Teamsters Rail Conference says it opposes UP-NS merger plan

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes (BMWE), the two unions that make up the Teamsters Rail Conference, announced yesterday their opposition to the proposed merger of Union Pacific Railroad and Norfolk Southern Railway.

The unions called on the Surface Transportation Board to oppose the merger proposal, which UP and NS will send to the federal regulator tomorrow.

The BLET and BMWE announced their opposition after conducting a five-month investigation of the merger's impact, meetings with union members and direct negotiations with UP CEO Jim Vena. The unions concluded that a merged railroad of that size would be less competitive with other forms of transportation and expand "unsafe" railroad practices, according to the unions' joint press release.

The unions' leaders said that other rail unions' agreements with UP that promise job security protections after the merger contain large loopholes.

"We refuse to accept the same terms in return for our unions’ support for the merger,” said BMWE President Tony Cardwell. Cardwell, BLET President Mark Wallace and Teamsters General President Sean O'Brien said the following in a prepared statement that the Teamsters Union strongly opposes the merger as currently written.

“[T]he Teamsters Rail Conference represents nearly 20,000 Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern workers — over half of their unionized employees. These hardworking men and women make these railroads run. We cannot and will not support any agreement or merger that fails to safeguard their lives and livelihoods," they said.

Until UP and NS address their concerns, the Teamsters "will do everything in our power to block this harmful merger," they said. Specifics about their merger concerns can be reviewed here. 

The UP-NS combination has attracted support from other unions — including the nation's largest rail union, the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Works-Transportation Division (SMART-TD).