the vaccine mandate litigation between railroads and unions, as well as the states that have mounted court challenges to President Biden’s executive order covering federal contractors and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulation requiring employees of large companies to be vaccinated or submit to weekly testing.
“At the end of the day, it’s my obligation to make sure the company’s in compliance with the regulations, whether they be executive orders or regulations put out by OSHA. We’ll be in compliance. That’s the way our business operates,” Foote says.
“We scratch our heads and say why, but at the end of the day we’re working diligently to come up with sound policies that meet the needs of all of the regulatory bodies and try to address fairly and reasonably the requests of our employees,” he says.
CSX continues to see strong freight demand across all commodities except autos, Foote says. Automakers have been forced to curtail production due to a global shortage of computer chips.
But disruptions across the supply chain and a tight labor market have placed limits on how much volume CSX can gain. “We wish we had the capability right now to move more,” Foote says.
BNSF Railway, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific all say they will require employees to be fully vaccinated by the Jan. 4 deadline. The railroads and their labor unions are suing each other over the mandate.
CSX says it continues to evaluate the White House’s executive order as well as the OSHA regulation.
Foote spoke at the Bernstein 2021 Global Industrial Conference.
— Updated at 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. CST with CSX clarifications on the railroad’s position on vaccinations for unionized employees and federal requirements.
Chris Boza:
“Second, you now require an mRNA shot for all employees; blindly. What about those folks who have already had COVID and have higher immunity? I could go on.”
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If someone feels that going out may infect them with Covid-19 and kill them, it’s their responsibility (and many who are immunocomprised agree) to decide whether they want to take the risk or not, NOT the governments’
And if, God forbid, you or someone gets Covid you have a 99% chance of recovering from it.
Follow the $$$$$….. there are Billions being made off this Pandemic.
People who work have to get shots yet thousands race across the border and they don’t have to get vaccinated. Maybe the railroads should offer them jobs and that way we would get a few of them vaccinated. Oh wait why should they get a job as they already get full health, food and housing benefits.
why don’t these CEOs of the railroads or any company grow a pair and tell Biden where to stick this mandate. as long as they bow to this communist things will only get worse.
Open mouth and insert FOOTE!
Foote blaming the vaccine for his and the companies incompetence.
“not worried….because of the attrition rate”. What he saying? We are such a crappy employer that we can’t hang on to most of the folks we hire?
If they cared about their employees or their customers, they wouldn’t have laid off over 1/3 of their workforce over the last 4-5 years. Why does it matter now? They did all this to themselves willingly.
If four daily Amtrak dinkies would clog up their railroad why should anyone believe they can run freight trains?
Railroads often reject applicants for health issues that impact no one except the employee involved (such as high BMI). They also have return-to-work processes for people that have off duty medical issues or injuries that can result in an employee being prohibited from returning to work.
Why all of a sudden do they have grave concerns about vaccine requirements and the impact on hirin? I did not hear railroads complain about the impact of color-blindness on hiring when it came to conductor certification. And color-blindness is mostly a male issue that affects roughly 1 in 10 men.
I wonder if they would pay me enough to go back to work out of retirement.
What do you expect, Mr. Foote? First, you can hundreds of crew members for EHH’s PSR. Railroading as a steady career has always been challenging with the ups and downs of the economy. It had become even more volatile under your version of PSR. So, why would anyone in their right mind want to work for your company?
Second, you now require an mRNA shot for all employees; blindly. What about those folks who have already had COVID and have higher immunity? I could go on.
And finally, you have the gall to say, “We wish we had the capability right now to move more,” To quote Forrest Gump, “My mama always said ‘Stupid is as stupid does.'”