Employees say Union Pacific’s PSR, longer trains and job cuts are dangerous

(Source: Television station KUTV, July 16, 2019)

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — Union Pacific Railroad derailments have made a lot of headlines in our area in recent weeks. Last week, a train in Nevada left the tracks. Pictures show mangled automobiles on the ground and hanging from the toppled railcars. In recent weeks, KUTV investigative reporter Matt Gephardt has spoken to five former and current employees of Union Pacific. Each spoke on a condition of anonymity to avoid punishment from the railroad company. Each echoed the same thing: Union Pacific has implemented new practices and procedures that the workers feel are not safe. 

Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) is also getting national attention. Last month, rail workers and their union reps were in Washington, D.C. taking their concerns to Congress.

“This push for longer trains with fewer crews has reached a breaking point,” Dennis Pierce, National President of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, told the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials

Full story and video: www.kutv.com

Wednesday, July 17, 2019