The railroad giant is threatening to roll back schedule improvements won by workers

The nation’s largest railroad told the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union that Union Pacific is no longer getting enough work from its engineers under new schedules and has had to hire more workers than planned, so the company wants to change the schedule. improvement agreement he signed and presented last year.

Where they have been implemented, the new programs make it possible for engineers to attend medical appointments and keep important promises to show up for their children’s activities or family gatherings, union members say.

“It was a game changer,” said Mark Ganong, who worked for Union Pacific in Texas for 22 years. “I think it has improved my quality of life – well, I know it has. I think it has improved my overall health, attitude and ability to schedule things.”

The railroad says it still plans to honor the schedule agreement it signed, but CEO Jim Vena said Union Pacific must amend the agreement that forced it to hire additional engineers to cover time-off worker shifts free.

“The amount of work we’re getting — the starts for the 11 days they’re available — is nowhere near where we and the union thought it would be,” Vena said. “So we’re just trying to figure out how we can fix it or modify it. But at the end of the day, we’re committed to people. We signed an 11-four agreement and we will honor our commitments.”

The basic concept of the new schedule is that after engineers remain available to drive trains for 11 days in a row, they get four days off in a row that they can plan ahead of time. During those 11 days, there must be at least one break between shifts because federal rules require 24 hours off after engineers work four consecutive days, but it’s hard to predict where the time off will fall. The promised four days off are scheduled for the entire coming year.

This is a dramatic change for engineers who have essentially been on call 24-7 for years, with only a few hours’ notice before reporting to work. In recent years they have also been penalized for missing any free time under a strict points system.

Getting paid sick days for the first time last year helped make the attendance system easier to manage, but not being able to schedule their days off still affects engineers. The conductors, who belong to a separate union, face similar struggles and still have no agreement in place to improve their schedules.

One of the initial changes the railway is trying is that engineers returning from scheduled time off are now pushed to the top of the list for the next train, but this has the effect of knocking over other engineers and making a living. less predictable.

The BLET union went to court this summer to try to force Union Pacific into compliance after missing a deadline in the schedule agreement, but was unable to resolve the dispute and win the new schedules for about 60 percent of UP engineers . which are still missing. They also want to make sure that the engineers coming off of rest get to the bottom of the call list.

Nathan Rouse said he finally missed so many birthdays, holidays, school events and other “things you can’t get back” that he walked away from the railroad nearly three years ago. Rouse said his daughter, now 13, has gotten used to him missing her dance recitals.

“I got used to being away. It was like she expected me to be gone more than home,” Rouse said. He may still have long days at the chemical plant where he works now, but at least he’s home every night and knows when he’s leaving.

Engineer Travis Dye said he almost gave up on rail, despite working for UP in Kansas City, Missouri for nearly two decades before getting the new program. He said it appeared the railroad was finally addressing workers’ concerns after the strike was averted, but now he worries the issues aren’t getting as much public attention.

“I think they feel like they can get away with it now because it’s not talked about anymore,” Dye said.