It might sound dramatic but it’s true. My husband is a locomotive engineer for BNSF Railroad and the new attendance policy they plan to implement on February 1, 2022 is nothing short of holding workers hostage! BNSF already implements a policy that makes work/life balance impossible for railroad crews. The new points system they will implement is inhumane!
I have managed hundreds of workers in a corporate environment. I have even managed workers in a corporate environment with an attendance points system in place. I understand the need to balance employee time off requests while maintaining daily operations and hitting profit margins. I get it. This is why I am even more disgusted by this policy. I have been on both sides of an attendance policy and I can’t imagine writing this and thinking it is a good idea. I can’t imagine creating a policy without considering how it would impact the people involved. My people. My team. My crews. The people who make me look good and help me hit my targets every day. They mattered to me and regardless of corporate attendance policies, there was room to be a human being. Railroad workers are human beings and they need our support.
It was August of 2016. My husband and I were looking forward to our first real vacation in 2 years. I recently resigned from my executive position for a casino and my husband was running freight trains between Needles, CA and Bakersfield, CA. My husband arranged for pre-approved paid time off during a week in August. In fact, the time was approved by BNSF in 2015! We had flights booked and a week long hotel stay. New Orleans here we come!
My husband took his final round trip before vacation. BNSF called him to work on a Friday afternoon. He returned home from his round trip after 48 hours and tied up about 11:00am on Sunday morning. He wouldn’t be legally rested to work until 11pm Sunday night, just one hour before he would be on the vacation board at midnight.
We went to bed early because we had a 4am flight on Monday. BNSF woke us up! My husband was getting called just before 10pm Sunday to report for duty at 11:20pm, just 40 minutes before his pre-approved vacation. He made several phone calls to address the situation and ultimately received discipline for “laying off on call.” He was so angry but he never fought it because after 23 years of employment and a spotless record, he was fine with this sitting in his file. He didn’t violate an attendance policy. BNSF didn’t manage their crews properly and punished a good employee for taking his scheduled time off.
Alarmingly, that happened under the attendance policy he adheres to now. He laid off on call because the company expected him to report to work 40 minutes prior to a scheduled vacation, take a round trip that would keep him away for up to 48 hours and cut into his pre-approved vacation time. A trip that would mean we would miss our flight, our hotel stay, and our week long vacation to New Orleans that we already paid for. We would have missed our vacation and lost all that money and time together but the BNSF would have moved freight so all is right with the world.
I was angry then but he was so beside himself that I didn’t push him to fight it. Now, I am speaking out because the new points system they plan to implement would punish him by deducting 15 points, in that same scenario. That is half of his bank! Each employee gets 30 points and all time off that is not pre-approved is subject to points leading to discipline. This includes calling off sick with a doctor note. How can you discipline an employee for rejecting a call that prevents them from taking their scheduled vacation? How can you point someone for missing work with a fever and a doctor note? On a High Impact Day, such as Thanksgiving AND the day after, an employee who is sick with a doctor note would still be suspended for 10 days without pay because they missed 2 high impact days in a row and exceeded their points, even with a spotless employment record and a doctor note. BNSF has a long history of poor crew management, overlooking safety to get the work done, and denying employees the benefits they have earned such as paid time off. Enough is enough!
My husband has been hauling freight for BNSF for 29 years and has never been in trouble or had issues with attendance, with the exception of the time the company screwed him. Back then, he was on call 24/7/365 in unassigned service. Now, with 29 years of seniority and working in assigned service, he is punished more heavily on the new points system for absences Monday-Friday because he does have 2 regular days off. His days off are Saturday and Sunday. After 27 years of unassigned service, we are grateful he has the seniority to hold a position with assigned service and 2 days off. We moved halfway across the country and 1500 miles from everyone we love just so he could have 2 days off. We also have a 2 year old and no family within 1500 miles so our family and household responsibilities are all mine. He is unavailable to his family from 6am-7pm Monday-Friday and his phone is off. There is no taking 2 hours off to run to the doctor. If you work for the railroad, you must take your full shift off. There is no leaving and coming back with your favorite caffeinated beverage after your deep cleaning at the dentist. If you need your teeth cleaned, you have to miss an entire day. My husband works Monday-Friday. Most railroad crews are on call 24/7/365 and Federal Law only requires 10.5 hours of rest before they can be called again.
The new attendance policy overlooks real life. He has Saturday and Sunday off but it’s difficult to find a doctor, dentist, pediatrician, etc. who will see you on a weekend. I have medical conditions that require regular follow up and treatment. If I need to make an appointment and he cannot get pre-approved paid time off, he has to lay off sick. Then, they point him. It does not matter if he has a note proving his spouse has an appointment for an infusion. We aren’t interested in abusing the system by applying for FMLA we do not need. He has an abundance of earned time off that he should be able to take without penalty. We just want him to be able to use the time he has earned after 29 years of service without having to fight the company. I broke my foot in 2 places last year and never saw a doctor because it was impossible to manage my 2 year old, the pandemic, his work schedule, and time at the Podiatrist for MRI’s and casting. I limped around for 8 months until I got an MRI, confirmed the injury, and “healed” on my own. My foot still isn’t right but he does not have the flexibility to keep my daughter so I can fix my broken foot. I am not the only railroad spouse living this reality, chasing my 2 year old with a foot broken in 2 places. We are all struggling! Railroad workers with less seniority have it far worse than us and wonder if they have a future to look forward to. We are in our last 9 years of service.
Railroad workers are battling covid, high blood pressure, obesity, fatigue, sleep apnea, family separation, furlough, divorce, absent parents, emotional exhaustion, alcoholism, and a diet of fast and reheated food. It is an immediate threat to public safety. That’s a lot to for a human being to carry, especially while exhausted and hauling methane fuel through heavily populated communities. This policy does not improve their lives, it punishes them for trying to find balance! Employees work to make a living. They should not be held hostage by an employer.
The unions have threatened to strike and the railroad filed a lawsuit against the unions. It is in the courts hands because railroad workers must adhere to the Railway Labor Act and cannot strike without authorization. I want the public to understand that this is not just workers complaining about an attendance policy. This is a company claiming they cannot conduct business and meet their commitments to their customers due to crew shortages. That is a blatant lie because there are hundreds of furloughed railroad workers across the United States waiting to be called back to work. I just confirmed that there are 87 furloughed employees between San Antonio and Temple, TX alone. Those are just 2 of many terminals across the country! They are short crews here and the BNSF refuses to call the 87 people back. I composed a general letter to BNSF that touches on a few key points and was overwhelmed with gratitude when my friends and family volunteered to send a letter on my behalf. The message we are sending to BNSF is to bring back your crews before you punish the ones who are keeping your railroad moving!
I am asking you to stand with railroad crews because you understand that BNSF has the resources to resolve their crew shortages and service delays by bringing back hundreds of furloughed railroad workers throughout the United States. This would allow them to increase extra board turns and fill job vacancies when another employee is too sick or fatigued to work. They could also expand their allocation for paid time off, making it easier for their employees to get pre-approved time off without having to call in sick to manage daily life and receive disciplinary points leading to suspension. The BNSF punishes workers for High Impact Days which they claim are holidays but many are not and do not get paid as a holiday either.
BNSF “High Impact Days”: New Year’s eve, New Year’s day, Super Bowl Sunday, Easter Sunday, Memorial Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Independence Day, Labor Day (really?), Halloween, Thanksgiving Day, Day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day
If a railroad worker misses these days, they receive 20 points, just 10 points short of pointing out. Once a worker hits 30 points they are suspended without pay for 10 days. How does that resolve crew shortages and help the BNSF deliver freight in a timely manner? It does not. It puts the burden on employees to carry the load so the company sees a greater profit. The company has also changed their policy so that it will take an employee 2 years to recover from an attendance violation rather than one year.
The BNSF general notice states:
“Given the increasing demand for more consistent and reliable service, BNSF must improve crew availability to remain competitive in the industry, and the new Hi-Viz program helps us by incentivizing consistent and reliable attendance.”
This statement overlooks some facts about where they could improve in crew management, ultimately leading to more efficient service for their customers and the consumers who rely on freight service to keep the economy moving. This decision is driven by the need to increase shareholder profits, but it overlooks that their crews are the reason freight moves. Their corporate staff is not trained, certified, and ready to get behind the throttle. Workers need recognition, appreciation, and the ability to manage their personal lives and HEALTH outside of BNSF Railroad!
When was the last time a BNSF attendance policy decision maker struggled to make a dentist appointment because they didn’t know when their next day off would be? When was the last time they spent 3 months away from their spouse and children because they were chasing an opportunity to work in another state after being furloughed at their home terminal?
Their policy was already abhorrent. Beginning in February, its simply inhumane. I ask that you stand with railroad workers and their families. I ask that you support any steps they take to strike in opposition of this policy, even if it means stopping US commerce. If their work is so important that one day without them operating would shut down the economy, they deserve to be heard and BNSF needs to start listening!!! Railroad employees are human beings, not robots!
I ask you to stand in Solidarity with Railroad Crews and send a message to BNSF that we will not tolerate them holding employees hostage for the sake of profits any longer!
#solidarity #unionstrong #blet #railroadfamily #supportlabor #savetherrworkers #hostileworkenvironment #bletauxiliary #railroad #teamster #jobs #americanworker
Freckled and Unfiltered 