First off, if you are in a union in the T&E ranks, the union would need to stage a walk off. The only way to do this is if the "dispute" is a major dispute under the railroad labor act.

Major disputes are defined as matters affecting rates of pay, rules and working conditions; and, making or modification of the collective bargaining agreement between the parties.

Is failure to issue pay checks timely a major dispute? It would be if the union agreement had a rule setting the days that employees would be paid. What happened is that the SMART union was not that smart-they did not include paydays (15th of the month and last day of the month for example) in the agreements.

Secnd, if you walk away, regardless of the reason, you are quitting.

So once again, Ed "ponzii" E has the ability to hose employees.