Joe DeManuelle-Hall

Railroads and Unions Divide and Scramble

As the Trump administration prepares to take power, the nation’s freight railroad companies are at the bargaining table with rail craft unions representing 115,000 freight workers who move essential goods across the country.

Already the bargaining looks very different from the last round of negotiations, which finished in 2022. For the first time since 1963, multiple railroads have gone rogue, breaking with the employer association in which they typically present a united front.

The Big Union Contract Fights Coming in 2025

In some of the most exciting fights of 2024, strikers shut down ports on the East Coast and backed up plane orders on the West. The coming year is full of expiring contracts that could keep the strike wave rolling.

ALIGNED TO FIGHT

The list includes some big contracts lined up so unions can bargain and possibly strike together.

Canadian Longshore Workers Forced into Binding Arbitration by Government

Port employers in British Columbia shut down ports on November 4 over a contract dispute with the 730 members of the Longshore Union’s (ILWU) Canada’s foremen’s local. Another 7,500 Canadian longshore workers represented by ILWU, who are working under a contract settled last year, were also not working as a result of the lockout, grinding port traffic to a halt. The Greater Vancouver Board of Trade estimated an impact of $800 million Canadian ($576 million U.S.) per day.

Canada Ends Lockout of Rail Workers

UPDATE, August 22: The lockout was not even a day old when the government moved to end it with a back-to-work order and initiate binding arbitration. —Editors

Ten thousand Canadian railroad workers were locked out early this morning after two sets of major contracts expired.

East Coast Longshore Contract Clock Ticks Down

Union negotiations covering longshore workers on the East and Gulf Coasts have been stalled since June 10, bringing the union closer to a potential strike at the September 30 contract expiration.

Big Union Win in Virginia Schools where Bargaining Suddenly Legal

Education unions just won a massive victory in the fight to bring collective bargaining rights to Virginia’s public sector. Workers at the Fairfax County Public Schools voted this week to unionize, creating a wall-to-wall union of 27,500 teachers, custodians, teaching assistants, bus drivers, and more.

The new bargaining unit is one of the largest K-12 unions on the East Coast, according to the National Education Association.

Fairfax County is in Northern Virginia, near Washington, D.C., and the Fairfax County school district is by far the largest in the state.

‘No More Closed Doors’: Reformers Win Rerun Election in Rail Machinists

Reformers in the Machinists rail union have ousted incumbents in a Department of Labor-supervised election.

According to the results posted on the union’s website, challenger Reece Murtagh won the presidential election in District 19 of the IAM, 820 to 748, while his slate-mate Marty Rosato won 787 to 774 for secretary-treasurer.

Both Murtagh and Rosato are full-time railroad workers. Murtagh is a roadway mechanic for CSX and the president of his local lodge in Richmond, Virginia; Rosato works at CSX in Selkirk, New York. They will take office June 3.

Rail Workers Push for One Member, One Vote

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Joe DeManuelle-Hall

Railroad track workers have launched a campaign to get their union officers elected by the members, rather than by convention delegates.

The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes is one of the largest of the 13 rail unions, with 31,000 members. The campaign is being organized by the group BMWED Rank and File United, with the backing of the longtime reform caucus Teamsters for a Democratic Union (TDU).

Rail Machinists Rerun Contested Election

A new election for top officers will be held in Machinists District Lodge 19 on May 3, after complaints about bad addresses and campaigning at polling locations during a close vote last year.

The new vote for president and secretary-treasurer will establish who will set the union’s approach to the upcoming contract fight with the big freight rail carriers. Negotiations between the 13 rail unions and the carriers begin later this year.

Don’t Do the Boss Any Favors

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Joe DeManuelle-Hall

Management everywhere relies on workers “going the extra mile.” We cut corners, we skip breaks, and we look the other way on common violations of the contract, work rules, or even safety.

But it’s also possible, when the time is right, to just stop doing the boss these favors. After all, how often does management do workers a favor?

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