TYE Permanent Transfer Requests

Agreements are in place throughout the BNSF System that provide employees the opportunity to transfer from one seniority district to another. To gain more information about the transfer process, please click on any of these:

Seniority Transfer Request Form

Process – How do I submit a request to transfer?

Can the request be declined?

Where do I send my transfer request?

When will I know if I can transfer?

What Agreements cover the transfer process?

TYE Permanent Transfer Process

Each Agreement requires the employee to send a transfer request to the General Chairman, or designee, in charge of the territory where you’re currently working and craft which you are requesting transfer in. Some General Chairmen have specific forms and processes to follow, but basic information should include:

• Name
• Employee ID
• Seniority date
• Location/Seniority District transferring from
• Location/Seniority District transferring to
• How they can contact you – home address, telephone number, email address.

See Where Do I Send My Transfer Request for General Chairmen’s contact information.

Once the General Chairman receives the transfer request, they send it to Labor Relations for handling. Labor Relations sends the requests to the Division on a quarterly basis - usually during mid-point in the quarter. Keep in mind that the General Chairman handles the transfer request paper work, but depending on craft, may not be involved in the decision making process.

Each Division receiving transfer requests reviews the manpower needs at their location, hiring plans and the employee’s attendance, work and safety records. The Division General Manager, taking this information into consideration, decides if the transfers are approved or denied.

The decision is then sent to Labor Relations where the approved list of transferees is reviewed for consistency and then forwarded to the General Chairman who in turn will contact the employee and inform them of the Carrier’s decision.

Conditions Where The Transfer Request May Be Denied

Submitting a transfer request does not guarantee someone can relocate.

• Hardship Transfers – The term hardship transfer does not exist in the transfer Agreements. While the BNSF strives to accommodate people facing difficult situations, the request must be handled in accordance with the appropriate agreement, taking into consideration any other factors that the BNSF uses to make a determination.  

• Primary Recall Agreement – The former ATSF properties and the engineers’ craft have primary recall agreements that require people to protect their seniority at the hiring or promotion location for a set number of years. For that reason, requests for transfer may be denied until the obligation of primary recall is fulfilled.  

• Hiring In Lieu Of Transferring – The former UTU BN properties have a transfer agreement wherein transfers to a location must be approved in seniority order. If the location has a hiring plan or has already hired sufficient people, they have the option to decline the transfer based on the fact they will hire in lieu of allowing transfers. If this option is taken by the location, junior employees cannot transfer to that location until the situation changes.
  

• Less Than Three (3) Years Seniority – Divisions develop hiring plans to cover projected manpower needs for the upcoming years. They have a set number of slots to fill and a set budget to train the new people who fill those slots. Due to unexpected fluctuations in traffic patterns, there may be times when business will slow down, but the majority of the time every person on their team is needed. The expectation is that people who fill the slots want to work where they accepted the employment, but unfortunately some people mistakenly accepted the job to assure immediate employment and then request a permanent transfer to a preferred location.
  
  Because of the set training budgets and the length of time it takes to hire and train new team members, Divisions are rarely prepared to replace an employee as soon as they complete their training. This fact – coupled with the fact there are often senior employees also requesting transfer – often results in a newly hired employee’s transfer request being declined.

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