Onboard workers at Florida’s privately-owned high-speed passenger rail service Brightline voted Tuesday to join the Transport Workers Union of America, becoming the largest newly organized group of railroad workers nationwide in over 20 years, the union announced in a news release.
About 100 onboard and lead attendants provide services to passengers traveling the line from Miami to Orlando, such as selling food and beverages. Those who participated in the election voted to join the union by around a two-thirds margin, with the final mail-in ballots being counted Tuesday, according to the release. It is the first union formed by Brightline workers in Florida.
The TWU — which represents over 155,000 workers across the airline, rail, transit, university, and utility sectors — will now meet with Brightline workers to form a negotiating committee to begin drawing up a first contract with Brightline. Brightline workers wanted to address several issues, including sick-time policy, disciplining of workers, and work schedules, the release said.
“This is an enormous victory. Brightline workers – in the face of an aggressive anti-union campaign – voted roughly two-to-one to join the TWU,” union president John Samuelsen said in the release. “The Brightline president even went so far as to call workers at home in an apparent intimidation tactic. It obviously failed, epically.”
The workers began seeking union membership in 2024. Brightline hired the Littler Mendelson law firm — which the TWU said is notoriously anti-union. The union claimed in its release that the firm exaggerated the amount in union dues workers would pay and told workers the company couldn’t give them a pay raise for the foreseeable future because of the ongoing organizing drive.
A statement from Brightline president Patrick Goddard said the company is committed to providing the best work experience for each member of its team and it hopes everyone can work together. He expressed disappointment with the election’s results.
“Unfortunately, the election didn’t see the turnout we had hoped as only about half of the onboard population voted and about one third of the team voted for union representation.”
The company is planning a new line called Brightline West which would connect Las Vegas and Southern California. Its Florida line has come under scrutiny for collisions with pedestrians and vehicles.