DENVER — The Union Pacific Corporatoin’s rail unit has been sued by the locomotive engineers union, which claimed “a serious safety threat” from use of remote-control equipment to move trains in freight yards, a wire service reported.
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers sought an injunction in United States District Court in Denver against remote-control units operated by train-crew workers who are members of the United Transportation Union. A person not on a train can use the devices to move locomotives and freight cars, replacing engineers.
“Union Pacific has improperly and illegally eliminated engineers’ work,” a union spokesman, Michael Young, said. “These remote-control units present a serious safety threat.”
A Union Pacific spokesman, John Bromley, said that the units were safe.