Two days after CSX announced that it reached tentative agreements on new five-year collective bargaining agreements with the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen (BRC) and General Committee of Adjustment GO-049 of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers – Transportation Division (SMART-TD) as well as with the Transportation Communications Union (TCU), the Class I reported that 12 of its unions have forged similar agreements.
The new five-year agreement with SMART-TD’s GO-049, which encompasses the former Baltimore & Ohio (B&O), former Conrail and former Pan Am, will be put in front of SMART-TD members working in CSX’s Northern Mid-Atlantic District for a vote. SMART-TD’s GO-049 is led by General Chairperson Rick Lee.
Late on Aug. 23, CSX announced that it has seven additional labor unions have signed on:
- The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (BMWED), covering maintenance of way employees.
- The International Association of Machinists & Aerospace Workers (IAM) covering machinists and roadway mechanics.
- The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers – Transportation Division (SMART-TD), covering the yardmasters.
- The Brotherhood of Railway Carmen (BRC) covering carmen at the Fruit Growers Express Company subsidiary of CSX.
- The Transportation Communications Union (TCU) covering the clerical craft at Fruit Growers Express.
- The American Railway and Airway Supervisors’ Association (ARASA) covering mechanical department supervisors.
- The B&O Joint Council (BOJC) covering mechanical department foremen/supervisors.
“The tentative agreements, which are pending ratification by the unions’ membership at CSX, were reached more than four months before the current collective agreements become amendable under the federal Railway Labor Act,” CSX noted. “With these new agreements, CSX has now reached a total of 12 separate tentative agreements, covering more than 50% of its union employees. The terms of the agreements are aligned, providing equivalent packages of improved wages, health care, and paid time off benefits. CSX remains committed to working with other unions and crafts to reach similar agreements over the coming days and continuing to partner with employees to make meaningful improvements in their work environment.
CSX President and CEO Joe Hinrichs commented, “We are incredibly pleased to have reached these tentative agreements ahead of the re-negotiation process, reflecting our strong commitment to collaboration with our union partners. These agreements are a testament to the hard work and dedication of all parties involved, ensuring a bright future for our workforce and the sustained success of CSX operations. Together, as ONE CSX, we are building a path forward that benefits our employees, our customers, and the communities we serve.”
“It’s refreshing to see that we are finally advancing in transparency and fruitful negotiations with CSX to address the issues at hand. Class I rail carriers traditionally stick together, play games with us and basically try to wait us out to uncertainty before offering any beneficial agreement changes that we seek, if they offer anything at all,” said Rick Lee. “However, in order to get ahead of the potential situation like we went through in the 2020 rounds of bargaining that led to a PEB in 2022, SMART-TD GO-049 knew it was in the best interest of our members to avoid this potential circus in 2025 and engaged in early discussions prior to the actual contract moratorium deadline to test the waters. To that effect, as other discussions on national bargaining items quickly broke down, we were pleased to find that CSX CEO Joe Hinrichs and his team at CSX were willing to step up to the plate and not play games.
“Based on our advanced focus and collaborative efforts in an attempt to not delay pay raises and enhance benefits to those we represent, the tentative agreement (TA) reached with CSX today will not only allow our members to enjoy increases in their paychecks and significant AFHT meal reimbursements, but they will also enjoy distinct improvements to their quality of life with guaranteed vacation for new hires and accelerated vacation accrual for others with more seniority. Additionally, we were able to provide H&W benefit enhancements that our members have been seeking for many years.
“All in all, I’m very proud of the work of my team here at GO-049 has done to secure this agreement. If the TA is ratified, we will be able to avoid the projected multiple years of uncertainty and frustration, which falls into the ‘plus’ column alone,” concluded Lee.
CSX released a video via LinkedIn of Hinrichs addressing these agreements, which is available to watch here.
