(Washington, DC) – The escalating labor dispute at the Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad (I.C.&E.), a Midwestern short-line feeder railroad, could have a major impact on coal shippers in the northern Midwest.

The National Mediation Board (NMB), the federal overseer of labor-management relations in the rail industry has released the two parties in the I.C.&E. dispute—management, led by the president of the parent company, Kevin Schieffer of Cedar American Rail Holdings and employees represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) of the Teamsters Rail Conference—from federal mediation. Negotiations for a first contract for engineers and trainmen have been ongoing for more than two years without resolution.

With release from the NMB both labor and management are free to take economic self-help actions. This could lead to a possible strike or lockout situation resulting in a work stoppage. Any work stoppage is also likely to affect the service of the I.C.&E.’s sister railroad the Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad (D.M.&E.).

"Our members at IC&E have been working without a contract for the past two years," said John Mullen, BLET Short-Line Director. "Kevin Schieffer has refused to seriously address the needs of the employees."

In recent years, Cedar American Rail Holdings has received authorization from the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to begin D.M.&E. service in the Powder River Basin area to provide rail services to coal shippers. In 2003, they were successful in obtaining a $233 million loan from the Federal Railroad Administration to use for existing debt and track construction and maintenance.

"It is ironic that Cedar Rail Holdings continues to ask the federal government for more money to fund its expansion into Minnesota, while at the same time they are unwilling to meet with elected union representatives," said Don Hahs, BLET President. "Their motto might be, ‘Serving the Heartland of America’ but we don’t want that to be on the backs of our members."

The BLET is a division of the Teamsters Rail Conference. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.