WASHINGTON – Greg Regan, President of the Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the AFL-CIO, issued the following statement after Norfolk Southern announced that Shareholders voted to elect 10 of the railroad’s 13 leadership nominees, including CEO Alan Shaw:
“In an industry that is nearly wall-to-wall unionized, the voice of rail workers and their unions is strong. For years, we have spoken out with resounding force about the need for operational changes in the freight rail industry as service, staffing, and safety have deteriorated.
“When Ancora began proposing a hostile takeover of Norfolk Southern, we spoke out and urged the railroad’s Shareholders to resist the attempt to oust CEO Alan Shaw. Today, the votes are in. Shareholders stood with rail labor by voting to retain Mr. Shaw. While we certainly do not agree with Mr. Shaw on everything, we asked for him to remain because we believe he has made meaningful safety improvements since the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio last year. We also believe his leadership would better serve rail customers, workers, and Shareholders in the long run. Any way you slice it, Mr. Shaw is better than Ancora’s proposed alternative.
“While retaining Mr. Shaw, Shareholders elected three of Ancora’s nominees for the Board, indicating that there is an appetite for change not only among rank-and-file workers, but also at the highest levels of the company. While we support the safety reforms that are currently being implemented, we have made it clear that additional changes are still needed. We firmly believe that progress cannot be made by relying on old tactics such as Precision Scheduled Railroading and strongly caution the railroad against embracing any version of PSR.
“We look forward to working with all members of Norfolk Southern’s leadership team and Mr. Shaw to execute this mandate for change in a way that retains shareholder value, benefits the workers who make the railroad profitable, and ensures the long-term success of the company.”
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