UPDATED: 1/26/22
Fort Worth (WBAP/KLIF) – A federal judge in Fort Worth on Tuesday granted a temporary restraining order blocking two railroad unions from striking. It’s a win for BNSF Railway which sought the order after unions, representing conductors and engineers — or about half of their 35-thousand workers — threatened to strike over a new point-based attendance policy.
District Court Judge Mark Pittman said his order does not decide whether a strike would be legal. he said that a strike would cause BNSF “substantial, immediate and irreparable harm.”
The order also requires the unions to prevent their membership from striking.
That new attendance policy, which takes effect on February 1, is a point system that gives railroaders 30 attendance points.
Each day of the week is worth a certain amount of points.
To take a day off, union workers involved lose the point value assigned to that day of the week. If they run out of points, they are disciplined. Points can be earned back by working 14 straight days.
BNSF Railway is one of the nation’s largest, operating almost 33,000 miles of track. Pittman had expressed concern about a strike further disrupting the supply shortage.
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Original post: 1/25/22
Fort Worth (WBAP/KLIF) – A threatened strike by two unions representing BNSF Railway conductors and engineers could further disrupt the supply chain, according federal judge in fort worth who will decide on a request to block the strike.
The unions – The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen,a nd the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD) – are threatening to walk off the job over a new attendance policy that they say will penalize workers for missing work.
Lawyers for the Fort Worth-based railway argued on Monday that the policy is needed to ensure workers are available and to keep the company competitive.
Meantime, family members of the workers protested outside the courthouse Monday saying the new policy is a safety issue for their loved ones.
Judge Mark Pittman who heard the case said,”It couldn’t come at a worse time” noting massive supply chain issues nationwide.
He’s expected to decide by 5pm today. .
