CLEVELAND, December 9 — In a 9-0 decision issued yesterday, the United States Supreme Court affirmed an important right for BLET members and all railroad workers: the right to have their contract disputes heard on the merits by an arbitrator.
At issue were five cases involving BLET members working for the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR), who were disciplined or dismissed in 2002 and 2003. After the on-property appeals process was exhausted the cases were listed for arbitration before the First Division of the National Railroad Adjustment Board (NRAB) pursuant to the Railway Labor Act (RLA).
In 2004, one of the carrier members on the First Division objected that the General Committee did not include evidence of the final on-property conferences in the cases. The railroad never raised this objection in its submission to the Division. Even though the General Committee submitted proof of conferencing at the Referee’s suggestion, he dismissed all five cases claiming a lack of jurisdiction to hear them.
The General Committee unsuccessfully sought to have the dismissals vacated by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division. However, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reversed the district court and vacated all five dismissals on the ground that the BLET members had been denied due process. The UPRR then appealed to the Supreme Court, which heard arguments in the case in early October.
In addition to the parties, amicus curiae briefs were filed with the Supreme Court by the BLET National Division, by the AFL–CIO, and jointly by the National Railway Labor Conference, the Association of American Railroads, and the Airline Industrial Relations Conference.
Speaking for a unanimous Court, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote that the majority of the First Division panel that voted to dismiss the cases “misconceived” a NRAB claim-processing rule as a jurisdictional requirement and, in so doing, violated the RLA commandment that it conform or confine itself to matters within the scope of its jurisdiction. The Court also noted that if “the NRAB lacks authority to define the jurisdiction of its panels … surely the panels themselves lack that authority.”
National President Paul Sorrow had high praise for those who worked to make this ruling possible. “First and foremost I want to congratulate the five BLET members for toughing it out during this long struggle, as well as General Chairman Charlie Rightnowar and the entire UP Central Region GCA for devoting their full resources to this fight.
“The National Division was pleased to be able to provide support before the Supreme Court, and I am most grateful that our Brothers and Sisters in the AFL–CIO did the same,” Sorrow added.
The five arbitration cases will now be heard on the merits by the First Division.