(The Associated Press circulated the following article on September 29.)
WASHINGTON — Amtrak asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday to halt a union walkout that could affect intercity passenger service as well as commuter trains in some major cities.
Members of unions representing 8,000 of the passenger railroad’s 21,000 employees said they’ll walk off the job Friday to protest what they call the railroad’s chronic underfunding.
Amtrak President David Gunn has told the unions that the threatened strike would be “ill-advised and illegal.”
Charles Moneypenny, director of the railroad division of the Transport Workers Union of America, said the unions will contest a restraining order. The workers fear a major accident or serious disruption within the next year, and want to alert the public, he said.
Another union, Transportation Communications Union, which represents about half of Amtrak’s unionized employees. said last week it won’t participate in the stoppage.
Amtrak asked for $1.8 billion in federal subsidies in 2004. President Bush proposed half that amount as a way to force the railroad to restructure itself.
The House agreed this month to give the railway $900 million next year. The Senate is proposing $1.346 billion.