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At the start of last week’s Winslow City Council meeting, Mayor Tom McCauley read a letter he had drafted by city staff. The letter, addressed to senators Martha McSally and Krysten Sinema and representatives Paul Gosar and Tom O’Halleran, expressed McCauley’s desire to keep two-person crews standard on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railroad.
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Recently, the Trump administration pulled an Obama era initiative that, if passed, would have mandated two-person crews for all railroads. A petition created by railroad employees has been circulating on social media and through email campaigns with the goal to collect 100,000 signatures by the June 30 deadline in order to get a response from the White House, according to BNSF engineer, Houston Carrell.
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McCauley’s letter aimed to raise awareness of the concerns to Arizona’s Congressional Representatives.
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In the letter McCauley noted, “Two-man crews afford a critical measure of redundancy that remains essential to the safety of communities throughout the southwestern United States and provide a critical foundation to the workforce and socioeconomic stability of our city. The contribution of the railroad workers provides a sustainability to our local economy and culture of our city. In my opinion lessening the two- man crew would pose devastating impacts on our community, our region, and the railroad industry itself.”
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The letter also noted that one-man crews would only prove to exacerbate the challenges currently faced in the City of Winslow and place further demands on local resources and emergency personnel.
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According to McCauley, “O’Halleran responded and is on board and agrees that we need to mandate two person crews. I will meet with Sinema’s representative next week and hope that we can get her to back us as well.”
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