Rail unions seek injunction against NS in train-service crafts dispute

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the SMART Transportation Division (SMART-TD) this week each filed motions for preliminary injunctions yesterday against Norfolk Southern Railway in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, Eastern Division.

The filing is part of the unions’ effort to stop NS from "forcing locomotive engineers to work as conductors and for disciplining those who don’t," officials with both unions said in a press release.

"The BLET seeks an immediate injunction forbidding NS from forcing engineers to work as conductors, including disciplining members for failing or refusing to comply with directives to work as conductors, and requiring that NS immediately reinstate BLET members who were disciplined as a result of the dispute, expunging all discipline records, and making each engineer whole," they said.

SMART-TD seeks an injunction ordering NS to return to the status quo that existed prior to the dispute, which would require that the railroad use only SMART-TD-represented train service employees to fill jobs in those crafts and classes.