CLEVELAND -- Federal Judge Ann Aldrich on Sept. 7 issued a temporary restraining order requiring the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the UTU to order their members to cross the picket lines established by the Aircraft Mechanics Fraternal Association (AMFA) in AMFA's dispute with Northwest Airlines.
AMFA, which has no dispute with railroad carriers, established secondary pickets at CSX and Norfolk Southern facilities in Toledo on Sept. 6.
Judge Aldrich ruled that BLET and UTU members must be ordered by their unions to cross AMFA picket lines at all locations where they are established on railroad properties.
Her ruling is based on case law stemming from court decisions following secondary picketing against commuter railroads in the Northeast by the International Association of Machinists as part of a dispute between the IAM and the now-defunct Eastern Airlines in 1989.
Judge Aldrich set a preliminary injunction hearing date for Sept. 21 in Cleveland.
