BLE VOTES DOWN MERGER WITH UTU, SPARKS UNION WAR

BLE VOTES DOWN MERGER WITH UTU, SPARKS UNION WAR    The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers has voted against merging with the United Transportation Union.
   The BLE vote of 17,251-to-7,425 against the merger was certified by the American Arbitration Association on Monday. In October, the UTU voted six-to-one in favor of the merger with BLE.
   Byron A. Boyd Jr., president of the UTU, called BLE refusal to merge “regrettable.” The merger would have created the largest combined rail, bus and air union in North America.
   “We now will pursue our second alternative to strengthen the bargaining power of all railroad operating employees in North America,” Boyd said. “That alternative is winner-take-all representation elections on each of the major railroads, beginning with the Kansas City Southern.”
   “There is no question in my mind that the result will be unification of the historical operating crafts and that the unification will be under the umbrella of UTU,” Boyd said.