Union sues BNSF over contract on short line

http://www.omaha.com/article/20130824/MONEY/130829430/1685#union-sues-bnsf-over-contract-on-short-line

By Russell Hubbard

A labor union representing railroad workers has sued BNSF Railway, saying the unit of Omaha's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is violating a collective bargaining agreement covering a handful of employees on a Nebraska short line.

The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees filed the suit last week in U.S. District Court in Omaha.

The suit says BNSF is not honoring the union contract on a Nebraska short rail line that runs from Iowa Ferry, near South Sioux City, to O'Neill, about 100 miles away. Such lines typically employ fewer than a couple of dozen workers. BNSF has 40,000 employees.

BNSF is the nation's second-largest railroad, behind Omaha-based Union Pacific. The suit says BNSF acquired the Iowa Ferry operation last year from Nebraska Northeastern Railway, after having owned it until 1996.

FULL story at link.