T v. Ryan v. Union Pacific Railroad Company and United Transportation Union

POSNER, Circuit Judge.

Five members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers who are employed by the Union Pacific Railroad as trainmen brought suit against the Union Pacific and the trainmen’s union, United Transportation Union. They sought a declaration that they are entitled to be represented in grievance proceedings by their union, the BLE, rather than by the UTU, even though the collective bargaining agreement between the Union Pacific and the UTU appoints the latter as the trainmen’s exclusive representative in grievance proceedings. The district court dismissed the suit for want of…