BNSF policy criticized by all
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF) has the right to implement its onerous Availability Policy.

The question everyone is asking: Are they dumb enough to do it?

On November 1, a federal arbitrator ruled that BNSF could impose its Availability Policy on operating employees immediately. But the railroad has agreed with its unions not to do anything until at least after the New Year.

Meetings between UTU leadership and BNSF management are being held to try to convince the railroad to agree to an alternative and to never implement the highly resented policy.

In fact, many are saying this is the biggest labor relations snafu in the last 10 years, and it has severely damaged the atmosphere going into national contract talks.

Although the federal arbitrator, Richard R. Kasher, ruled in BNSF's favor at the Public Law Board, he chastised the railroad.

"Implementation of the Availability Policy may, unfortunately, have a long-term negative impact upon the parties' (unions and carrier) relationship," Kasher said.

When the Public Law Board issued its decision, UTU International President Charles L. Little said, "The BNSF has lost a lot more than it won. Unless it decides to do the right thing and pull back this Availability Policy as a gesture of good faith, relations between labor and management will remain poisoned for some time."

Complicating the situation is the fact that BNSF is the only railroad that has broken its agreement to abide by the Work/Rest Principles/Guidelines negotiated by the National Wage and Rules Panel last spring. The result is that any agreement made during national negotiations now carries the taint of BNSF's reneging on work/rest guidelines.

While strongly criticizing BNSF, Kasher said, however, that the Work/Rest Guidelines "did not vitiate BNSF's management prerogative to unilaterally regulate attendance through the issuance of the 1999 Availability Policy." Therefore, although BNSF agreed to abide by the Work/Rest Guidelines, it was legally free to break its word.

Little was a main witness to stop BNSF from implementing the Availability Policy. Kasher wrote in his decision that Little made a strong argument for holding BNSF to its agreement to abide by the work/rest guidelines negotiated at the Wage and Rules Panel.

"Insofar as the 'intent' of the Work/Rest Guidelines/Principles are concerned," Kasher wrote, "the testimony of UTU President Little was persuasive. This Board found his testimony regarding how the UTU viewed the principles and purposes of the Work/Rest Guidelines to be compelling."

Kasher said the board decided not to make a ruling nor issue a finding "regarding the reasonableness" of the BNSF Availability Policy. However, Kasher wrote, "certain provisions of the Policy have the flavor of unreasonableness."

Kasher criticized BNSF for doing little to work with its labor unions. "It is also clear that the BNSF expended minimal effort to work with responsible organization representatives to fashion an arrangement which would satisfy both of these critical needs," he wrote.

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