This has happened across every railroad system and every employee craft: steam engines were retired with the introduction of diesel-electric locomotives, modern communication networks have replaced antiquated telegraph and signal systems, advanced machinery now performs much of track maintenance and construction and intermodal traffic has arisen as a critical component of the modern railroad business model, even as other traffic, such as passenger rail or coal, has declined or disappeared.

These changes have not always been easy, but they have ultimately benefited everyone – including freight railroad employees – by building a vibrant transportation system that is the backbone of the U.S. economy.

The most important benefit of modernization has been improved safety. Through investment in technology, new equipment and new methods of operation, the railroads have become one of the safest industrial sectors in the United States, and recent years have been the industry’s safest on record. Importantly, America’s railroads also have lower employee injury rates than trucking, airlines, agriculture, mining, manufacturing and construction — even lower than grocery stores.

Even with these advances, the work to improve safety is never finished.

Modernization – with all the benefits that flow from it – is a constant imperative. But outdated agreement provisions fail to account for modern technology and impede rather than support the timely delivery of freight. Some of these rules also degrade rather than enhance employee quality of life.

Reform can and should result in safer workplaces, an improved quality of life, better schedules, expanded skills, greater access to technology and a wider range of jobs that allow employees to go home to their families every night. Securing a future with generous pay, benefits and healthcare can and will remain part of this employment model if railroads succeed in meeting these challenges.

Recognizing rail scheduling complexities and differences that exist across carriers, PEB 250 recommended a final and binding process to facilitate continued discussions and resolution of issues relating to work schedules and job assignments for operating craft employees at the local level:  

1. Work Schedules: BLET and SMART-TD may request local negotiations regarding implementation of programs that provide an option for employees to request scheduled days off after a specific number of workdays or starts; by the BLET’s estimation, these programs could provide up to 90 additional scheduled off days for each employee per year. 
2. Automated Bid Scheduling: The railroads may request local negotiations regarding modernization of job assignments processes. These new systems — which already have been successfully implemented for conductors and engineers at some carriers— replace existing multi-step job displacement processes with more efficient automated processes that assign employees to jobs based on the employee’s preference. 
3. Pools and Extra Boards: The railroads may request local negotiations regarding how employees are selected for specific train runs. In some cases, this would result in the elimination or replacement of extra boards, which do not provide employees with any scheduling predictability, in favor of a more predictable self-supporting pool system. This system, which would include additional opportunities for rest or the ability to pre-arrange a mark off, has been successfully implemented for these workgroups in several locations.  

Once local negotiations have been requested, the parties will promptly begin discussions. The railroads are committed to promptly engaging with the rail unions to reach mutually beneficial agreements and address quality of life issues. In some cases, these discussions have already started.  If local negotiations fail to produce an agreement within six months from the start of bargaining, however, any party may request interest arbitration. During the interest arbitration process, the parties will present their proposals to a neutral arbitrator who will determine whether and how those proposals should be implemented. The arbitrator’s determination would be final and binding on the parties. 

Local negotiations also may take place on other topics of mutual Interest. In addition to the specific rules discussed above, the railroads also expect to engage in local discussions between bargaining rounds with all rail unions regarding other topics of mutual interest.  These discussions, which may include subjects such as paid sickness benefits and other forms of leave, are not subject to interest arbitration.    

• Changes to various provisions that limit subcontracting flexibility in areas that are not core to operations, do not align with the best deployment and utilization of skilled employees, impede the ability to perform regular maintenance and repair and respond promptly to unexpected events, and impose significant additional cost, delay and operational impact throughout the network. 
• Updating provisions that restrict management discretion over the assignment of work or that continue to allow for antiquated methods of distribution of work assignments. Additional discretion in these areas would add flexibility over which crafts (as well as employees with certain qualifications within a craft) may perform work in various circumstances, when such work may be assigned and performed, the duration of time the work may be performed and the circumstances under which work rules may be relaxed to meet customer demands. 
• Eliminating or revising other work rules that inhibit efficient operations and modernizing outdated agreement terms to correspond to current standards in American transportation. This includes relaxing arbitrary geographical limits on work performed by train crews, allowing for greater flexibility to timely deploy well-trained teams to critical projects and sun-setting excessive forms and lengths of furlough protections not enjoyed elsewhere in U.S. industries. 

• Updating provisions that restrict management discretion over the assignment of work or that continue to allow for antiquated methods of distribution of work assignments. Additional discretion in these areas would add flexibility over which crafts (as well as employees with certain qualifications within a craft) may perform work in various circumstances, when such work may be assigned and performed, the duration of time the work may be performed and the circumstances under which work rules may be relaxed to meet customer demands.
• Changing or removing other work rules that inhibit efficient operations and modernizing outdated agreement terms to correspond to current standards in American transportation. This includes relaxing arbitrary geographical limits on work performed by train crews, allowing for greater flexibility to timely deploy well-trained teams to critical projects and sun-setting excessive forms and lengths of furlough protections not enjoyed elsewhere in U.S. industries.