(The following story by Lois Caliri appeared on The Roanoke Times website on June 17.)
ROANOKE, Va. — A federal judge in Roanoke granted Norfolk Southern Railway a temporary restraining order Thursday morning, forcing union workers back to work.
The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen went on strike systemwide, objecting to the railroad’s hiring outside contractors to do their work. Other rail unions honored the strike, which lasted about 1 1/2 hours.
The issue at dispute is whether NS has the right to hire outside contractors to do union work for a project in northern Georgia and other upcoming projects.
Signal construction crews travel from city to city within a region, installing, repairing and maintaining signal systems that direct train movements. Signalmen also install and maintain the warning systems at railroad-highway crossings.
“We want to do the work we’re entitled to,” said G.W. Sheally, president of BRS Local 77. “NS is saying it wants to use contractors to do our work.”
NS spokesman Robin Chapman said the railroad, under its agreement with the union, can hire outside contractors when a project involves “new” and “major” work, and when there are no union workers on furlough.
Floyd Mason, vice president of the BRS, said this dispute originated in 2002. A year later, both parties resolved their differences.
The basic bargain of the agreement was this: “If we would relax some of our work rules that would allow employees to move throughout the system more easily and change rules and allow NS to add employees more quickly, they would use our employees.
“We came through on our end of the bargain,” Mason said. NS got the flexibility and reduced restrictions. Now, “they have to move people where the work is needed. They need to hire people,” Mason said.
He also said the union relaxed some requirements, including hiring people without a technical background, so NS could add people quickly, if needed.
“We relaxed the work rules in lieu of job security,” Mason said. “What NS is doing now is saying, ‘you did your part, now we don’t have to do our part.'”
The parties met last month in Front Royal, and according to Mason, came to terms that would avert a strike.
“A week later, they [NS] said they weren’t interested anymore in those proposals.” He said that left the union no other choice but to strike.
The railroad, according to its court documents filed Wednesday, said it didn’t have enough workers to complete its project in Georgia.
“Given the number of other signal construction work that NSR [Norfolk Southern Railway] has under way this summer, NSR is unable to perform all of the work involved” in the Georgia project, the documents said. Outside contractors began work on June 13.
NS, in its court filing, said union employees who hold seniority positions in the Georgia district are working on the project or other signal construction work there for as long as the contractors are on the property.
NS said the Georgia project will not result in any layoffs of union employees.
The temporary restraining order will remain in force until June 24, when U.S. District Court Judge James Turk will hold a hearing to decide whether the labor dispute goes to arbitration.
This isn’t the first time that the signalmen and NS stirred up a storm.
In January 2004, NS closed its signal shop in Roanoke. In August the union challenged an arbitrator’s decision that said NS had the right to send its signal devices to an outside contractor for repairs, instead of using union employees.