Streak of Organizing Wins, Strong Agreements Highlights the SMART-TD Difference

Our union was formed when individual workers banded together to protect themselves, and that foundation is still the basis for who we are today. 
 
As we grow in numbers, we grow in power — but no matter how we grow, our purpose never changes: members helping members receive just treatment, fair wages and the resources needed to endure difficult times. 

Our strength is demonstrated in our agreements, our efforts to improve laws and regulations, and in the benefits our pooled resources secure for our mutual benefit.

New Properties Choose SMART-TD

Since January, we’ve had three short-line railroads join SMART-TD, often by unanimous or overwhelmingly large margins.  
 
The first was Wilmington Terminal Railroad, which is a subsidiary of Genesse and Wyoming. 

Working without representation under G&W since 2005, the workers voted unanimously to join SMART-TD in January 2025.  

Two weeks later another G&W property, Connecticut Southern Railroad, also joined our union in a nearly unanimous vote. 

Connecticut Southern workers struggled to get results under an umbrella agreement with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE). When they finally decided it was time to raise their voice, they chose to speak through SMART-TD instead. 

The most recent addition to the SMART-TD family came in June when workers from both the Transportation and Engine (T&E) crafts as well as the Maintenance of Way (MOW) crafts with the Arkansas and Missouri Railroad (A&M) voted to organize in a landslide.  
 
Our size, strength and expertise are important factors in these choices.

But, more importantly, our organizers and representatives understand something fundamental: it’s not about SMART-TD.

On every property and with every negotiation, the focus is on our members being heard. Our strength backs their initiative, and together we build better workplaces. 
 
This is just a snapshot of what our Organizing Department has accomplished at the halfway point of the year. They’re just getting started. 

TD is Trained to Win Strong Agreements

Negotiating strong agreements is the cornerstone of our success.

It’s hard to argue against our value when fair compensation, humane workplace practices, and just treatment are spelled out in the black and white of our negotiated agreements.  

There is no union without our members, and there is no other way to ensure individual voices are heard, actual needs are met, and that the demand for respect on the job is satisfied. 
 
Whether it’s new hires at Zum Transportation (Local 1706) getting a front-row seat to SMART-TD’s Bus Department’s negotiations with their new employer or ratifying a precedent-setting tentative agreement for Local 1732 at TransitAmerica Services Inc. (TASI) in California, our union fights like hell for our members at the bargaining table and beyond. 
 
Our members’ pay and benefits should reflect the professionalism, knowledge, and dedication that they bring to the job.

We saw this firsthand with several tentative agreements (TA) that were overwhelmingly or unanimously ratified during the first half of the year. These include conductors and assistant conductors negotiating with Keolis Commuter Services, bus operators ratifying a new four-year agreement with Red Apple Transit in New Mexico, and Local 1887 members securing meaningful change with Birmingham Terminal Railway. 

Our negotiating teams redefine what’s possible for rail, bus, and transit wages across the country.  
 
We didn’t stop there.  
 
Within the last two months, agreements have been reached between SMART-TD Local 598 and the Alabama Port Authority, California Local 1741’s Local Committee of Adjustment (LCA) and San Carlos Schools, and SMART-TD Local 1701 and Montebello Transit. 

SMART-TD Ratification Record Driven by Listening to Local Needs

Since 2024, SMART-TD’s General Committee of Adjustment (GCA) 049 has secured TA’s with five short-line railroads, including the Louisville & Indiana (L&I) Railroad last year. 
 
Three of those TA’s have been ratified, another is currently being voted on by the members, and the last one is about to go up for a vote.  
 
GCA 049 General Chairperson Rick Lee points out that “The biggest difference [with the short lines] I think was the inclusion of the local guys,” Lee explained. “One of the keys of success [is that] we’ve always included our short-line local chairmen in the negotiations.” 
 
That wasn’t the case when they were under different representation. 
 
“They basically had no input. It was basically a product handed over to them,” GC Lee said. “They were very pleased with the fact that the local chairman was at the bargaining table and of course [the local chairmen] really the eyes and ears of those local properties. I don’t know the little nuances of the important facts they bring to the table.” 
 
That’s why so many new properties choose to organize with SMART-TD: we make it happen by including them in the process as much as possible. 

Together, our union is creating a movement, and these victories are proof.