Hours Rule Change Pits Railroads Against Unions

U.S. Class Is ask federal court to require UTU, BLET arbitrate disputes

An impending cap on hours worked by train crews has major U.S. railroads wanting to alter pay agreements to reflect the curbs, and they have asked a federal court to quickly step in.

It boils down to carriers trying to curb pay when new rules mean workers might not be available as often, while unions want to protect current pay levels even if the law constricts their actual working time.

The changes in the work-hour rules were meant to help safety-threatening fatigue in train crews who often put in long hours after they report to work, counting time spent waiting or in transit to their trains, train operation time and then sometimes additional “limbo time” waiting for replacement crews after they reach their federal operating limits and the trip back to their cars so they could go home.

The new rules, which take effect July 16, would cap rail worker time in several ways – at 276 hours per calendar month, 12 hours a day and no more than six or seven consecutive days depending on the intervening time off. The new law also eliminates limbo time, instead counting a worker on duty between the time he or she clocks in at the assembly point and returns back there at the end of a shift.

Those workers are paid under complex contract terms that factor in seniority, whether this is a regularly assigned job or labor pulls for as-needed train runs or to fill vacancies.

But since the hours law changes mean carriers could not keep workers on duty as long or slot them for assignments with the same availability as in the past, railroads and union officials have been negotiating since the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 was passed last fall over how that affects existing contracts for how to pay workers.

All five Class I freight carriers filed a complaint June 29 in Fort Worth, Texas, against the United Transportation Union that represents train conductors and some other workers, and against the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers.

The railroads said they intend to implement the array of hours-of-service changes by July 16, as required under the RSIA. But they say unions have not negotiated contract changes in pay the carriers want to make, and “have refused to agree to arbitration” of those issues.

“The carriers contend they are under no obligation, under the (labor contract) agreements, to increase pay to ensure that such employees continue to receive the same total compensation despite working less than prior to the implementation of the RSIA changes,” the railroads said in their court filing.

They asked the court to find that the unions must negotiate the hours-related disputes, and send any of them that are unresolved on July 16 to arbitration.

Unions have not yet filed a response, but they are fighting back. UTU International President Malcolm Futhey, in a statement on the UTU Web site criticized the suit as “the carriers' attempt to put the entire burden of the new hours-of-service limitations on the backs and pocketbooks of their employees."

While this dispute may end soon, it could raise tensions around the bargaining table when railroads and unions begin negotiating their next multi-year contracts later this year.

 

 

Source: Journal of Commerce