As commonly occurs with new agreements, our meal per diem agreement led to a dispute in the early days of its rollout.  No sooner than the ink had dried, the BNSF decided that it would no longer cover daily gym fees for members who opted into the daily meal per diem.  All the while, gym fees were still being reimbursed for those under the actual and necessary expense rule. 

Pursuant to our meeting with BNSF Senior management in February, they have changed their position.  Going forward, those receiving the daily meal per diem in lieu of actual and necessary expenses will, in addition to the per diem, be allowed to expense the cost of daily gym usage while traveling, subject to the limitations in the corporate expense policy.  Though it should not have been a dispute in the first place, we appreciate senior management’s decision to do the right thing in this case.