Rail industry trade publication Railway Age published an article last week that reinforces the job-loss concerns BLET and the Teamsters Rail Conference have raised since Day 1. BLET has taken the position that the “Jobs for Life” promise made by UP CEO Jim Vena is hollow. This Railway Age analysis supports BLET’s argument that the promise does not address long-term job risk.
The article by Steve Blinn and Dan Bostek asks, “Could UP+NS restart Class II and III expansion?” It examines not only what the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger would look like on Day One, but also what the 50,000-mile network could look like five or 10 years later.
UP-NS says it is not proposing to abandon or divest lines as part of the immediate transaction. In fact, part of its application to merge reads, “There are no abandonments, discontinuances, or line divestitures contemplated.” However, Railway Age specifically notes that “contemplated” is a key word. “The statement appears in an employee-impact exhibit, not in the list of commitments,” the article notes. “‘Contemplated’ describes today’s plan. It is not a promise about year seven.”
A recent letter from Rep. Val Hoyle (D-OR) urges the federal Surface Transportation Board (STB) to consider the consequences of the UP-NS merger for workers. Rep. Val Hoyle’s letter points out that workers would lose federal job protections if the merged UP-NS were to someday abandon or divest lines as Class II or Class III operations.
“Federal law and long-standing ‘New York Dock Protections’ protect workers affected by rail mergers, and railroads should not be allowed to skirt those protections by selling off lines, transferring work to Class II or Class III carriers,” Rep. Hoyle wrote in her September 3 letter.
The “Jobs for Life” promise is just that, a promise. BLET’s position is that once New York Dock protections expire, or an oversight period established by STB lapses, UP-NS will begin abandoning and divesting lines to slash its workforce.
Click here to read the Railway Age article.