Utah Central Railway workers vote to join BLET

Utah Central Railway workers on Dec. 18 voted unanimously to join the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.

The Utah Central vote marks the seventh successful short-line organizing effort by BLET since 2023, union officials said in a press release.

Utah Central is owned and operated by Patriot Rail and interchanges with Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway Co. in Ogden, Harrisville and Little Mountain, Utah. It is the first Patriot Rail property to be organized by the BLET.

Utah Central train and engine service workers cited improved pay and job scheduling, stronger discipline protection and better working conditions as reasons for joining BLET, according to National Vice President Randy Fannon, who heads the BLET’s organizing department.

The other recent BLET organizing successes were at the Florida Gulf and Atlantic, in 2023; Arizona Eastern Railway in June 2024; COASTER commuter railroad in July 2024; and Transglobal Solutions/TGS Cedar Port Railroad, Georgia Central Railway and Carrollton Railroad in October 2024.