Union Pacific reached sick leave agreements over the weekend with two unions, the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers (NCFO) and the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen (BRC).
UP said the agreements will be effective April 1. They call for the two unions to receive access to up to seven paid days to use for sick leave. The railroad said it would continue to work with other unions to find sick time solutions.
“Union Pacific remains committed to addressing our employees’ concerns,” UP (NYSE: UNP) said in a Monday statement. The sick leave is in addition to paid personal days off offered to UP employees.
NFCO provided further details on its agreement, saying that each union member would be permitted to use paid sick time in half-day or one-day increments.
“I applaud Union Pacific for coming to the bargaining table and adjusting this wrong and making it right,” NCFO President Dean Devita said in a statement Monday.
Devita continued, “It is time for all the railroads to stop avoiding this issue and follow the lead of Union Pacific and join the NCFO at the bargaining table to do what is right for their employees and the NCFO Members. If they continue to refuse, we will take this fight back to Congress and expose any railroad that won’t enter into a sick leave agreement.”
BRC, a division of the Transportation Communications Union, said its agreement provides up to four days of paid sick leave to be paid at 100% of the employee’s rate of pay. BRC members will also have the opportunity to provide memebrs with the opportunity to designate the use of personal leave days for sick leave.
“We are extremely proud of the progress that BRC continues to make on behalf of our members. This agreement recognizes the need for railroad workers to have paid sick leave and secures this very important benefit for our members working at Union Pacific. Union Pacific did the right thing by coming to the bargaining table and reaching a fair agreement. We look forward to continuing to work with the other Carriers to reach similar agreements for all our members.” BRC General President Don Grissom said.
UP follows eastern U.S. railroad CSX (NASDAQ: CSX) in reaching sick leave agreements with some of the railroad unions. CSX announced recently that it reached such agreements with six groups, including BRC and NCFO.
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