Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Railway Co. v. Public Utilities Commission

Opinion

NICHOLSON, J.

Labor Code section 6906, subdivision (b) requires service as a brakeman before an employee becomes a conductor. Acting on a report by the United Transportation Union (Union), the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) determined that two railroad companies, Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway Company and Union Pacific Railway Company (Railroads), were violating section 6906, subdivision (b). Although the PUC found merit in the Railroads’ assertion that section 6906(b) had been repealed by implication, it ordered the Railroads to comply with the statute because…