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On March 15, the National Mediation Board certified that 43 percent of eligible Union Pacific Railroad train dispatchers voted in favor of joining the American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA) — not enough votes for the union to become the workers’ representative. The dispatchers currently are unrepresented.

Since spring 2005, ATDA — a member of the AFL-CIO’s transportation trades department-rail division — has campaigned to organize UP train dispatchers.

The union’s executive board has authorized ATDA’s counsel to file a case with the NMB alleging election interference because UP “crossed the line of legal conduct” under the Railway Labor Act, said ATDA President Leo McCann in a message to members posted on the union’s Web site. If the NMB sustains the motion, the board will re-run the election, McCann believes.

UP officials declined to comment on the union’s claims.