UP actions prompt departure from safety program

In a letter dated Jan. 25, the general chairperson of SMART Transportation Division’s GO 577 informed Union Pacific’s senior vice president of operations that the union was withdrawing from any participation in the company’s safety program effective Feb. 1, 2023.

GC Roy Davis served UP’s brass notice, saying that he and the union would no longer be part of the hypocritical exercise of hiding behind the existence of the UP’s Safety Program. In his letter, GC Davis said the program is, “nothing but a ruse that enables the Carrier to avoid proper scrutiny by the Federal Railroad Administration by putting ‘lipstick on a pig.’ “

In the letter posted below, Davis states that carrier’s decision to run single-person remote crews on the Houston hub is what forced his hand.

SMART-TD is unwavering in our commitment to protect the safety of the essential brothers and sisters who delivered the carrier a year of record revenue and profits in 2022, and we stand with GO 577 in its decision to protest this unilateral decision on the part of the Union Pacific Railroad.