An agreement between Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers General Committee 001 known as SMART-TD failed to pass ratification from union members Wednesday.
About 70 percent of union members returned the ballots. They were divided by the three crafts — conductors, trainman (brakeman) and switchman — and tallied. Each craft had to reject the agreement by 50 percent of the vote.
“It was encouraging they had that many turnout,” Jim Garrett, a BNSF engineer from Creston, said. “They had to open each envelope one at a time and verify each vote was valid. It was not just a simple yes, no, yes, no count.”
According to a press release from BNSF, the agreement would have allowed for locomotive engineers to operate freight trains with the remote support of a new master conductor, instead of a conventional on-board conductor on BNSF routes were Positive Train Control (PTC) was in use.
PTC is a satellite-guided system of sensors and computers mandated by Congress in 2008. It helps stop, slow and reroute trains.
Auxiliary member Tessa Hull described the outcome as a “huge victory” but the work to ensure that two-man crews remains the standard is not finished.
“We are going to keep getting the word out for HR 3040,” Hull said. “That will make it so the federal government is in control of how many people are on board.”
Hull added the community support helped keep the union and auxiliary members motivated to get the word out and fail the BNSF and SMART-TD agreement.
Union members will continue to work with their representatives as negotiations continue with BNSF to determine the future of how the railways operate.
“We were founded by the railroad and if we lose that, we lose a big part of our history,” Hull said.