A Union Pacific locomotive at a rail yard in Milpitas, California, US, on Wednesday, July 5, 2023. Union Pacific Corp. is scheduled to release earnings figures on July 26.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The largest rail workers’ union in the U.S. is planning to oppose the $85 billion mega-merger between freight railroads Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern.
SMART Transportation Division (SMART-TD) tells CNBC it will oppose the proposed deal over concerns about Union Pacific’s labor practices.
In a statement, the railroad union urged all parties to use “measured skepticism” in evaluating how the merger could impact rail workers, safety, service quality, and the long-term health of the freight rail industry. The union is currently in labor negotiations with Union Pacific for a new contract.
The union, which represents roughly 125,000 active and retired railroad, bus and mass transit workers — and is part of the larger SMART union which represents over 200,000 workers in all — said in a statement that under its current leadership, Union Pacific has developed “a troubling safety record.”
“Publicly available data from recent years reveals UP leads the industry in accidents, incidents, injuries, and fatalities. This trend reflects a broader corporate culture that, in our view, prioritizes aggressive operating ratios over worker and public safety,” SMART-TD stated.
The union alleges “excessive levels” of harassment and retaliatory behavior against workers by Union Pacific.
Union Pacific did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The merger, which would be the largest buyout ever in the rail sector, would create the nation’s first coast-to-coast freight rail operator, combining Union Pacific’s strength in the western U.S. with Norfolk’s network primarily covering the eastern U.S.
SMART-TD said that Norfolk Southern, “in stark contrast” to Union Pacific, has moved toward more progressive labor and operational policies in recent years, prioritizing training and transparency, and publicly pledging not to furlough conductors or engineers during economic slowdowns.
A spokesman for SMART-TD said the labor union will make its case to block the merger before the Surface Transportation Board, which needs to grant approval for the deal, during an open comment period. The STB is the federal agency that oversees economic regulation of multiple modes of surface transportation, primarily freight rail.
Union Pacific has faced heat from regulators in Washington, D.C., in recent years, including the STB, over its labor practices.
Union Pacific labor practices have been a focus for another major rail union, The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), which represents 32,000 workers and recently voiced its concerns directly to President Trump. In a June 2 letter, BLET National President Mark Wallace asked Trump to take “immediate and decisive action” to help protect national security and American rail jobs at the southern U.S. border with Mexico.
In the letter to Trump, obtained by CNBC, Wallace said Union Pacific, as well as and other Class I freight rails (though it only cited Union Pacific by name), were trying to move and replace American locomotive engineers with Mexican national train crews to operate trains across the southern Border in Texas and potentially expanding into New Mexico and Arizona.
“This mirrors a precedent set by Kansas City Southern (now CPKC), which began using Mexican crews in 2018 to operate trains more than 10 miles into U.S. territory,” the union president stated in the letter.
Wallace stressed it was not only a job displacement issue but also a national security issue. “Recently, a Mexican national employed by Ferromex — the very company Union Pacific intends to partner with — was arrested by U.S. Customs and Border Protection for smuggling migrants across the border by train. American train crews serve as a vital line of defense, providing an additional layer of scrutiny as trains cross into our territory,” the letter stated.
BLET has asked President Trump to instruct the U.S. Department of Transportation to prohibit the use of Mexican train crews within the United States, except those who are American citizens or lawful permanent residents. BLET is also requesting that English be the mandated language for railroad employees, something the department recently required for the trucking industry.
The Department of Transportation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The union also asked the president to direct U.S. Customs and Border Protection to require that all trains entering from Mexico stop at the border, where American crews can assume operation and cease negotiating these terms with the railroads.
BLET is part of the rail conference of the Teamsters, whose president spoke at the Republican National Convention in 2024. The union did not endorse either major party candidate for president in 2024.
On Tuesday, The Teamsters Rail Conference — which represents more than 70,000 unionized rail workers in the U.S. between the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division (BMWED) and the BLET — issued a statement on the merger, saying it would “withhold further comment until we have had the opportunity to meet directly with the executive teams of both carriers. Those discussions will be critical to evaluating our position on this merger and what effect it may have on rail operations, employment, service and public safety,” it said.
