UTU wins protection for members on beer railway
Written by jrood
The United Transportation Union has won a protection for employees of Manufacturers Railway, a 124-year-old subsidiary of brewer Anheuser-Busch, on behalf of 12 train and engine employees represented by the UTU and employed by the rail company. In March, the carrier sought permission from the U.S. Surface Transportation Board to discontinue operations and asked the agency not to impose so-called labor protection for workers who would be put in unemployment lines as a result of the discontinuance. The railroad's case rested on a long-standing policy of the board and its predecessor, the Interstate Commerce Commission, not to impose labor protection when an entire system is abandoned. The UTU Law Department told the STB that they believed Manufacturers had provided the agency with "misleading information" with regard to the intended cessation of operations. Rather than abandon its system, the UTU told the STB that Manufacturers had said it intended to transfer those rail operations to a third party that would operate over the railway's tracks and yard, which would remain under Manufacturers Railway and Anheuser-Busch ownership. The STB agreed and ruled that so-called Oregon Short Line labor protection be granted as a condition of the discontinuance of operations by Manufacturers Railway. The protection provides for six years of income protection for all adversely affected employees of Manufacturers Railway.
