The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen (BLET) of the Teamsters Rail Conference on Dec. 4 reported that the railroaders it represents at Florida Gulf & Atlantic (FGA), a Pinsly Railroad Company subsidiary, have ratified their first contract. A tentative agreement was reached last month; voting on that agreement was completed Nov. 21.
Approximately 75% of train and engine service employees at the previously non-union FGA signed authorization cards in 2023 indicating that they would like to be represented by the BLET. The National Mediation Board accepted them, scheduled an election and certified that election July 12, 2023.
The new five-year contract for this group of “more than two-dozen” T&E workers “secures key priorities for this group of more than two-dozen train and engine service workers,” BLET of the Teamsters Rail Conference reported. FGA workers, it said, “are guaranteed an 18.3% raise over the length of the contract, as well as the right to earn overtime pay.“ Additionally, the contract “increases their paid personal time off, formalizes a grievance procedure and protections from discipline, and establishes a seniority system with prior rights protections.”
“Railroaders at FGA wanted union representation to address issues related to safety, working conditions, wages, and other compensation with their employer,” said Randy Fannon, Vice President and Organizing Director of the BLET. “With ratification of their first contract, our FGA members now have an established policy, structure, and guidelines to hold management accountable.”
The BLET negotiating team comprised Randy Fannon, who led the initial organizing drive in 2023, with assistance from Robert Cross, the Grievance Chair for FGA members. For representational purposes, the FGA members belong to BLET Division 16, the union’s Short Line Division.
The FGA operates on 430 miles of track, running east/west along the I-10 corridor between Baldwin, Fla., near Jacksonville, to Pensacola, with a branch line that runs between Tallahassee and Attapulgus, Ga. (see map below).
In related developments, workers from Carrollton Railroad, a short line subsidiary of CSX Transportation that operates in western Kentucky near Louisville, Ky., and Cincinnati, Ohio, and Georgia Central Railway recently voted to join BLET.
