Supreme Court Turns Down Case on Rail, Air Unions’ Court Access

The US Supreme Court declined to consider a case that had the potential to roll back union access to federal courts for labor disputes involving railroads and airlines.

The justices on Monday rejected Union Pacific Railroad Co.’s bid to narrowly define who’s protected by the Railway Labor Act, the 1926 law that governs labor-management relations for private-sector railway and air carriers.

The high court also declined to consider the railroad’s argument that legal claims targeting employer conduct allegedly motivated by antiunion animus are subject to the RLA’s requirement that disciplinary disputes are handled in private arbitration.

Union Pacific asked the ...