Long ago at a union meeting we were told that the goal of the union was to grow employment and they intended to force railroads to hire more through the addition of "safety" regulations and they have long lobbied for that and in recent years it has been working.
Many of the new regulations employees don't want to follow and some say are stupid, but at meetings we are reminded of their true purpose and are instructed to put up with them and follow them. Ya gotta go to the meetings folks. It's for our common good.