Engineers to railroads: Hey, we get sick too

Frustration is high among tens of thousands of engineers concerning the lack of paid sick time and the tough track BNSF and other railroads are taking in negotiations. The lack of sick time and other quality-of-life concerns about the demanding schedules train crews work took center stage in the negotiations last fall that reached the brink of a strike before Congress intervened and blocked a walkout. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union says the railroads are still asking for too much in return for sick time instead of just providing the basic benefit it believes workers are entitled to. The union’s frustrations generally extend to all the major freight railroads, but Rob Cunningham, one of the union’s general chairmen, said BNSF seemed to be acting especially “hard-headed” in talks last week. The Fort Worth, Texas, based railroad is in the spotlight this past weekend because it is owned by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and thousands of supportive shareholders filled an arena in Omaha Saturday to listen to him answer questions. Buffett didn’t face any questions about the way BNSF is treating its workers, but Buffett takes an extremely hands-off approach to Berkshire’s companies and largely lets them run themselves. In the past, he has declined to get involved in labor negotiations at subsidiaries. “You would think with something as easy as paid sick time, he could just say: ‘Do it. We need to do this. This is the right thing to do,” Cunningham said about Buffett, who is also a major philanthropist. “But clearly he doesn’t practice what he preaches.” BNSF spokeswoman Lena Kent said the railroad has already reached deals to provide sick leave to more than 6,000 of its employees at eight of its unions, and “it is our intention to ultimately have agreements in place covering our entire scheduled workforce.”