In a victory for the BLET and other rail labor unions, the Surface Transportation Board this week ordered Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern to make public the merger-related job impact data that the railroads had inexplicably labeled as “highly confidential” in their merger application. It makes railroaders wonder what UP and NS are trying to hide.
The BLET was part of a coalition of labor unions that filed a motion with the STB to re-designate the information so it can be available to the public. The unions successfully argued that similar job data was publicly disclosed in prior merger proceedings but was improperly designated as confidential by UP and NS.
Once released, the detailed job impact data will shed light on how the proposed merger would affect craft and management employees of UP and NS, including the number of positions that would be abolished, created or designated as transferred because of the proposed merger as well as the job transfer locations for certain positions.
In its July 22 decision (PDF), STB ordered the railroads to disclose the data by July 27.
Locomotive photos by Cory Rusch, BLET Division 659