(The Associated Press circulated the following story on June 16.)
ALTOONA, Pa. — Norfolk Southern Corp. signal workers went on strike briefly Thursday because, the union said, the company was turning to subcontractors to fill jobs.
Members of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen took to picket lines at 5:45 a.m. Thursday at about 20 Norfolk Southern sites, including a rail yard in Altoona.
A federal judge in Roanoke, Va., issued a temporary restraining order a half-hour later, sending striking workers back to their jobs, said Rudy Husband, a spokesman for Norfolk Southern in Plymouth Meeting.
The strike had no effect on the railroad’s operations, Husband said. Jerry Boles, a vice president at the union’s headquarters in Front Royal, Va., said all union members returned to work an hour after the strike began. It was unclear exactly how many workers walked off the job.
According to the union, the strike was part of an ongoing dispute over the subcontracting of signal installation work on a Norfolk Southern line between Atlanta and Chattanooga, Tenn.
“We’ve exhausted everything. We’ve had numerous conversations and a lot of meetings,” another union vice president, Floyd Mason, said in a phone interview. “We tried to work this out until yesterday.”
Husband said the company, headquartered in Norfolk, Va., was still in negotiations with the union. Norfolk Southern caught word of a possible labor action Wednesday night, he added.
A hearing is scheduled on June 24 in federal court in Roanoke over the issue, the union said.