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Saturday, Aug. 15, 1998
Conrail strikers ordered back to work
Hearing to come on railroad's claim that walkout by 3,400 workers is illegal
By DAN ROBRISH
Associated PressPHILADELPHIA - A federal judge ordered 3,400 striking Conrail employees to return to work Friday just hours after the track maintenance workers walked out, shutting down the freight railroad's operations.
U.S. District Judge James T. Giles issued the temporary restraining order pending a full hearing Aug. 27 on Conrail's contention that the strike is illegal. Conrail, the nation's fifth-largest freight railroad, claimed the union should have given notice before walking off the job.
Striking union workers throughout the Northeast and Midwest were expected to return to work immediately, Conrail spokesman Bob Libkind said.
``This is undoubtedly in line with what we have said before: that they don't have the right to strike,'' he said.
The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees said it would obey the court order.
``We're disappointed in the judge's action and we're disappointed in Conrail's action,'' said union General Chairman Jed Dodd. ``One day they will negotiate with the union in good faith and we will be pleasantly surprised.
The order came hours after 3,400 workers walked out over Conrail's use of outside contractors to build tracks. After pickets were set up at train stations, most of Conrail's 16,000 other union workers honored the strike, leaving hundreds of freight shipments stuck there.
The strike idled all freight shipment by Conrail, which moves about 7 percent of the nation's freight volume. During the day, everything from auto parts bound for factories to food moving from farm towns to big cities was delayed, Libkind said.
Conrail did not organize other transportation for the hundreds of freight shipments stalled by the strike, Libkind said. Conrail said it was in contact with customers who had time-sensitive shipments, such as perishable goods.
``So far it's affecting everyone who ships on Conrail,'' said Ed Rastatter, spokesman for the National Industrial Transportation League, which represents about 1,000 major rail shippers.
Commuters also were affected by the strike since Amtrak and some local rail services use Conrail tracks.
``Currently seven trains that operate over Conrail track have either entirely or partially been canceled,'' Amtrak spokesman John Wolf said before the temporary injunction, citing problems in Michigan, upstate New York and western Pennsylvania.
The last time the BMWE struck against Conrail was in 1994. The walkout lasted 17 hours.
Conrail has operations in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Massachusetts as well as the District of Columbia and Quebec, Canada.
Conrail, originally set up by Congress in 1976 to reorganize six bankrupt Northeast railroads, has about 23,500 employees and 11,000 miles of track.Post your comments about local news eventsFront Page || Main Index || News || Business || Texas || South Texas Outdoors || Birdwatching || Sports || Entertainment || Selena || Education || South Texas Attractions || World Wide Web