BNSF is apparently determined to move ahead with its Availability Policy, and it is already becoming apparent that the Carrier's goal is not to control a perceived problem with weekend layoffs as BNSF representatives argued before Referee Kasher, but rather to further reduce extra boards by forcing exhaused employees to work even more. Your General Committee has adopted the following strategies as recommendations to the membership to insure that our members contribute as little as possible to the Carrier's misguided efforts.
Do not volunteer for any rest day or emergency work. Unless specifically required by contract, our members should not voluntarily work assignments other then their own until the Carrier again recognizes reasonable layoff entitlements for all.
Exercise your contractual right to take up to 48 hours to displace after you acquire displacement rights. It is still unclear whether the Policy considers this 48-hour period as an excused or unexcused absence, but it is our position that no Policy can strip an employee of a contractually guaranteed period pending displacement.
Do not volunteer for any non-contractual positions or duties (such as conducting rules classes or safety marathons, etc.) that relieve Carrier officers from performing their administrative duties. If UTU members are to be held to these unreasonable availability standards, then Carrier officers should not expect our help in their administrative tasks so they will have more time to police and enforce the Availability Policy.
Closely monitor and observe pool and extra board mileage regulations and insist that the Carrier honor those regulations.
Request your maximum available time off each and every month, and do so in a way that gives the Carrier ample time to increase extra boards or whatever else is necessary to grant what precious little time they have determined to be "reasonable." If the maximum available time is not granted each month, file a claim for an additional day's pay for each denied.
Do not allow Carrier officers to intimidate or brow beat you to work faster then is necessary to insure an absolutely safe operation. The FRA has announced what could accurately be termined a safety inspection blitz, due to "an alarming increase" in accidents and incidents that may be at least partly fatigue related. If harassed or threatened by a Carrier officer to jeopardize safety by working faster, document and report the incident immediately.
Do not perform service with less than the prescribed crew consist when refusal is appropriate under Question and Answer No. 6 to Article I of the May 20 (or November 1), 1993 Crew Consist Agreement, reading as follows:
"Q. Can an employee refuse to commence or continue to work with less than the required crew consist or to perform more than the number of initial or final terminal work events described in this agreement?
A. Yes. An employee is not required to work with less than the basic crew except in conductor-only service. A conductor working alone pursuant to Article I, Section 2 can refuse to perform station switching between terinals or to perform more than the number of work events prescribed by PED 219 at initial or final terminals where yardmen are employed and on duty."
Familiarize yourself with your rights and Carrier's responsibilities under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
Re-evaluate participation in work/rest extra board agreemetns, based on the opinion expressed by some members that this may be simply a ploy by the Carrier to put more people in the category of being allowed only one day per month off under the policy.
Let your Congressional Delegation know how you want their full support for the LaTourette Bill (H.R. 3091). A grass roots movement from BNSF service regions calling for support of this Bill is essential to discredit the Carrier's propaganda campaign to minimize the adverse effects of the Availability Policy.
The General Committee has already made a financial commitment to support efforts to publicize the negative impact of the Availability Policy through paid advertising and other media contacts. All such efforts are to be coordinated with other General Committees and the International if possible. If you have suggestions for other strategies, please contact your Local Chairman. Working together I am confident that the Carrier will be made to realize that the Policy is doomed to fail, and good-faith, meaningful negotiation is the only possible solution to their perceived lay-off problems.