An arbitration panel will determine whether the carriers’ application of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), under which rail carriers are requiring employees to substitute paid vacation and/or paid personal leave for unpaid leave provided by the FMLA, violates contractual agreements with the UTU.

BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific agreed with major rail unions, including the UTU, to arbitrate the issue, nationally, before a special board of adjustment pursuant to the provisions of Section 3, Second of the Railway Labor Act.

The question to be presented to the three-person special board – all neutrals - is: “Do the carriers’ policies requiring employees to substitute paid vacation and/or paid personal leave for unpaid FMLA leave violate requirements of the national vacation and/or national personal leave agreements?”

Under the FMLA, employees may elect to take up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave to deal with a family emergency, or a personal serious health condition. The law also provides that if employees have a more beneficial arrangement with the employer, the more beneficial arrangement shall take precedence.

The UTU and other labor organizations contend that that national vacation and/or personal leave agreements should not be upset by the FMLA and that unpaid FMLA should be granted without employees having to substitute paid vacation and/or paid personal leave for unpaid FMLA leave.

Should the arbitrators decide that all or part of the carriers’ policies are invalid, then the carriers have agreed to discontinue the invalidated provisions of such policy immediately, and allow the arbitration panel to then determine, “What is the appropriate remedy for employees who were required to use paid leave for FMLA leave in violation of the national vacation and/or national personal leave agreements?”

The parties will jointly determine the three neutrals, with assistance in choosing from the American Arbitration Association, if necessary.

Written submissions shall be made by the parties following selection of the neutrals. Rebuttal submissions and hearings will follow, with a decision due within 60 days following the hearing. It is contemplated the decision will be filed within four months of the choosing of the arbitration panel.

In addition to the UTU, labor unions party to the arbitration agreement include the American Train Dispatchers Association, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, International Association of Machinists, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, National Conference of Firemen and Oilers, Sheet Metal Workers International Association, Transport Workers Union, Transportation Communications Union, and the United Supervisors Council of America.