BNSF, two unions negotiate sick leave benefits

BNSF Railway Co. today announced it reached agreements granting individual paid sick days with the Transportation Communications Union (TCU) and the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers (NCFO).

The TCU agreement applies to in-sourced intermodal equipment operators, which represent a majority of TCU members at the Class I, BNSF officials said in a press release. Other TCU members already have paid sick days as part of their existing agreement.

Building on existing paid time off and sickness benefits, each TCU-represented, in-sourced, intermodal equipment operator and NCFO member will now receive an additional four paid days off to use as sick days and gain the ability to convert up to three personal leave days to sick days each year, according to BNSF.

"We hope these are the first of a series of new agreements across our other crafts who did not already have individual paid sick days prior to the recent national bargaining round," BNSF officials said. "Today's agreements are part of a collaborative effort aimed toward modernizing the work environment and addressing quality of life."

BNSF is the latest Class I to negotiate paid sick leave benefits for rail union members. Earlier this month, CSX, Union Pacific Railroad and Norfolk Southern Railway announced similar agreements.