By Railfan & Railroad Staff

Six months after the nation’s rail system nearly ground to a halt as a result of contentious contract talks that focused on things like paid sick leave and more time off, front-line railroaders are securing agreements that are giving them just that. 

This week, three Class I railroads announced new labor agreements for their engineers. BNSF Railway and Norfolk Southern announced that they would both begin offering paid sick leave, while Union Pacific announced a “historic” deal with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen to offer a more predictable work schedule in general. Under the agreement, engineers will work 11 days with four days off. 

“The 11-4 work/rest schedule will be life-altering for employees who are used to working on-call 24/7, 365 days a year,” said BLET National President Eddie Hall. “We applaud our BLET General Chairmen and Union Pacific’s management for this important step that we believe will improve our members’ quality of life. This significant change in scheduling not only will make life better for locomotive engineers and their families, it also should help Union Pacific retain and recruit employees.”

Since last year’s national contract talks, all of the major Class I railroads have announced new deals with additional paid sick leave, but for the most part, it was with unions representing maintenance and mechanical employees. Now train service employees are getting into the mix. With the recent announcement of sick leave at NS, the railroad said 98 percent of its employees now had some form of time off for sickness.

UP CEO Lance Fritz said the deal at his railroad showed that the Class Is were serious when they said they would consider additional benefits last year during the contract talks. 

“Union Pacific values its craft professionals and their candid feedback, which have led to these historic changes, improving the quality of life for the locomotive engineers who move the goods Americans rely on every day,” Fritz said. “Last fall, we promised to address their concerns and find solutions, and we want to thank union leadership for their collaboration on this industry-leading agreement.”