650 union railroaders to benefit from new sick leave benefit
ATLANTA, March 10, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) announced Friday that it has reached agreements with two of its labor unions to provide up to seven paid sick days per year to their members. These agreements will provide four new days of paid sick leave while also offering flexibility to use up to three additional days of existing paid time off as sick leave. The agreements were reached with the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, Transportation Workers, Mechanical Department (SMART-MD) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). These agreements will immediately benefit approximately 650 railroaders.
“When we completed national negotiations that provided historic wage increases and platinum benefits, we committed to immediately begin work at the local level to address the desire for paid sick leave and other quality of life benefits,” said Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan Shaw. “We did just that, and with today’s announcement, six of our twelve unions now have locally negotiated paid sick leave benefits.”
Last month, Norfolk Southern announced agreements with the National Conference of Firemen and Oilers to extend paid sick days to 200 Mechanical railroaders, along with the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees to extend paid sick days to 3,000 Engineering craft railroaders. These announcements follow last year’s agreement reached during national bargaining to provide historic wage increases and premium health care benefits to union railroaders.
Norfolk Southern is actively engaging with all of its union leaders on ways to enhance quality of life and work predictability for its craft employees. In the coming months, the company anticipates making additional progress with its unions on shared priorities.
About Norfolk Southern
Since 1827, Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) and its predecessor companies have moved the goods and materials that drive the U.S. economy. Today, it operates a customer-centric and operations-driven freight transportation network. Committed to furthering sustainability, Norfolk Southern helps its customers avoid 15 million tons of yearly carbon emissions by shipping via rail. Its dedicated team members deliver more than 7 million carloads annually, from agriculture to consumer goods, and is the largest rail shipper of auto products and metals in North America. Norfolk Southern also has the most extensive intermodal network in the eastern U.S., serving a majority of the country’s population and manufacturing base, with connections to every major container port on the Atlantic coast as well as the Gulf of Mexico and Great Lakes. Learn more by visiting www.NorfolkSouthern.com.
SOURCE Norfolk Southern Corporation