The following statement is from Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) General Chairmen representing members at Norfolk Southern -- Dewayne Dehart, Jerry Sturdvant and Scott Bunten:
We’re glad that the battle for control of Norfolk Southern is over for now. It’s understandable why shareholders made a split decision.
Alan Shaw and his team showed real leadership after the East Palestine disaster and made major moves to make the railroad safer and more competitive. However, changes in his team and strategy in recent weeks left many stakeholders and shareholders feeling uncertain about the railroad’s future direction. BLET members in particular were alarmed by Shaw’s pivot to Precision Scheduled Railroading. Ancora’s nominees also backed PSR, a business model that has been proven to return short-term profits, but is unsafe, chases away customers, and wears out rolling stock over the long run. PSR is a recipe for decline and ultimate failure.
Despite our issues with Ancora over PSR, the activist investors made commitments to expand the C3RS incident reporting program systemwide and they were committed to improvements in training programs, among other positive changes. They made it clear they had no issue with maintaining two-person crews.
Anyone with common sense should see that as trains carrying dangerous cargoes get longer the crews shouldn’t be getting smaller. But Alan Shaw, in clear contrast to Ancora’s nominees, is arguably the industry’s leading spokesman in opposition to maintaining two-person crews. He should reconsider that position.
BLET’s leaders look forward to working with the new board and the railroad’s leadership on strategies that will grow the railroad, make it more competitive and safer for both workers and the communities served. We also will not hesitate to call out decisions that are not in the best interests of investors and union railroaders.
