Nine years later: Florida East Coast Railway strike ends (1/1/1972)
1/1/2023After nearly nine years, union employees and officials of the Florida East Coast Railway have agreed to end the represented employees' strike under a plan approved by a federal judge.
About 2,000 union members walked off the job Jan. 23, 1963, in a dispute over pay and work rules.
Approved was an out-of-court settlement under which the railroad would pay the 11 non-operating unions $1.5 million in damages. The strikers' salaries also would be raised to a total of 31 percent effective Jan. 1, 1972, and another 6 percent the following year.
About 900 of the strikers have returned to work over the years, and the order provides that only those workers employed before 1970 will get the 25 percent retroactive raise. Of the remaining 1,100 strikers, all but about 100 have taken other jobs, the railroad reported.
Source: Progressive Railroading Magazine, January-February 1972