The adverse impact of furloughs will be lightened for some CSX workers under an innovative furlough retention board agreement negotiated by General Chairperson John Lesniewski (GO 049), with assistance from General Chairperson John Hancock (GO 851).
This furlough retention board agreement also is being offered by CSX to other UTU general committees.
The agreement is voluntary between general committees and CSX, but first must be offered by railroad management. If offered, CSX general chairpersons will discuss with local chairpersons whether to place it into effect at their employee supply point.
The agreement is similar to a continuous employment board agreement negotiated with Union Pacific by UTU Assistant President Arty Martin while he was an International vice president.
Attempts are being made to gain similar agreements with other major railroads, including BNSF and Norfolk Southern.
These agreements do not impact the operation of extra boards.
Under the CSX agreement, furloughed employees placed on each furlough retention board will be guaranteed four days of work each bi-weekly pay period, will retain health-care insurance, will continue building seniority and Railroad Retirement credits, will remain current for rule examinations and qualifications, and will be recalled to active service under a pre-determined mathematical formula.
Lesniewski said the CSX furlough retention board is an attempt "to lighten the impact upon our cut-off and furloughed brothers and sisters to the extent possible, given that the carrier literally does the hiring and firing."
In negotiating these agreements, UTU officers have stressed to the carriers that short-term economic gains from furloughs could backfire during the peak vacation season and implementation July 16 of new hours-of-service regulations -- both of which will limit availability of qualified operating crews.
Agreements such as Union Pacific's continuous employment boards and CSX's furlough retention boards lessen the likelihood that younger employees will depart the railroad permanently, triggering, eventually, an expensive search for new hires who then must be trained from scratch.
UTU members placed on continuous employment boards or furlough retention boards also are able to pursue part-time employment elsewhere, with knowledge that their families are protected, and that when the recession ends, they will return to full-time employment with the railroad.
"Given that train and engine service employees work mostly unsupervised, keeping the morale of the workforce at high levels is crucial to providing world-class customer service and ensuring safe operations," Martin said.
