BNSF and Norfolk Southern reach sick time agreements with two unions

BNSF Railway and Norfolk Southern have reached paid sick time agreements with two more of the unions representing their employees.

BNSF and the International Brotherhood of Railway Carmen reached their agreement as part of larger ongoing discussions about modernizing the work environment, the railway said on Monday.

Building upon existing BNSF paid time off and sickness benefits, BRC members will receive an additional four paid days off to use as sick days and gain the ability to convert up to three personal leave days to sick days each year. More specific details regarding these new sick days will be provided to affected team members.

Eight of BNSF’s 12 labor unions are now covered by paid sick leave agreements.

BNSF says it remains committed to continued dialogue including the potential addition of paid sick days for those crafts that did not already have individual paid sick days prior to the recent national bargaining round.​​

Norfolk Southern and the Brotherhood of Railway Signalmen reached an agreement giving union members the ability to take up to seven days of paid sick leave per year.

The agreement will immediately provide approximately 900 signal employees with four new days of paid sick leave per year while also offering them the flexibility to use up to three additional days of existing paid time off as sick leave.

“We continue to build on the significant progress we’ve made with our unions to provide additional sick leave benefits to our craft railroaders,” NS CEO Alan Shaw said in a statement. “Our railroaders are essential to advancing the American economy, and we are committed to listening to them and developing solutions to continuously improve their quality of life.”

Ten of the 12 unions that represent 6,900 NS employees now have access to paid sick leave.