ATLANTA — Norfolk Southern and the American Train Dispatchers Association will launch a pilot program next month that provides dispatchers with a scheduled rest day that rotates weekly.
“We want everyone on our team to have access to predictable time off,” said Rodney Moore, vice president of network operations, said in a statement Tuesday (Feb. 6). “This agreement provides a set rest day that our dispatchers can count on every week, allowing our craft colleagues to better plan time with their families and attend to personal needs.”
ATDA President Ed Dowell applauded the agreement. “Quality-of-life is vital to all of our members and this is a first step in the right direction,” he said.
“Although guaranteed assigned dispatchers observe time off each week, they don’t currently know when exactly that time off will occur. Providing a scheduled rest day that our members can count on provides significantly greater predictability,” union Vice President Brandon Denucci said.
The pilot is scheduled to take effect by early March and run through the end of the year.
Because unions favored money more than time off.
Because you either have to get the attention of the world that we are being beaten to a pulp as railroaders…or under more ordinary circumstances give something up. The carrier will give us anything we want, if we give them something they want. That’s rarely a good idea…but the winds have blown favorably lately…so the carriers are bending over backwards to do a few things.
Why did this take so long?