Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen v. Union Pacific Railroad Co.

Dist. Ct. did not err in granting defendant-railroad’s motion to dismiss plaintiff-union’s action under Railway Labor Act that challenged defendant’s unilateral modification of its disciplinary policy as it applied to union members, where Dist. Ct. could properly find that instant dispute is “minor” dispute, i.e., one that was covered under relevant collective bargaining agreement (CBA), and thus was required under Railway Labor Act to be submitted to arbitration before Nat’l Railroad Adjustment Bd. Fact that defendant unilaterally modified rules without going through procedure spelled out in CBA did not require different result, since defendant presented colorable argument that CBA permitted defendant to make instant unilateral modifications in its disciplinary policy. Moreover, record showed that defendant had historically made changes to practices covered by parties’ agreements.