The Operating Engineers union is trying to enforce a labor contract covering workers on the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, the North Bay freight service that resumed last July after a 10-year shutdown.
Although the railroad has just four workers now, the union said it wants to preserve its rights as the operation grows. But it's unclear how the union's move will affect NWP Co., the new company that operates cargo trains in Sonoma, Marin and Napa counties.
"I have no such agreement," said John Williams, who heads the railroad company.
NWP Co. leases the line from North Coast Railroad Authority, the public agency that oversees freight service on the historic route.
Operating Engineers Local 3 said it is the bargaining representative for railroad workers, based on a 1993 agreement with the authority. The contract was last negotiated in 1997, a year before federal transportation regulators halted freight service because of severe storm damage to the tracks.
Part of the line briefly reopened in 2001 before it closed again.
But the labor agreement didn't go away, said Chris Snyder, district representative for the Operating Engineers union in Rohnert Park.
"The contract never expired," he said.
In letters to NWP Co. and NCRA last year, the union asked to meet with railroad representatives to negotiate on behalf of train workers. In recent months, Snyder and union members have talked about the union's role at meetings of the authority.
But the contract only covered the public railroad authority, which operated the freight service itself before 1998, said Chris Neary, attorney for the agency. About 40 rail workers were covered by the agreement, he said.
Today, the authority has only two employees, and they're both in management, he said.
The old contract isn't binding on NWP Co., Neary said, but the union is free to negotiate a new one with the private company.
"If NWP Co. wants to enter into a labor agreement with the Operating Engineers, I couldn't imagine we would have any objections," Neary said.
The union said its contract has a successor clause that covers future railroad employers, including NWP Co. The Operating Engineers have been strong supporters of freight service and want to see the business succeed, Snyder said.
"We're just asking for recognition," he said.
Williams said his fledgling railroad has just four workers, and a majority would have to back the union before he'd be required to negotiate.
Meanwhile, the Operating Engineers have a labor contract with Stacy and Witbeck, the company upgrading the Northwestern Pacific tracks for Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit's future commuter rail service.
Eventually, more than 100 union workers could be covered in contracts with Stacy and Witbeck and other project contractors, Snyder said.
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