Statement from BLET National President Hall on decision by freight railroads to oppose shareholder resolutions creating safety committees

The following statement is from Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) National President Eddie Hall on this week’s annual meetings by publicly traded railroads and the opposition by railroad management to safety reforms that would improve railroad operations for both workers and the communities that the railroads serve.

"This week CSX, Union Pacific and Berkshire Hathaway which owns BNSF, opposed shareholder resolutions that would create board committees focused on rail safety. This is incredibly short-sighted and in no one’s best interests -- certainly not the investors’ interests. We’ve all seen how an East Palestine disaster can cost hundreds of millions of dollars. How much more will the next big wreck cost, especially if it’s in a densely populated area?

Freight railroads and their trade association, AAR, love spending money on TV ads talking about safety, but their talk doesn’t match their actions. The railroad industry never misses an opportunity to push back against real reforms that would make rail safer for both workers and the communities served by rail.

For example, the railroads have been slow to adopt the C3RS incident reporting program, modeled after what commercial airlines use.

It also was less than a month ago that BNSF and Union Pacific walked into court in a desperate attempt to block new safety regulations released by the Federal Railroad Administration requiring two-person crews.

The railroads disregard for safety and their reckless behavior is both shameful and dangerous. Ultimately these cynical moves to block safety reforms will be paid for in both blood and treasure.”