Norfolk Southern Joins Other Railroads In Offering Paid Sick Leave

The Norfolk Southern deal covers about 3,000 employees who repair and maintain the track.

A Norfolk Southern coal train passes a small church in Boomer, West Virginia, with snow covering the ground and roof against a blue sky.

Norfolk Southern reached a deal on Wednesday with the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way employees to provide up to seven days a year of paid sick leave.

The deal follows another with CSX in recent weeks. Norfolk Southern is the second-largest carrier in West Virginia behind CSX, with about 800 miles of track.

Like CSX, Norfolk Southern is a major transporter of coal from Appalachia to eastern ports.

The Norfolk Southern deal covers about 3,000 employees who repair and maintain the track.

The lack of paid sick leave was a major issue last year when several rail unions threatened a nationwide strike. 

In December, Congress approved a labor agreement between the railroads and the White House, but it did not include paid sick leave.

Earlier this week, western carrier Union Pacific reached a deal on paid sick leave with two unions.

Author: Curtis Tate

Curtis is our Energy & Environment Reporter, based in Charleston. He has spent more than 17 years as a reporter and copy editor for Gannett, Dow Jones and McClatchy. He has written extensively about travel, transportation and Congress for USA TODAY, The Bergen Record, The Lexington Herald-Leader, The Wichita Eagle, The Belleville News-Democrat and The Sacramento Bee. You can reach him at ctate@wvpublic.org.

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