JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – CSX on Friday became the first Class I railroad to reach a tentative contract agreement with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen in this round of bargaining.
The five-year, single-system agreement, which must be ratified by the rank and file, covers the railroad’s 3,400 locomotive engineers.
“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,” CEO Joe Hinrichs said in a statement. “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.”
The agreement mirrors the general wage increases, and health and welfare improvements from CSX’s agreements with 13 other unions.
Locomotive engineers make up approximately 20% of CSX’s frontline workforce. If ratified, nearly 75% of CSX unionized workers will be covered by new agreements reached within the last nine months. To date, CSX has ratified agreements covering 54% of its unionized workforce.
The only remaining major workgroup at CSX not covered by new agreements or a tentative agreement are trainmen/conductors represented by SMART-TD. CSX is currently engaged in bargaining with SMART-TD to consolidate separate territories, workforces, and execute a single-system collective agreement.
