SALT LAKE CITY -- Train engineers picketed a Union Pacific Corp. shareholders meeting on Friday, protesting the company's experiment with remote-controlled locomotives in switchyards, a wire service reported.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers says Union Pacific is not being cautious, and is moving toward abolishing the trade.

Union Pacific executives said Canadian rail yards have used the same technology for 10 years while improving their safety record.

Conductors at some rail yards are wearing remote controls to maneuver trains during loading and unloading.

Engineers say conductors, who maintain freight trains while en route, are not licensed to operate locomotives and are inexperienced in safety matters. Union Pacific says it trains conductors and gives them a modified license.

Union Pacific chief executive Dick Davidson the company plans to cut its work force by 2 percent this year, after last year's 4-percent reduction.

But, with thousands of engineers retiring, Union Pacific still has plenty of jobs for the trade, said Robert W. Turner, senior vice president for corporate relations.

Veteran engineers can earn more than $100,000 a year, Turner said. But younger engineers said that a two-tier pay system caps their salaries at about $60,000.

On Thursday, four people were killed and more than 150 injured when an Amtrak train crashed in Crescent City, Fla., after the engineer threw on the emergency brakes just before the derailment because he saw misaligned tracks ahead, investigators said.