In the aftermath of that toxic Norfolk Southern train derailment in Ohio, rail safety is gaining nationwide attention and on Friday it found one of Nebraska’s two leading railroads the target of a wide-ranging workers’ protest. 

Rank and file members of several unions took their complaints against Warren Buffett’s Burlington Northern railroad to the doorstop of Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway headquarters near downtown Omaha.

Among those making the case for better working conditions, including paid sick leave, were Brotherhood of Maintenance and Way Employees along with Jane Kleeb the head of the Nebraska Democratic Party.

Protesters also rallied in support of a bill in the Nebraska Legislature requiring two-person rail crews on all freight trains in the state.

That bill, opposed by Burlington Northern and Union Pacific which both have thousands of miles of track across Nebraska, is tied up in committee and faces an uncertain future this legislative session.