In a first, some CSX railroad workers to get paid sick leave

News Nation (Associated Press)
February 8, 2023 (Omaha, US)

Several thousand workers at CSX will soon get one of the things that pushed the U.S. railroad industry to the brink of a strike last fall: paid sick time.

CSX announced a deal Tuesday with two of its 12 unions, becoming the first major railroad to offer that benefit that most U.S. workers take for granted.

About 4,000 track-maintenance workers in the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division union and another 1,000 mechanical workers in the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen union will get four days of paid sick leave as part of the agreements. The workers will also be able to convert three of their personal leave days into sick-leave days.

Quality-of-life concerns about the lack of paid sick time and demanding schedules that keep many rail workers on call 24-7 dominated contract talks with all the major railroads last fall. More than half of all the roughly 115,000 rail workers involved voted to reject five-year contracts that included 24% raises and $5,000 in bonuses because of those concerns.

Ultimately, that contract was imposed on all the workers at CSX, BNSF, Norfolk Southern, Union Pacific and Kansas City Southern railroads after Congress and President Joe Biden stepped in to block a strike because of concerns about the potential dire economic consequences.

Tuesday’s deal is especially welcome to rail workers who remained frustrated after the contract was imposed because the new contract didn’t resolve most of their quality-of-life issues. Many workers say their jobs became unbearable after more than one-third of all railroad jobs were eliminated over the last six years as the railroads retooled their operations.

Source
https://www.newsnationnow.com/business/in-a-first-some-csx-railroad-workers-to-get-paid-sick-leave/