(Added policy history, union response, Canadian Railroad US employee details, changed story identification tag)
Lisa Bertline and Rod Nickel
(Reuters) – Railroad operator CSX Corporation will change its attendance policy for short, unscheduled medical absences next year.
CSX is one of the railroads using a so-called points-based attendance policy to reduce unscheduled absences. Under long-established policies, workers are awarded points for unscheduled absences and risk being suspended or fired. They came under fire during the pandemic when industry-wide job cuts aimed at bolstering profits left fewer workers to manage a surge in COVID-related shipments.
Railroad unions are protesting the lack of federal intervention in sick time policies outside the Capitol and in cities across the country on Tuesday. On Dec. 2, U.S. President Joe Biden breaks a deadlock that could halt shipments of food, fuel and medicine, stranded commuters and damage the U.S. economy if sick leave agreements are not changed. signed a bill to
When the pandemic hit and freight volumes surged, affected rail workers said these policies discouraged them from seeking medical care or taking time off to recover from illness.
Under a new policy that goes into effect Jan. 1, CSX said Tuesday it will not award points if an employee calls shortly before their scheduled work day due to medically ill health. .
CSX’s new attendance rules will be “non-disciplinary and non-punitive,” the company said in an email to Reuters.
Four of the 12 unions involved in the latest rail contract negotiations did not include paid short sick leave and attendance points used by CSX and the two largest railroad companies in the United States, Union Pacific and Berkshire. We declined a recently negotiated deal because our system couldn’t handle it. BNSF owned by Hathaway.
Under the new CSX policy, points earned expire on a 12-month cycle instead of accumulating indefinitely, and employees receive credit for working without absences and can use them. You can erase points. CSX said it would not apply points if an employee was absent due to hospitalization or emergency treatment.
Union Pacific said it plans to begin working with the union on quality of life issues in the coming weeks.BNSF did not immediately respond to questions about its health absentee policy. Officials at the major rail unions did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On Friday, more than 70 lawmakers called on Biden to take administrative action to guarantee paid sick leave for railroad workers.
Meanwhile, on December 1, Canada gave workers on railroads and other regulated workplaces at least 10 days of paid sick leave per year.
Canada’s two largest freight rail lines, Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway, employ approximately 10,000 people in the United States. Collective bargaining with U.S. workers will determine sick leave requirements, the railroad said.
(Reporting by Lisa Baertlein from Los Angeles and Rod Nickel from Winnipeg; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Matthew Lewis)
