News / Lawmakers and union come out in support of UP-NS rail merger

Photo: Alan Stoddard, Dreamstime.com

Another union has given its backing to Union Pacific’s multibillion-dollar tie-up with Norfolk Southern, with two state attorney generals (AGs) also coming out in support of the deal.

That news comes just days after nine AGs slammed the acquisition as anti-America First.

International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB) president Timothy Simmons said there was now a “shared understanding” between the railroad and workers on the future.

He added: “The commitments already in place lay the groundwork for a stronger, more resilient and more opportunity-rich future for every worker serving the railroad. The IBB looks forward to continued collaboration with UP and NS as this merger advances.”

The union joins others, including the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers, Brotherhood of Railway Carmen, and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation workers’ transportation division (Smart-TD) in approving the merger.

The latter had initially opposed the $85bn merger plan, claiming it would exacerbate problems brought about by UP’s willingness to sell key rail infrastructure in pursuit of short-term profits, its “troubling safety record”, and “hostile approach to worker engagement”.

The association warned: “The prospect of UP operating a coast-to-coast network intensifies concerns that the company will continue to lose focus on shippers’ needs in favour of operational centralisation and financial engineering.

“By leasing off infrastructure crucial to servicing industries (especially the first-mile/last-mile context), UP not only threatens availability of work for trained, FRA-certified union members, but endangers the safety and efficiency shippers depend on to keep operations running.”

This echoed the concerns raised by nine attorney generals this month that the merger could upend the Trump administration’s purported key policy position “America First” by worsening service quality, and potentially could “compromise our national security”.

However, there was a change of heart by Smart-TD, the country’s largest rail union, after a late September agreement with UP that its train and yardmaster service members would have job protection for the length of their careers, following closing of the deal.

Union president Jeremy Ferguson said: “For generations, railroaders have worried about what mergers might mean for their jobs and whether or not they would be given the opportunity to reach retirement on the rail.

“We can say with confidence that the biggest railroad and the biggest rail union in America are breaking new ground. We are protecting jobs, protecting families, and protecting the future of the US supply chain.”

Having faced a barrage of opposition on announcing the deal, winning over yet another union will be a boost for UP and Norfolk Southern as they wait through what is expected to be a two-year process before government regulators sign-off on the deal.

And, following opposition from nine Republican AGs this month, Chris Carr, AG for Georgia, home state of NS, and Mike Hilgers, AG for Nebraska, home state of UP,  joined West Virgina AG John McCuskey in backing the deal.

In a letter to the Surface Transportation Board, the three AGs said they hoped the board would approve the tie-up, believing it “will only further strengthen the efficiency, reliability, and effectiveness of our freight rail system”.

They added: “We know President Trump agrees; when recently asked about it, he declared it ‘sounds good to me’.”

If these endorsements are wins for those pushing a deal – including 99% of the railroads’ shareholders – the Transport Workers Union (TWU), which represents workers at NS, and the Railroad Workers United group remain opposed.

John Samuelsen, president of TWU, said: “Union Pacific has a shameful safety record and was caught by the federal government trying to meddle in a safety audit. There is no world where Union Pacific should be controlling a coast-to-coast rail network.”

He added: “A supersized UP would be catastrophic for TWU rail workers, shippers, and the safety of millions of Americans who live and work near freight rail lines. Union Pacific cut railroad jobs even as other freight railroads ramped up hiring after the pandemic.”

Cargo owners have also proved broadly sceptical about declining levels of competition on US tracks, with the more than 30 railroads of the 1980s having been cut to the four – BNSF, CSX, NS, and UP – and soon maybe three.