OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific is seeking changes to the quality-of-life scheduling agreement it reached with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen last year, saying it is getting significantly less work than expected out of engineers where it has implemented the new schedule. The BLET has gone to court because the agreement has not been fully enacted, but the dispute remains unresolved, the Associated Press reports.
The agreement reached last year makes engineers available for 11 days, after which they are guaranteed for four days off. When it was ratified, the union called it an “industry-changing agreement that will greatly augment [members’] quality of life,” while UP said it would enable the railroad to better manage staffing levels [see “BLET members ratify engineer scheduling agreement,” Trains News Wire, June 30, 2023].
Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena said the railroad needs changes after being forced to hire additional engineers to cover for the workers getting their scheduled time off.
“The amount of work we’re getting — the starts per the 11 days that they’re available — is not anywhere near where both us or the union thought it was going to be,” Vena told the AP. “So we’re just trying to figure out how we can fix or tweak it. But at the end of the day, we’ve committed to people. We signed an 11-and-four deal and we’ll live up to our commitments.”
One scheduling issue from the railroad’s standpoint is that, after engineers works four straight days, federal law requires them to have 24 hours. A change sought by UP is to place those coming off the four-day break at the top of the call list for train service, but that makes things less predictable for others. The BLET, which went to court after UP missed a deadline in the agreement, is seeking to get the new scheduling for the 60% of its members who do not yet have it, and wants those coming off the four-day break placed at the bottom of the call list.
Perhaps UP can get a waiver from the FRA to increase the number of consecutive starts and increase the amount of mandatory rest at the end of the work week. Or they just need to schedule their trains better. Everyone one on the ballast level knew this wasn’t going to work like they had planned.