We regularly receive questions about the scope of the Midwest Seniority District, and this article will explain the construction of that District, as well as the subsequent expansions of work opportunities for employees on that seniority roster.

Before the BN and Santa Fe merger, the former Frisco territory consisted of 16 completely separate seniority districts, each having (with rare exceptions) a single source of supply, and with no provisions for employees on one district to access available work opportunities on other districts. We knew that some of these small districts would eventually be consolidated with Santa Fe districts after merger. We also knew that the merger would result in changes in traffic patterns, train routing and work distribution. Thus, we negotiated an Agreement that would consolidate all of these small seniority districts into a single seniority roster with “zones” that paralleled the former separate seniority districts. This allowed senior employees to bid from zone to zone, subject to the prior rights of employees in that other zone, but force assignment between those zones was prohibited. Employees who established seniority after June 29, 1995 have equal seniority throughout the entire Midwest District, which they may exercise if they wish, but they can not be forced from active service in one zone to work in another zone. Even when furloughed, those with seniority after June 29, 1995 can elect voluntary furlough status on their home zone rather than displacing to a distant zone to work. Actually, the Carrier did have the option of forcing furloughed employees between zones, but in those circumstances the Carrier is required to pay moving benefits to the force assigned employee, and the Carrier has no way to keep the employee on the new zone after paying for the move. For this reason, the Carrier has never force assigned any employee from one zone to another under this Agreement.

Originally, the Midwest Seniority District consisted of only the former Frisco and former Fort Worth and Denver (FWD) territories. As expected, after merger there were implementing agreements that called for the combining of former BN and former Santa Fe seniority rosters. As a result of the Kansas City Yard Consolidation Implementing Agreement, the involved Santa Fe and BN General Committees created a window of opportunity until March 1, 1997, during which any former BN or former ATSF seniority rosters could be consolidated amongst themselves before the rosters of the former roads were combined. During that window, all Santa Fe and some BN General Committees elected to consolidate. On the BN side, rosters from the former JTD, former CB&Q and former C&S territories were added to the Midwest District roster, and on the Santa Fe side, the former Grand Seniority districts were all consolidated before they were added to the Midwest District roster. Thus, only two former roads, the former GN and former NP territories, opted to remain totally separate.

The actual dates and sequencing of the roster consolidations or additions that make up the Midwest Seniority District roster is outlined in the graphic below.

I should point out that each of these former roads maintain their own seniority rosters, and each territory is governed by the collective bargaining agreement administrated by that particular General Committee. The adding of those seniority rosters to the Midwest Seniority District roster does not change any jurisdictional authority of any General Committee.