Covering approximately 3,400 BLET members, CSX said the agreement mirrors the general wage increases, and health and welfare improvements from its agreements with 13 other unions.
Locomotive engineers make up approximately 20% of CSX’s frontline workforce. If the new agreement is ratified, nearly 75% of CSX unionized workers will be covered by agreements reached within the last nine months, according to the railroad. To date, CSX has ratified agreements covering 54% of its unionized workforce. The most recent ratification was with the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS) and the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Forgers & Helpers (IBB).
The only remaining major workgroup at CSX not covered by new agreements or a tentative agreement are trainmen/conductors represented by the SMART Transportation Division. CSX said it is currently engaged in bargaining with SMART-TD to “consolidate separate territories, workforces, and execute a single-system collective agreement.”
According to CSX, its agreement with BLET is the first reached by a Class I with the union, continuing CSX’s “industry-leading transformational approach to collective bargaining in the rail industry.”
“I want to thank the leaders at BLET, especially our CSX General Chairmen, for their hard work and professionalism in representing CSX employees and their union members,” said Joe Hinrichs, CSX President and CEO and Railway Age’s 2025 Railroader of the Year. “The tentative agreement, reached after months of negotiations, offers competitive pay, improved health care for locomotive engineers, and work rule changes that promote predictable assignments and additional quality-of-life enhancements.”
In a May 9 statement in its member newsletter, BLET said: “If ratified by the members, the tentative agreement [with CSX] would provide compounded general wage increases of 18.77%. Engineers would also earn five new days of paid sick leave per year under the tentative deal, with the flexibility to convert two earned personal leave days into sick days. There are no changes to engineers cost share for Health and Welfare while vision and dental benefits are expanded.
“The tentative agreement comes after several months of negotiations and would run through Dec. 31, 2029. The deal contains other provisions regarding three and four-day work week yard assignments, relief assignments, travel allowance, and an increase to the engineer certification allowance. The entire package is valued at a 21.4% increase in wages and benefits over the span of the agreement.”
The union noted that its members are slated to receive “detailed information about the tentative agreement” during the week of May 11; a ratification vote is scheduled to begin later this month.
Further Reading:
- CSX Signalman, Boilermakers Ratify Five-Year Deals
- CSX Secures Tentative Labor Agreements With BRS, IBB
- CSX, BMWED Ratify Five-Year Deal
- NCCC, ATDA Ratify National Agreement
- NCCC, NCFO Reach Tentative Agreement; ARSF Members Ratify CBAs
- NCCC Announces Three Tentative Union Deals
- Thoughts from CSX Investor Day 2024
- CSX Secures More Labor Agreements
- CSX’s Hinrichs: ‘Ready to Meet Our Customers’ Needs’ (UPDATED 10/17, TD Cowen Insight, PLUS Interview With Joe Hinrichs on 3Q24, Weather Impacts, Labor)
- Unconventional Labor Talks Begin
- ‘This Scenario Is a Bit Unusual’
- CSX, NS, BNSF Ratify Five-Year Agreements With SMART-MD
- CSX Expands Labor Agreements With IBB, TCU
- CSX Tentative Agreements with BRC and SMART-TD GO-049 Extended to 12 Unions (Updated Aug. 23)
- Canada’s Arbitration Mandate and the Hinrichs Maneuver
