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BNSF Railway Co. and the United Transportation Union will seek arbitration to settle a dispute that led the union to issue a two-hour strike against the railroad April 27.

UTU officials claim BNSF is permitting engineers who could hold an engineer position to remain in train service, violating a provision of their agreement. Engineers with train-service seniority can only use that seniority if they cannot hold an engineer's position, union officials said in a prepared statement. BNSF officials claim the railroad isn’t violating the agreement.

On Tuesday, a U.S. District court ruled the disagreement is a “minor dispute” under the Railway Labor Act and therefore subject to the act’s mandatory arbitration provisions. The ruling doesn’t prohibit the operating practices that led to the work stoppage or grant BNSF a strike injunction.

The UTU halted last month’s strike, which involved about 8,000 workers, after the judge said he would handle the matter expeditiously.