Rail union leader retires to clear way for upstart who won

By JOSH FUNK
AP Business Writer

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The longtime head of the second-largest rail union announced Friday that he will clear the way for the upstart candidate who beat him by retiring instead of fighting to keep his office in a second election. Eddie Hall received 509 more votes than Dennis Pierce in the election that reflects how frustrated engineers are with the contract they received this fall after three years of bargaining that doesn’t resolve all their quality-of-life concerns. Pierce plans to step down at the end of the year after leading the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen since 2010. Both Pierce and Hall said their focus now will be on unifying workers to fight for better conditions on the railroads.