TTD in the news

Reported by Joanna Marsh for Freightwaves.

Two unions are still critical of BNSF’s controversial attendance policy, saying recent adjustments aren’t enough to overcome its shortcomings.

“BNSF’s proposed changes to its HiViz attendance policy are unimpressive. These changes do nothing to address the policy’s fundamental flaws,” said Greg Regan, president of the Transportation Trades Department, which is affiliated with the AFL-CIO. 

BNSF implemented the “HiViz” policy, which stands for high visibility, on Feb. 1. The railroad has said the policy aims to provide more transparency on absences as well as more predictability for crews around when they will go to work. But union members contend that the policy shortchanges rest time and penalizes employees for time off.

Reported by Justin Franz for Montana Free Press.

Montana’s largest railroad company is making changes to a controversial new employee attendance policy after receiving pushback from railroaders and unions. But even with the changes, labor officials remain unimpressed and said BNSF Railway’s new policies could lead to unsafe working conditions on the railroad.

Railroaders already lead chaotic work lives — one day they might go to work at 9 a.m. and the next at 5 p.m. — but BNSF employees alleged that the company’s new “Hi-Viz” attendance policy made it even worse by penalizing them for taking time off for a family emergency, illness or fatigue. Union officials say more than 700 railroaders have quit since the policy was implemented in February. Among those who walked was Brady Wassam, a Columbia Falls man who came from a family of railroaders and worked for BNSF for eight years.

Reported by Marybeth Luczak for Railway Age.

BNSF now plans changes to Hi-Viz. In a recent video on the BNSF YouTube channel, VP Transportation Matt Garland discussed them. He first thanked employees by saying, “I know we’ve had a tough start to the year, and I know we’re all feeling that. We all have a lot on our minds, and I appreciate all that you’re working through, and so do our customers.” He explained that over the past three months, “many employees raised concerns” about Hi-Viz details. “We heard you,” Garland said. “We’ve especially heard your concerns about the initial conjunction penalty associated with vacation and personal days. We’ve also heard a lot of thoughtful suggestions about ‘good performers’ having the ability to earn bonus points and the possibility of being able to bank more than 30 points.

America’s Workforce Union Podcast.

TTD Secretary Treasurer Shari Semelsberger discussed the new wave of worker empowerment during the pandemic and the path forward for working people in America.

Reported by Eleanor Mueller for Politico.

In the scramble to bring prices back down, one obstacle is slowly garnering more attention: a decimated railroad workforce, which agency officials say is impeding efforts to transport goods and, in doing so, further hobbling an already-delicate supply chain.

Over the last six years, Class I freight railroads — which include BNSF Railway, CSX Transportation, Kansas City Southern Railway, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific — have hemorrhaged a combined 45,000 workers, according to the Surface Transportation Board. That’s nearly 29 percent of their workforce.

Reported by Justin Franz for Railfan and Railroad Magazine.

BNSF Railway will make adjustments to its new attendance policy that has been heavily criticized by union officials and railroaders alike.

Under the “Hi-Viz” attendance policy that went into effect on February 1, railroaders had a bank of 30 points. If they missed a call or couldn’t work, they lost points. If they lost all their points they could be punished or terminated. The policy has been called “draconian” by labor officials and the railroad’s unions almost went on strike over the policy until a judge blocked such action.

Reported by Bill Stephens for Trains.

BNSF Railway has modified its controversial Hi-Viz train crew attendance policy in response to employee feedback, but officials at two unions say the changes fall far short of what is needed.

The changes, which take effect June 1, were announced in a video released on Friday.

BNSF launched the policy in February, saying it would help improve crew availability, enable the railroad to remain competitive, and give employees greater visibility into their schedules. But union leaders have been highly critical of the program and threatened to strike over the matter.

Reported by Josh Funk for AP.

BNSF railroad is tweaking its strict new attendance policy that upset workers, but the unions that challenged the rules since they took effect in February say the changes don’t go far enough.

The railroad has told employees that starting next month it will make several small changes in the formula it uses to determine whether workers are missing too many shifts.

The unions say the rules still do too much to encourage workers to show up when they are sick or fatigued. They also argue the rules have contributed to more than 700 employees leaving the railroad at a time when BNSF is struggling to hire.

Reported by David Sparkman for Material Handling and Logistics.

The service deterioration on the nation’s Class 1 railroads is approaching the point of becoming a national security issue, shippers informed the Surface Transportation Board (STB) at hearings held April 26-27, where they described how it already has added to the supply chain crisis, inflation and damaged the nation’s ability to recover economically from COVID-19.

In March, rail shippers also presented similar information at an STB hearing on reciprocal switching, and now the crisis has even seized the attention of the highest levels of the federal government. On April 26 White House press secretary Jen Psaki mentioned the STB hearing at her daily press briefing and on that day Pete Buttigieg became the first secretary of transportation to testify in person before the STB.

Reported by Justin Franz for the Montana Free Press.

Brady Wassam knew what to expect when he took a job on the railroad. Wassam, 30, of Columbia Falls, came from a family of railroaders who have spent years moving freight over the mountains of northwest Montana. 

“It’s a family affair [and] I knew what I was getting into,” he said. “I knew I would get called to work in the middle of the night. I knew I’d have no regular schedule. I knew that because that’s how my family lived.”