Union News

ditor's Note: There is some real politics afoot here. And while we agree that these funds are better spent on the front-line workers than on executive leaders bonuses, this is window dressing. That $900 amounts to less than a 50 cents per hour wage increase over the course of a year of a full-time (2000 hour) job. It is part of the propaganda to make Amtrak management appear to be a waste of public money and a drag on workers wages. In fact, the average Amtrak executive compensation (including base salary and bonuses) is $230,927, with the highest paid at $652,000. Compare this with what the Class One freight execs pull down., for example, Trump's buddy at Union Pacific, James Vena. His yearly compensation is $17.64 million, more than 30 times that of the Amtrak CEO. In addition, Vena owns $27.61 of corporate stock. Perhaps we are missing the forest for the trees when we focus on the relatively paltry compensation of Amtrak executives.

Amtrak unionized workers to receive $900 bonuses

Progressive Railroading / December 12

More than 18,000 Amtrak unionized workers will receive a $900 bonus to recognize the railroad's record year of ridership and revenue, President Donald Trump's administration announced yesterday.

At the urging of the Trump administration, Amtrak's executive leaders will forgo 50% of the bonus packages that would have been paid under the previous executive bonus structure. In addition, Amtrak's board agreed to eliminate long-term incentive bonuses for senior executives and voted to distribute those funds to Amtrak unionized front-line workers, according to a U.S. Department of Transportation press release.

“We applaud Amtrak and its executive leadership team for doing the right thing,” said U.S. Transportation Deputy Secretary Steven Bradbury, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s representative to Amtrak's board.

Some unions endorsed the decision to distribute the $900 bonuses to workers.

"Amtrak is making real progress. The system is seeing record ridership and revenue, expanded service and improved customer service," said Mark Wallace, national president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, in the press release.

SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson added: "SMART-TD appreciates Amtrak’s decision to prioritize the men and women who keep our passenger-rail system running every day. Providing front-line employees with a meaningful bonus is an important acknowledgment of their dedication and service, especially during the holiday season."

The missing piece in the Senate committee hearing on the challenges facing newly unionized workers

Earlier this month, the Republican-led U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) notably held a hearing on labor law reform that sought to both identify problems workers face when they seek to unionize and explore possible solutions.

A major focus of the hearing was Senator Josh Hawley’s (R-Mo.) Faster Labor Contracts Act—bipartisan legislation to improve the process for reaching initial collective bargaining agreements when workers first organize a union. Currently, it is a common tactic for employers to slow-walk the bargaining process because there are no penalties for doing so, and delay frustrates workers and undermines their union. Research shows that only 36% of newly organized bargaining units achieve an initial collective bargaining agreement within a year, and a third of newly organized bargaining units still do not have a first contract after three years.

The Faster Labor Contracts Act would require parties to begin bargaining promptly after a union is certified, and if bargaining fails to produce an agreement within 90 days (or longer if the parties agree), the parties would be required to engage in mediation. If mediation was not successful, an arbitration panel would be convened to hear from both parties and render a final and binding decision on the terms of an initial collective bargaining agreement. Through this process, workers would be assured of reaching an initial collective bargaining agreement—the reason they sought to organize a union—within a reasonable period of time.

Addressing the first contract problem is a vitally important part of the labor law reform discussion, but it is only one piece of the puzzle—it will not fix our outdated, failed labor law and provide a real opportunity to unionize for the millions of non-union workers who want a union. Senator Hawley’s Faster Labor Contracts Act is pulled directly from the more comprehensive Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act. The PRO Act would not only provide first contract mediation and arbitration but also rein in employer interference in the election process, establish monetary penalties for violations of the National Labor Relations Act, and override state “right-to-work” laws, among other reforms.

Curiously, there was no mention in the HELP Committee hearing of how the Trump administration is already undermining what the Faster Labor Contracts Act aims to do. The legislation relies on the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) to provide the mediation and arbitration services that are at the heart of the legislation. But President Trump has tried to shutter the agency and the agency has only survived because of two lawsuits against the Trump administration to stop the agency’s closure. Scores of experienced mediators have left the agency, and FMCS has eliminated many of its services and limited the number and type of mediations it will do in its diminished state. President Trump’s budget again proposes to shutter FMCS—he has proposed only enough money to close the agency down permanently in his FY 2026 budget.

Without a robust, government-supported mediation and arbitration system, the Faster Labor Contracts Act would not be able to live up to its promise. It is no answer to say that employers and unions can hire mediators and arbitrators in the private market. While there are many excellent mediators and arbitrators in the private market, the cost can often be prohibitive, with fees that often run into thousands of dollars per day of services.

Nor should the parties have to foot the bill on their own. Since 1935, our federal policy has been explicitly to “encourage[e] the practice and procedure of collective bargaining.” Congress established the FMCS in 1947 to assist employers, workers, and unions in the collective bargaining process in furtherance of this policy and to promote industrial peace. Over the years, FMCS has provided important services at no cost to the parties, including early intervention in new collective bargaining relationships and training on the collective bargaining process along with mediation and dispute resolution services. Before the Trump administration essentially shut them down, FMCS helped reach first collective bargaining agreements at the first unionized Apple Store and at the National Institutes of Health, among others. All of these services are vital to supporting the collective bargaining process and furthering our national policy in support of collective bargaining.

Of course, FMCS’s operations could be improved—that’s the case with every agency, business, and organization. And the agency has suffered from the lack of a Senate-confirmed director for years. But the bottom line remains that if we are to offer a genuine solution to the first contract problem, an independent agency to assist the parties in the collective bargaining process must be restored.

Editor's Note: Ninety-three engineers, three and a half percent. It is progress, yes, but measured in inches while the cost of living runs miles. Still, even the smallest contracts are reminders that nothing moves.. not a commuter line, not a nation, without the hands on the throttle.

Metra reaches tentative pact with locomotive engineers

Progressive Railroading

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) announced yesterday it has reached a tentative agreement with Chicago commuter railroad Metra.

If ratified, the pact would provide 93 BLET members with a 3.5% general wage increase.

The agreement covers BLET members who operate the Metra-UP Lines and are represented by the Union Pacific Northern Region General Committee of Adjustment, BLET officials said in a press release yesterday.

Rail merger: Lifetime job is great “until you are stuck i n it"

Stuart Chirls / September 24

Union Pacific this week traded job protections for the backing by its largest union of its proposed takeover of Norfolk Southern.

The tie-up would create a transcontinental freight rail colossus with more than 50,000 employees operating 52,000 miles of track in 43 states. About 80% of those workers are unionized.

That could be problematic as far as job guarantees are concerned, since a railroad typically assigns an employee just about anywhere on its system, particularly if that person, such as SMART-TD train crew and yardmasters, is lower down on the seniority list.

Editor's Note: The gilded architects of this latest merger would have you believe that binding two leviathans together will birth a golden age of efficiency. They forget.. or pretend to forget, that the railroads were never built for stock tickers but for people, towns, and industries that depended on them. Rose reminds us that today’s consolidation fever is not the byproduct of necessity but of boardroom vanity. No crisis demands it, no shipper asked for it, and no worker will be spared its fallout. A transcontinental railroad may look majestic on a PowerPoint slide, but on the ground it risks being too big to operate, too fragile to endure, and too indifferent to serve.

Opinion: UP-NS merger would hurt industries White House aims to promote

Trains Turntable: Commentary from Matthew K. Rose / September 22

Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern railroads have proposed a merger — what could possibly be wrong with a transcontinental railroad?

First, there exists no financial crisis in the rail industry, like that which drove the significant consolidation in the freight rail industry over the last 30 years. The proposed merger is driven by management and a micro-minority of activist stockholders, not for the benefit of shippers, employees, or even most investors.

Second, risk of merger integration and ongoing operational failures of a nationwide rail network is significant. Transcontinental railroads, given their size, are too big to run but not too big to fail.

Finally, the merger puts industrial and commodity shippers at a disadvantage — the very U.S. industries that President Donald Trump is seeking to promote. Let me explain.

UP-NS merger ‘sounds good to me,’ Trump says

STB Proposes Slightly Longer Schedule for Review of Merger

RWU Statement on the Firing of STB Member Robert Primus

Railroad Workers United (RWU) is angered and offended by President Trump’s
illegal firing of Surface Transportation Board member Robert Primus on August
27th. We condemn this action and demand Primus’ immediate reinstatement.
The official reason cited - that his position is being eliminated - is utter
nonsense. The Board was established more than three decades ago as an
independent federal agency, tasked with providing regulatory oversight of the
nation’s railroads, and was designed by legislation to function with a total of
five members. Under the Interstate Commerce Commission Termination Act of
1995—the law that established the STB—Board members can only be removed
for cause: specifically, inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office.
Primus had an exemplary record while serving at the STB. He had been an
outspoken voice for the rights and wellbeing of shippers, passengers, and
railroad workers. Primus was known for his outspoken views, including criticism
of the Class One carriers when they failed to provide adequate customer
service to the nation’s shippers, did not live up to their commitments to
Amtrak, or disrespected railroad workers. Primus was the lone member of the
STB to vote NO on the most recent Class One rail merger, the 2023
amalgamation of the Canadian Pacific and the Kansas City Southern.
It is obvious to railroad workers what is going on here. Powerful corporate
interests are at work undermining the government institutions that were set up
to regulate and oversee the actions of those same powerful interests. It is no
coincidence that the STB will soon be hearing the case of the proposed
mega-merger of the Union Pacific and the Norfolk Southern. The STB has the
final word as to whether or not this merger is allowed to proceed, based upon
its weighing of the evidence if such a merger is in the interests of shippers,
passengers, workers, industry, the nation’s economy, and the rail industry itself.
In the interest of the law, the integrity of our government institutions, and the
ability of the STB to function and to make informed decisions affecting the rail
industry in the coming years, we demand that Robert Primus be reinstated.
Statement adopted by the RWU Steering Committee 9/3/2025

Editor's Note: The FRA just canned RSAC... the only official space where railroaders, unions, suppliers, and regulators hashed out safety policies as equals. No explanation, no warning.. just a termination letter in the mail, traded in for the pretext of a “refresh” that reeks of contempt. RSAC wasn’t a rubber-stamp, it was a lifeline for frontline perspectives to shape real safety. Now that lifeline’s cut. When workers are erased from safety conversations, accidents stop being anomalies, they become inevitabilities. If FRA wants “refresh,” we insist on real safety, not cynical political theater

FRA disbands Railroad Safety Advisory Committee

Trains Magazine / August 13th

The Federal Railroad Administration today disbanded its Railroad Safety Advisory Committee as part of a broader Department of Transportation push to bring federal advisory panels in line with a presidential executive order.

“These committees are long overdue for a refresh. Many have not held a single meeting in over a year, while others have not produced recommendations or advisory reports. Worse, some committees have lost sight of the mission, and have been overrun with individuals whose sole focus is their radical DEI and climate agenda,” a Department of Transportation spokesman said. “By updating the FACA committees’ membership, President Trump and [Transportation] Secretary [Sean] Duffy are refocusing these committees on what matters.”

The Transportation Trades Division of the AFL-CIO, an umbrella group representing railroad labor unions, said it was alarmed by the decision to disband the FRA panel.

Editor's Note: Great to see that OSHA is still able to levy big fines against rail corporations who violate the law and rail workers rights. Tragically however, once a rail worker wins a case such as this, the carrier generally appeals to the courts and drags the case out, sometimes for years. We will try to keep tabs on what happens to this one.

US Department of Labor orders railroad company to reinstate worker, pay over $300K in back wages, damages, attorney’s fees

Seal_of_the_United_States_Department_of_Labor image

Department of Labor / August 6th

A federal whistleblower investigation found that Union Pacific Railroad Co. violated the Federal Railroad Safety Act by terminating a railroad engineer after the employee reported and sought medical care for a work-related injury.

The department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has ordered Union Pacific to reinstate the employee, and pay back wages, interest, compensatory and punitive damages, and attorney’s fees, totaling over $300,000.

OSHA’s Whistleblower Protection Program enforces 25 whistleblower statutes that protect employees from retaliation for reporting violations of various workplace safety and health, airline, anti-money laundering, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, criminal antitrust, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health insurance reform, maritime, motor vehicle safety, nuclear, pipeline, public transportation agency, railroad, safety and health, securities, and tax laws.

Editor's Note: This isn’t a merger, it’s a monopoly pre-nup. With a $2.5 billion breakup fee and guardrails against competing bids, the deal is engineered to protect shareholders from disruption, not workers or the public from harm. The Surface Transportation Board may still be reviewing, but the real decision-makers have already hedged their bets and written their own escape clause.

With breakup fee, UP-NS merger agreement anticipates potential blows to deal

Trains Magazine / July 30th

The $85 billion Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern merger agreement includes a $2.5 billion breakup fee that anticipates potential twists and turns that could play out over the next two years.

The agreement has an expiration date of Jan. 28, 2028, but will be extended automatically if the Surface Transportation Board merger review process takes longer than anticipated.

NS is not allowed to seek better offers from potential suitors. But NS can consider unsolicited bids, at least until its shareholders vote on and approve the proposed UP-NS combination. If the NS board determined that an unsolicited bid was superior, UP would have the right to match it within five business days.

Average CEO Pay is Growing and Fueling Economic Inequality

In 2024, CEO pay at S&P 500 companies increased 7% from the previous year—to an average of $18.9 million in total compensation.

The average CEO-to-worker pay ratio was 285-to-1 for S&P 500 Index companies in 2024. The median employee would have had to start working in 1740 to earn what the average CEO received in 2024.

Full Information: https://aflcio.org/paywatch?link_id=2&can_id=d2375111b6dccf811665f6d611c182fe&source=email-do-you-know-how-much-the-average-ceo-makes&email_referrer=email_2822552&email_subject=do-you-know-how-much-the-average-ceo-makes&&

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