BLET Job Action - Utah

[Limitedclear]

Union Pacific sues BLET (The following article by Paul Beebe was posted on the Salt Lake Tribune website on October 16. Tim Donnigan is the BLET’s General Chairman on the Union Pacific-Western Lines.) SALT LAKE CITY -- In a move that upends conventional wisdom about labor disputes, Union Pacific Railroad Co. has sued the union representing Salt Lake City-area train engineers who walked off their jobs because they couldn't work as many hours as they wished. UP has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court seeking an injunction against more work stoppages by many of the 200 local members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, who shut down 70 trains for three days in late September. The suit "was in response to a wildcat strike that started Sept. 22 and lasted through Sept. 24," said UP spokesman Mark Davis Friday. "About 80 percent of the engineers organized a sick-out. With the way the Railway Labor Act is written, that is against the law." Tim Donnigan, a defendant and chairman of the union's nine-state Western region, declined to discuss the lawsuit, citing his attorney's advice. "Suffice it to say, I don't agree with what the carrier is doing," said Donnigan, whose office is in Pocatello, Idaho. The company and union are squabbling over the number of hours train engineers can safely work. According to their labor contract, engineers must accept work assignments at any time of the day or week, including weekends and holidays. Citing safety reasons, UP wants to control the number of hours engineers work. Engineers, whose pay is figured on the number of miles they operate their trains, want the option to work as many trains as possible, which may require them to work long hours. Because of the unpredictability of the railroad industry, engineers typically do not work the same hours, but rather are assigned to labor pools and are called to work on a rotating basis. They are also put on "extra boards," which are lists of off-duty engineers who can be called to fill in when someone is unable to work. The number of engineers in a pool or on an extra board affects the number of hours an engineer works and what he or she earns. On average, pools earn between 3,200 miles and 3,800 miles a month. An average engineer's salary is $70,000 a year, according to UP's Davis. Davis said UP wants to regulate the staff assigned to the pools so that the monthly mileage earned by the pool is around 3,200 miles. The union says engineer pools historically have been allowed to work at or even above 3,800 miles a month. It argues UP should regulate the pools at the higher level, which would allow engineers to boost their incomes. "We increased the number of employees that work on trains out of the Salt Lake City terminal," Davis said. "The reason we did that was to enable them to get more rest and quality time with their families. What we are addressing is, from a safety standpoint, the fatigue and quality-of-life issues that have become more and more in the spotlight over the years." The two sides have discussed the issue for more than six months. According to the lawsuit, Donnigan threatened an "insurrection" several times unless the pools were regulated closer to the higher mileage figure. On several Sept. 22 runs out of Salt Lake, the number of absences tripled to levels that UP said were so far in excess of normal that they constituted an illegal strike. In total, the trains were delayed about 250 hours. In addition to issuing an injunction, UP has asked the court to award unspecified punitive damages.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the article, LC.  That's an interesting response by the railroad... especially since they were busy hiring people on not long ago to manage their trains.

[samfp1943]

Thanks for the article, LC.  That's an interesting response by the railroad... especially since they were busy hiring people on not long ago to manage their trains.

Sounds like the Engineers want not only their cake but to be able to eat it too.  Some years back the Fed's cut the national speed limit to 55 MPH. Then made no adjustment in the way drivers were paid (many were by the mile, so the resultant reduction in gross income from the legislated cut in pay/cdut in speed limit, resulted in many instances of 'rule bending' as individual drivers sought to maintain income levels.)  I would say that the Engineers are headed for a pay cut also. You have to balance which you want more, a higher standard of living for your 'family,' or a financial scuffle at a reduced standard of living, and time with your 'family.'  Sounds as if the engineer labor force is painting themselves into a corner? If the Unions loose this one, rngineers at all other Union lines can just get ready, grease up the 'cat,' because they'll get it in the end too.

[Limitedclear]

The interesting question is why is UP seeking to control the engineer's hours and jobs which is typically a function of seniority. The fatigue issue and the earnings debate are typically two sides of the same coin. It will be interesting to see how successful the UP's efforts are to regulate the engineer's desire to work the maximum hours/miles.

LC

[Datafever]

The interesting question is why is UP seeking to control the engineer's hours and jobs which is typically a function of seniority. The fatigue issue and the earnings debate are typically two sides of the same coin. It will be interesting to see how successful the UP's efforts are to regulate the engineer's desire to work the maximum hours/miles.

LC

Would you be willing to elaborate a little bit on your statement that the fatigue issue and the earnings debate are related?  The way I see it, UP doesn't gain financially by limiting the hours worked.  In fact, I could see them actually losing - if engineers are restricted in how many hours they get, then UP will need to hire additional engineers, and each of those additional engineers gets all kinds of benefits in addition to the hours that they each work.

On the other hand, maybe I'm just not seeing the larger picture here...

[mackb4]

 In this sence.Do you like what you make for a living ,or would you like to take a pay cut and try to live the same way you are now ? Or could you live with it ?

 I don't think most people,if not all are willing to take a pay cut.I'm not.

 All the UP is trying to do is 1. flex their muscle . 2. try and show on paper to stock holders a reduction in salary of it's workers.

 We railroaders pay more out in our own retirement plan than does most workers.We don't pay into S.S. hence the more we make while we are working,the more we make in our retirement.Our retirement is based on our "best" five years of salary.How exactly its equated,I'm not for sure.

 But the UP should be glad that their engineers are willing to work "all" they can.Heck the NS holds regular "investigations" on work records to make sure you do.Sometimes I get so run down,it's not funny  .

 All in all as I see it. "It's easy to go up,but harder to come down ".  

[SLOCONDR]

The interesting question is why is UP seeking to control the engineer's hours and jobs which is typically a function of seniority. The fatigue issue and the earnings debate are typically two sides of the same coin. It will be interesting to see how successful the UP's efforts are to regulate the engineer's desire to work the maximum hours/miles.

LC

LC..... suppose it has to do with guarantee?? No guarantee for the pool folks and if they work quite a bit the extra board guys collect the guarantee. By cutting down the miles  worked on the pool and increasing the amount of work for the guys that are sitting on the board, the company (again) wins as they won't pay out as much, if any, guarantee.....

 

SLOCONDR

[beaulieu]

Is the UP trying to keep the pool larger? This would hold down the number of miles any one Engineer would have in a half but total miles for the whole pool would depend on train starts and recrews.