Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen
Matt O. Wilson |
GENERAL COMMITTEE OF ADJUSTMENT |
VICE CHAIRMEN |
|
General Chairman |
801 CHERRY ST., SUITE 1010 Unit 8 |
SECRETARY-TREASURER
J.H. NELSON GALESBURG, IL 61401 |
BLET, Labor Win Big in FMLA Arbitration
CLEVELAND, December 8 — In a decision received this afternoon, a panel of
three arbitrators has ruled that the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
policies of the four largest Class I railroads (BNSF, CSXT, NS and UP) violate
the industry’s national vacation and personal leave agreements. Among the
victors are BLET members working for these railroads.
The BLET, along with ten other unions, had challenged carrier policies that
required workers to use paid vacation and personal leave when taking FMLA leave
in certain circumstances. Nearly two years ago the United States Court of
Appeals for the 7th Circuit affirmed a lower court ruling that the law did not
permit the carriers to override collective bargaining agreement provisions that
gave workers control over scheduling paid leave. When the Supreme Court declined
to hear the industry’s appeal, the stage was set for the arbitration of the
matter.
The arbitration panel held that “the parties’ contracts at issue here do, as the
District Court posited … ‘grant employees rights in addition to the accrual of
vacation and/or personal leave, such as the right to determine when to use their
accrued vacation and/or personal leave.’ … In all cases, employers may not
unilaterally change scheduled vacations without good cause and appropriate
notice. … [O]nce those days are set, no unilateral employer changes may occur
without meeting specified contractual standards. These are not insignificant
contractual benefits.”
The panel also found that “clear contract language and similar consistent
arbitral precedent protect use of personal leave days and individual vacation
days from arbitrary or unreasonable unilateral employer action unrelated to
operational needs or other contractual standards.” The Award states “The
carriers’ policies requiring employees to substitute paid vacation and/or paid
personal leave for unpaid FMLA leave do violate the requirements of the national
vacation and/or national personal leave agreements.”
According to the Arbitration Agreement, the Award becomes effective on December
16, 2008. On that date, the Agreement provides that “the carriers will
immediately discontinue the invalidated provisions of [their] policies.” The
arbitrators then will consider “the appropriate remedy for employees who were
required to use paid leave for FMLA leave in violation of the national vacation
and/or national personal leave agreements.” Assuming no agreed-upon extensions,
initial submissions on that question will be due January 15, 2009, and reply
submissions on January 30. A hearing then would be held by February 13, with a
decision to be issued by April 14.
BLET National President Ed Rodzwicz congratulated those who made this victory
possible, and thanked the BLET membership for their patience. “I want to
congratulate, first and foremost, Mike Wolly, Margo Pave and the legal team who
put on a great case, and our General Chairmen who persisted in keeping this
struggle alive on the property and providing us with the data we needed to win.
I also want to express my most sincere thanks to the Brothers and Sisters on
BNSF, CSXT, NS, and UP for hanging in there throughout the many years that have
passed while we fought to vindicate their vacation and personal leave rights.”
The Award is available for download as a PDF from the BLET website at:
http://www.ble-t.org/pr/pdf/JSCaseNo3750.pdf