The BMWE set up picket lines on the former Norfolk and Western portion of the Norfolk Southern Railroad at 6:00 a.m. on Thursday, May 4, 2000. At 9:10 a.m. the same day, Judge James C. Turk of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia issued a temporary restraining order and the pickets came down.

The former N&W railroad represents approximately 30% of the NS system and runs through the states of Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. Initial pickets were established at Columbus, Ohio; Kenova, Bluefield and Williamson, West Virginia; Roanoke, Virginia; and Hagerstown, Maryland.

Shortly after the unprecedented layoff of 600 BMWE members on NS, management unilaterally changed the bulletin and assignment rules in the collective bargaining agreement between the former N&W property and the BMWE. The agreement contains provisions which expressly state that all vacancies and positions be announced by bulletins containing specified information, that employees may bid for such positions, and that such positions must be filled in seniority order.

In recent months, notwithstanding the express requirements of the agreement, NS has been filling positions without regard to the seniority rights of its employees and without making the positions available for bid. There are hundreds of furloughed maintenance of way employees with the seniority to apply for and obtain positions that have been filled by NS under its new practice.

The BMWE repeatedly brought the problem of abrogation of the bulletin, seniority and assignment rules to the attention of senior NS labor relations officials, but NS refused to cease its illegal practice. The BMWE was left with no alternative but to strike.

"Norfolk Southern made a bad business decision when it purchased Conrail and could not properly operate the combined railroad," said Tom McCoy, BMWE General Chairman of the Norfolk & Western System Division. "We have paid for this incompetence with the layoff of our members. However, this did not give them the right to abrogate our contract. When they began to fill our positions without regard for our agreement, they went too far. We had no alternative but to shut the railroad down. The alternative was to continue to let them step all over our rights."

BMWE filed a lawsuit on May 3 in federal court in Youngstown, Ohio, seeking to enjoin the railroad's willful refusal to apply the requirements of the labor agreement. Although Norfolk Southern was aware of that case, the railroad's attorneys went to Judge Turk claiming that the dispute was really about implementation of the Conrail carve-up and presented him with a draft temporary restraining order. In its court papers, BMWE charged that by concealing the existence of the other lawsuit, the railroad's attorneys persuaded the judge to sign the restraining order, even though another court had jurisdiction over the case.

In addition, BMWE maintained in its subsequent court papers that the restraining order violated many requirements of the Norris-LaGuardia Act, a federal law that is supposed to limit the issuance of restraining orders in labor cases.

On May 12, Judge Turk issued a preliminary injunction that continued the strike ban until the matter would again come before his court, but after the Youngstown court could consider BMWE's motion for an injunction on NS.

As this JOURNAL goes to press, the BMWE intends to appeal Judge Turk's preliminary injunction, including the manner in which it was obtained by NS. It is BMWE's position that the Judge in Youngstown has exclusive jurisdiction over the matter and the manner in which the restraining order and injunction were obtained from Judge Turk go far beyond the boundaries of propriety.