As reported earlier in 2024, the BNSF blatantly violated the terms of the MRL Implementing Agreement when it allowed the number of active members to fall well below the contractually agreed upon number yet continued to utilize contractors.  Our committee took immediate action through both the claims process as well as in Federal Court in Missouri.  We were keenly aware that Courts are often quite reluctant to get involved in labor disputes and only do so in bona fide cases of egregious “major” violations.  If the Court deems a dispute to be minor, they relegate the parties to resolution through Arbitration.

The dispute regarding the minimum workforce on MRL was recently found to be a minor dispute by the Court, thus relegating us to the claims process for relief.  But we didn’t wait for that outcome to seek relief at the Board.  A claim was filed back in the spring with BNSF and will be docketed with the NRAB in early 2025.  If we prevail in that claim, it will represent the single largest monetary remedy we have secured in a great number of years, and we have had some pretty hefty ones lately.