A new discipline agreement was incorporated in the 2025 National Agreement. All discipline related documents (Notice of Investigation, postponement, transcript, etc.) will be sent to the charged employee via E-mail starting on January 1, 2026. To ensure you receive these documents, if charged by the Carrier, please make sure you have a non-UP E-mail on file in your SAP Portal.
Follow the steps below, if you are unsure of how to update this information:
- Login to MyUP
- Open the menu on the lefthand side of the page
- Click on Employee
- Click My Information (Second bullet from top)
- Click ‘My Profile’
- On the new page that opens, in the right hand column next to email addresses, select “add” then “other E-mail”
- Enter email address and click “Save”
To update an old non-UP E-mail address that is still on file, click the pencil to the right of the E-mail address and update it to a current address.
On Dec 29th, SMART-TD International in concert with the 4 General Committees on UP property filed a complaint in the US District Court of Nebraska seeking to set aside the award issued by SBA 1208. Attached is the filing in its entirety.
In summation, the organization argues that the carrier and the neutral exceeded the authority of the board. They particularly take issue with the following:
- Disposing of existing agreements that provided for extra rest or “smart rest”
- Failing to provide extraboard employees with scheduled days off as provided by Article V of PEB 250
- The award provision that allow for “any qualified employee” to fill conductor vacancies having no basis within the PEB
General Chairman Edington writes:
Brothers and Sister, I hope all of you are enjoying the holidays and time with family.
We filed in the District Court of Nebraska today to vacate SBA 1208 (Articles V-VII Arbitration Award). All the General Committees are listed as parties along with the International. We are pursuing three counts: the permission to use “any qualified employee”; the elimination of extra rest; and no scheduled rest for extra board employees. Our dissenting opinion is also included at the end of the attachment.
Under Section 9 of the RLA, the entire award would be vacated if the court ruled in our favor on just one of the counts. We haven’t gotten any timeline on the court proceedings from legal counsel yet. I’ll pass those along when they are received.
Negotiations over implementation of the Award are still scheduled for January 12-13. We have a duty under the RLA to bargain in good faith until the court makes a final ruling and will continue to do so.
We don’t anticipate anything being implemented on property until the lawsuit is resolved as a ruling by the courts could negate anything that is implemented.
Updates will be sent out as they are received and, as always, don’t hesitate to contact the office if you have any questions.
Fraternally, Luke Edington
General Chairperson
SMART TD GO-953
Attached is the 2026 Vacation Request Form for those with Boone conductor vacation. It must be mailed to the listed PO Box and received no later than December 5th, 2025.
A tentative agreement has been reached with the carrier. Take note that this is the 5 year contract negotiations and is separate from the ongoing negotiations regarding scheduled-off days, automatic bid scheduling and other issues addressed in the SBA 1208 award.
Brothers and Sister,
We’ve reached a Tentative Agreement with Union Pacific that, if ratified, will end this round of Section 6 bargaining. I’ve attached a synopsis of the Tentative Agreement and the TA itself. Please update your contact information with the Local’s S&T immediately. Voting will be conducted electronically so it’s important that our members contact information is up to date in our system. If your information is incorrect, you will not receive a ballot.
Luke Edington
General Chairman
The following is from General Chairman Edington regarding the arbitration award for Articles V-VII of the PEB. The link to the award in its entirety follows.
Brothers and Sisters,
Attached is the final award for the Article V-VII arbitration. There’s been a wave of misinformation circulating on social media about the work/rest award that will be imposed on SMART-TD. For starters, we do not agree with the neutrals award and have dissented.
In early February of 2024, when bargaining first began, Union Pacific proposed an 11/4 work/rest model that would’ve combined all classes of service, eliminated daily preference, penalty claim payments, and all work rules associated with yard/road demarcation.
Immediately after receiving this proposal, we polled the membership to ensure we were seeking the work/rest model they preferred.
The poll was sent to 5,348 members with an email address on file. Out of 1,129 respondents to the poll, the 6/3 work/rest model was the preferred model, along with the following:
- 70% said voluntary rest days would improve their quality of life—49% by a lot and 21% by a little.
- 48% said they preferred voluntary rest days – 23% preferred mandatory rest days and 18% preferred no change to the current system.
- 97% said maintaining current earning potential was a top priority.
- 83% said that the ability to plan reliable personal or family time was very important (65%) or important (18%).
- 69% said that scheduled rest days should be a high (43%) or somewhat (26%) bargaining priority.
- 64% said that scheduled rest would make them either certain to stay (29%), most likely to stay (15%), or that it was a good factor (20%) for retention.
After reviewing the polling data, we spent months in active negotiations on alternative work/rest schedules that would satisfy what the polling data reflected. The Carrier would not consider a 6/3 work/rest model and would only discuss a mandatory 4/1 or 5/1 on the pools, provided the pools protect irregular service. That left us with two options, accept an absolutely terrible agreement or follow the procedures outlined in Public Law 117-216, which requires binding arbitration.
The voluntary rest day model in the award does provide flexibility for members in pool freight they did not previously have. Coupled with the regulation factor, which keeps the home cycle time for pool employees very close to what they have today, our members in pool freight will also have 91 voluntary days off to use at their discretion. The trade turn option is another tool for our members in pool freight that will give them some additional control over when they will be called to work. All of which are not subject to any discipline under Carrier’s attendance policy.
In addition to these provisions, the award provides the following:
- Preservation of current forfeiture rules on guaranteed boards.
- Furlough Pay Protection: If an employee is furloughed for fewer than 14 days and recalled for even one day, they receive 14 days’ pay
- Preserved earning capability.
- Preserved all classes of service (yard, extra board and pool freight kept separate from each other).
- Voluntary SMART Rest that ensures extra board employee’s earnings are preserved without any deduction in guarantee when utilizing such rest.
- Prearranged layoffs on each respective board increased to 8% (more than doubled the current thresholds).
- Maintained our ability to regulate non-guaranteed pool freight.
- Preserved automatic mark-up provisions.
Before jumping to conclusions based on online chatter, we urge every member to read the award for themselves. Don’t buy into false narratives. Don’t let division be the story. We can’t (and have no intention to) tell you how to feel about this award.
Please take the time to examine the award carefully. You will see that we took your opinions and your requests into this fight. This is your union. Stay informed. Stay engaged. And never let someone else speak for you.
Fraternally,
Luke Edington
General Chairman
SMART TD GO-953