Stop the Rail Merger Coalition

[Stop the Rail Merger Coalition @StopRailMerger]

Listen to the footage @UnionPacific sued to keep private. Here’s how CEO, Jim Vena, talks about fair business competition:

"My brother was a little bit of a wimp, so I figured out real fast that if I hit him with the ball cross-court about 5 or 6 times the first ten plays, he would give me a lot more space. […] In fact, I hit him with the racket one day. […] So at the end of the day, that’s what business is. […] We’re here to win."

[Stop the Rail Merger Coalition @StopRailMerger]

“Sen.-Elect Harriet Hageman told Cowboy State Daily in an email that Chinese imports flooding the market have ‘undermined’ Wyoming’s status as the country’s largest soda ash producer while also pointing to Union Pacific as another strain on the local industry.

Union Pacific is the only way Wyoming’s trona producers can ship their product, and Hageman said the railroad charges about three times more because of its monopoly.

‘These twin pressures have created an impossible situation for Wyoming trona producers to remain competitive at a time when railroads are trying to cement even more control over domestic shipping,’ Hageman said.

Hageman said the Surface Transportation Board is reviewing a proposed merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, and she believed the board should base its decision on the best interests of industries at home.” https://t.co/gvBBPv6kG6

[Stop the Rail Merger Coalition @StopRailMerger]

@UnionPacific claims increased traffic will cover the merger’s $85 billion+ price tag. Traffic at both UP and @nscorp has fallen over the past decade. If the volume doesn’t come, rail customers and consumers foot the bill. #StopTheRailMerger https://t.co/IjhhConu3m

[Stop the Rail Merger Coalition @StopRailMerger]

LISTEN: @UnionPacific CEO MOCKS the @STB_Newsroom's procedure to prevent system-wide meltdowns and unfair abuses:

“I know everybody should say I should  always be nice to the STB. Takes them freaking months and way too long to make a decision, okay? They need to speed up.”

[Stop the Rail Merger Coalition @StopRailMerger]

More than 100 state and federal policymakers, including attorneys general and agriculture secretaries, have urged the Administration to hit the brakes on the UP-NS merger. #StopTheRailMerger https://t.co/DHAdg90ZCK

[Stop the Rail Merger Coalition @StopRailMerger]

Vena Comparing Business Competition to Physically Intimidating His Brother:

“My brother was a little bit of a  wimp, so I figured out real fast that if I hit him with the ball cross-court  about 5 or 6 times the first ten plays, he would give me a lot more space.  […] In fact, I hit him with the racket one day. […] So at the end of the  day, that’s what business is. […] We’re here to win.”
https://t.co/TSToBlpzjM

[Stop the Rail Merger Coalition @StopRailMerger]

Here’s a clip of the video Union Pacific sued to prevent you from seeing.

In his own words CEO Jim Vena says that if shippers don’t work with him to support the merger, “I’ll probably increase everybody’s rates that said they didn’t want a seamless railroad by 3 or 4 extra percent to teach you a lesson.”

Vena is not just threatening retaliation against customers who speak out against the merger. He’s making working families his bargaining chip. Jim Vena’s merger is a bad deal that must be rejected.

[Stop the Rail Merger Coalition @StopRailMerger]

Vena Demanding Support from Customers:

"If I get no questions when I walk out that door, you better be on my side, ’cause that means you’ve got no complaints about what the heck I just said or what  we’re doing.”
https://t.co/UPNvnUpMTz

[Alliance for Chemical Distribution @ACD_chem]

American businesses need reliable rail service and real competition, not threats and fewer choices.

[Surface Transportation Board @STB_Newsroom]

To help ensure a thorough and fair review in the UP-NS merger proceeding, the STB today emphasized that stakeholders must be able to participate without fear of repercussions. The Board denied UP's appeal concerning the SWARS conference video, ordered UP to submit additional documents and information related to allegations of retaliation, and invited stakeholders to share with the Board information regarding any perceived, threatened, or actual retaliation. Today's decision ordered UP to redesignate the SWARS conference video as public. Read more here: https://t.co/I8aBCQvScy

[Stop the Rail Merger Coalition @StopRailMerger]

The Surface Transportation Board is the only agency standing between the @UnionPacific-@nscorp merger and lasting harm to American freight rail. The @STB_Newsroom must reject this deal. #StopTheRailMerger https://t.co/KwiWyQAJyJ

[Stop the Rail Merger Coalition @StopRailMerger]

Five state attorneys general from Montana, Kansas, Iowa, Florida, and North Dakota have written a joint op-ed warning that the @UnionPacific-@nscorp merger doesn’t serve farmers, shippers, or the public interest. It serves Union Pacific’s bottom line. The @STB_Newsroom should reject it. https://t.co/4H2UhdXwfF

[Stop the Rail Merger Coalition @StopRailMerger]

Many rail customers already depend on a single railroad. The UP-NS merger would leave these captive shippers with even less leverage and even fewer options. #StopTheRailMerger https://t.co/IjhhConu3m

[Stop the Rail Merger Coalition @StopRailMerger]

A judge ordered @UnionPacific to make public the video of CEO Jim Vena threatening to raise rates on customers who oppose the UP-NS merger. UP missed its deadline to appeal, then asked for an “emergency” stay to keep it hidden. #StopTheRailMerger https://t.co/7k2g40IzOu

[Stop the Rail Merger Coalition @StopRailMerger]

.@RogerMarshallMD pens op-ed to tell Kansas voters he will fight the disastrous @UnionPacific-@nscorp mega rail merger. "Kansas farmers know competition matters, and when railroads compete, farmers get better service and better prices. When competition disappears, farmers lose. That is why I oppose the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger." https://t.co/AES4FLSk7M

[Stop the Rail Merger Coalition @StopRailMerger]

Stakeholders are asking for protections against the competitive harms of the UP-NS merger. @UnionPacific CEO Jim Vena's answer: "Santa Claus is not real." #StopTheRailMerger https://t.co/pbrTSJySsH

[Stop the Rail Merger Coalition @StopRailMerger]

.@UnionPacific CEO Jim Vena on STB Member Richard Kloster. #StopTheRailMerger https://t.co/pbrTSJySsH