Post-Tribune |

Union rail workers demand paid sick leave from IHB, CN railroads at Hammond picket

Holding signs bearing slogans including “IHB is greedy” and “Stop the war on railroad workers,” about two dozen picketers gathered outside the Indiana Harbor Belt main office on 161st Street in Hammond early Wednesday morning to demand paid sick leave from the IHB and Canadian National Railway.

The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters organized the event and framed their demand as a push for increased fairness and workplace safety. The BMWED represents workers who build and maintain tracks, bridges, and other railroad infrastructure in the United States.

“The job has always been that you show up to work whether you’re sick or injured, you’re just expected to,” BMWED director of Organizing Thomas Kirby told the Post-Tribune. “But since COVID, it’s come to more of a head where you just can’t come to work sick and expect that your buddy’s gonna get the cough, along with you. They might possibly die.”

Sick leave was a major sticking point in last year’s negotiations between rail industry unions and companies. The BMWED was one of four rail unions out of 12 whose members voted down a tentative deal with the companies, setting the stage for a strike whose impact would reverberate in nearly all sectors of the economy. Congress and President Joe Biden intervened in December, invoking the federal government’s authority to block transportation industry strikes and imposing a labor agreement.

The BMWED has struck sick leave deals with some of the nation’s largest railroads, including Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, and BNSF. Those victories have left Kirby optimistic that IHB and CN will “come around.” The BMWED had another informational picket scheduled for Wednesday afternoon at CN’s Homewood Yard in Homewood, Illinois.

Disputes between rail industry employers and unions over sick leave reflect a larger conflict over the industry’s approach to staffing and logistics, which in recent years has pivoted to “precision scheduled railroading,” a system wherein freight trains run on fixed schedules instead of departing once a sufficient number of loaded cars are available, as was previously the norm. The approach has lead to longer trains, tighter timetables, and fewer staff — a report by the Bureau of Labor Statistics found that between November 2018 to December 2020, the rail industry lost 40,000 jobs. Maintaining strict train schedules with fewer workers has made industry leaders resistant to relaxing their attendance policies.

Industry practices came under increased scrutiny after 38 cars of a Norfolk Southern freight train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, requiring the evacuation of around half of the town’s 5,000 residents. Just two Norfolk Southern rail workers and one trainee were operating a train over 100 cars and 9,300 feet long, a fact that labor leaders and industry critics used to argue that precision scheduling had made the industry more dangerous. The company agreed to give some workers paid sick leave later the same month.

“All of them, not just IHB, everyone across the board, especially the freight railroads, have whittled down their workforce so far that disasters like East Palestine happen that are dangerous to our workers our members and the community at large,” BMWED communications director Clark Ballew told the Post-Tribune.

The only way to keep rail workers and communities safe, the picketers said, is for rail companies to invest more resources in staffing and offer employees more flexibility.

Among the event’s attendees were two members of the Hammond Common Council — Pete Torres, D-2nd, and Scott Rakos, D-6th — who showed up to voice their support for the union’s demands.

“It’s unbelievable that they don’t get paid for their sick days,” Torres told the Post-Tribune.

Terry Steagall, a retired union steelworker, attended the picket to show solidarity with the rail workers. Improved safety in the rail industry means the same for the steel industry, he said, since the former relies on the latter to transport molten iron and other hazardous materials between facilities.

“They’re making working conditions that aren’t acceptable to today’s standards,” he said. “And we’re out to change that corporate greed needs to go away.”

In response to a request for comment, CN spokesman Kevin Donahue noted that the company has reached an agreement with 8 out of the 12 principal rail unions, adding that it is “negotiating consistent terms with the other unions.”

IHB did not return a request for comment.