Rail labor is approaching a defining moment unlike any we have seen in the past century.
asserted
we → approach → century
Automation is advancing.
asserted
Automation → advance → ?
Railroads are testing systems designed to operate trains with less human involvement.
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Railroads → test → involvement
Autonomous freight equipment is already in federally authorized testing.
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equipment → authorize → testing
Carriers are pursuing technology that will replace the work of trained engineers and conductors.
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that → pursue → engineers
That future is arriving fastest in freight rail, and nowhere are the stakes clearer than in the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger now before the Surface Transportation Board.
asserted
stakes → arrive → Board
This week marks an important milestone: the one-year anniversary of the “Jobs for Life” agreement between SMART-TD and Union Pacific.
asserted
week → mark → TD
It guarantees that every SMART-TD member employed at either railroad on the day the merger closes keeps a job for life.
asserted
merger → guarantee → life
It is an unprecedented deal, and moving forward, it should be the standard.
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it → move → ?
Some unions have already taken advantage of this deal, such as the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers, the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen, the Boilermakers, the United Supervisors Council of America, the American Train Dispatchers Association, and SMART’s Railroad Mechanical Department.
asserted
unions → take → America
They join the more than 2,000 businesses, unions, farmers, and community leaders who have already told the Surface Transportation Board why they support this combination.
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they → join → combination
Other unions representing employees affected by the merger should follow SMART-TD’s lead, return to the negotiating table, and secure the same kind of written, enforceable lifetime job protection for their members.
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unions → represent → members
If union leaders believe this merger threatens their members’ livelihoods, they should pursue concrete protections equal to the challenge.
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they → believe → challenge
Unfortunately, not all unions impacted by the merger can say the same.
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unions → impact → same
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, among others, has taken to formally opposing the combination, despite the historic progress it brings to our members.
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it → take → members
SMART-TD did not wait for Congress or a federal agency to determine what protections railroad workers should get through this merger.
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workers → wait → merger
We went directly to the negotiating table and secured a written commitment before the merger outcome was decided.
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outcome → go → commitment
The protection is written into our collective bargaining agreement, so every covered member knows on Day 1 exactly what they have.
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they → write → what
We also know the language works because we have already seen it tested.
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it → know → ?
Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena came to UP from Canadian National Railway, where SMART-TD had virtually identical no-furlough language in our Canadian National-Illinois Central Railroad agreement.
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TD → come → agreement
When COVID hit in 2020, other Class I railroads furloughed conductors and trainmen.
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railroads → hit → conductors
At CN-IC, the agreement would not allow it.
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agreement → allow → it
That is the difference between a signed guarantee and a hope for future protection.
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That → sign → protection
As a former CSX locomotive engineer, I have seen the delays that occur when freight has to move across railroads that are not connected from coast to coast.
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that → see → coast
When shipments transfer carriers, trains stop, crews change, and paperwork piles up.
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paperwork → transfer → carriers
Customers absorb the cost through longer transit times and less reliable service.
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Customers → absorb → times
Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern are largely complementary networks, with UP operating primarily in the West and NS operating primarily in the East.
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NS → operate → East
Their areas of coverage have virtually zero overlap.
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areas → have → overlap
Instead, their networks rely on interchanges in places such as Chicago, St. Louis, Memphis, and New Orleans.
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networks → rely → Chicago
The proposed merger would create 88,000 new single-line lanes by allowing freight to move on one connected railroad.
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freight → propose → railroad
The Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern project merger will save shippers $3.5 billion a year and take 2.1 million truckloads off the highway.
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merger → save → highway
They are an opportunity to grow the rail industry and protect union jobs by making rail a stronger competitor to trucking.
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rail → grow → trucking
Rail labor needs that growth.
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labor → need → growth
Our traditional freight base has shrunk as coal shipments decline and natural gas has displaced coal in the power sector.
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gas → shrink → sector
Rail unions cannot afford to ignore new sources of freight.
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unions → afford → freight
A coast-to-coast railroad would give rail a better chance to compete.
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railroad → give → chance
If rail can take trucks off the highways, serve new markets, and provide more reliable service, the industry will have a stronger foundation for future investment and future jobs.
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industry → take → investment
So, the question for Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers leadership and every other union leader opposing this deal should be straightforward: Why reject an agreement that provides written, lifetime job protection for members when the alternative is to depend on future action by Congress, the Surface Transportation Board, or the railroad itself?
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alternative → oppose → Congress
Asking a federal agency to consider additional protections is not the same as placing a signed guarantee in a railroader’s hands.
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agency → ask → hands
Laws and regulatory proceedings can change.
asserted
Laws → change → ?
…and 7 more, not listed.
The Aporia
