Teamsters: BMWED, BLET members ratify rail labor contracts

Fifty-one workers at three railroads represented by the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWED) of the Teamsters Rail Conference have ratified new contracts.

Teamsters at the Colorado and Wyoming Railway unanimously voted to ratify a contract securing higher wages and improvements to vacation, bereavement and personal leave, and holidays, according to a Teamsters press release.

Additionally, Teamsters members of the BMWED’s American Rail System Federation from the Norfolk & Portsmouth Beltline Railroad and the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis ratified their own new contracts. These groups of workers secured wage increases of 18.77% over the life of the contracts as well as improvements to their health and welfare benefits, Teamsters officials said.

Meanwhile, Florida Gulf & Atlantic (FG&A) Railroad workers represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) of the Teamsters Rail Conference have ratified their first contract.

The FG&A Railroad operates 430 miles of track running in Florida and Georgia. The five-year agreement secures key priorities for this group of more than two-dozen train and engine service workers, according to a Teamsters press release.

FG&A workers are guaranteed an 18.3% raise over the length of the contract as well as the right to earn overtime pay. The agreement also increases their paid personal time off, formalizes a grievance procedure and protections from discipline, and establishes a seniority system with prior rights protections.