# BNSF malarkey



## Save Our Trains Michigan (Sep 20, 2007)

BNSF malarkey

By Paul Thompson

UTU International President

BNSF, the railroad wanting to eliminate the conductor’s job, repeal the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), and abolish COLAs, is now urging employees to turn their backs on the UTU and drink the BNSF management Kool Aid.

Only then, warn BNSF managers with evangelistic fervor, will UTU-represented members find economic salvation.

These masters of malarkey at BNSF are warning UTU members that if they don’t oppose the Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act, aimed at bringing engineers and conductors home in one piece, then their jobs may be in jeopardy. (Translation: profits over safety.)

From the other side of its mouth, BNSF -- along with other railroads -- is begging Congress for a $400 million annual tax break and trying to dodge paying back to shippers more than $6 billion in fuel overcharges; and all the while trying to take your job, repeal FELA and abolish your COLA during periods of contract renegotiation.

And while BNSF paid its CEO some $13 million last year, and handed out million-dollar bonuses to senior executives, BNSF is refusing to address entry level pay for conductors, refusing to provide additional training in the face of terrorist threats and a string of deadly accidents, refusing since 1994 to raise the daily meal allowance, and insisting on perpetuating limbo time that contributes to dangerous fatigue.

Then there is the matter of stepped-up discipline by BNSF and other carriers that has our members working in constant fear of arbitrary punishment for minor infractions of operating rules, reporting personal injuries, and even seeking an occasional day off.

If an anti-union employer such as BNSF knocked on my door with a promise of doing me good, I would run for my life -- and that is exactly what you should be doing in the face of this BNSF malarkey.

Here is why you should turn your back on BNSF and not on your union -- why you should urge your congressman to support the Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act, which would:

* Eliminate limbo time;

* Guarantee 10 hours undisturbed rest, and one 24-hour off-duty period every seven days;

* Strengthen whistleblower protections and permit conductors to refuse to authorize use of unsafe or hazardous equipment;

* Require mainline switch monitors in dark territory;

* Establish minimum training standards;

* Require a doubling of FRA safety inspectors by 2011;

* Require a study of cab ergonomics and require emergency breathing apparatus in all cabs;

* Put an end to harassment and intimidation of workers who report personal injuries.

This is the strongest rail safety legislation introduced in Congress in more than three decades.

The Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act, which BNSF wants you to oppose, is about train crews going home from their jobs to their families in one piece.

Now why would an employer, who claims to be on your side, oppose that?

September 20, 2007


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## Anthony (Sep 20, 2007)

Everybody has an opinion...


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## Sam Damon (Sep 22, 2007)

If UTU really wanted to yank BNSF's chain, they'd insist on testing their membership under some of the new fatigue performance testing machines.

Here's a brief news snippet concerning a sheriff's department in WV's northern panhandle which will be using this technology during traffic stops. The machine costs about a half million dollars.


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