Union wants federal investigation into Brightline, claims company opposes unionization

The union trying to represent more than 100 Brightline workers wants the federal government to investigate the private passenger train and halt federal aid for the railway because it claims the company has violated a presidential order by opposing its employees' efforts to join the union, and for claiming rail law doesn't apply to it.

By arguing in legal filings that its workers' unionizing efforts are not governed by the federal board in charge of rail labor matters, the Transport Workers Union of America claims Brightline is saying it is not a train operator and therefore wrongly accepted more than $36 million in federal money meant for railways. That claim was sent in an open letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.

The Transportation Department should also withhold future grants from Brightline, union president John Samuelsen wrote. Brightline, the union argues, is contradicting an order from President Joe Biden that calls on the federal government to prioritize projects where companies have been supportive of their unions, including by voluntarily recognizing workers' attempts to unionize or staying neutral in a union election.

"Not only does Brightline Florida not have any of these items in place, it is actively fighting against ever having them," Samuelsen wrote. "Brightline Florida is abusing the public coffers and denying workers their fundamental laborrights."

A majority of Brightline's 104 onboard attendants signed union authorization cards in August and filed them with the National Mediation Board, which oversees rail and airline labor issues.

But Brightline said in a Sept. 6 filing with the board that the union should have filed instead with the National Labor Relations Board, where would-be union members for most private companies file, because the National Mediation Board only has jurisdiction over railroads regulated by the Surface Transportation Board and that does not oversee Brightline.

"So they are essentially arguing for the purposes of delaying an election that they are not a railroad," union spokesman Alex Daugherty wrote in an email. "Our argument, based on the simple logic that Brightline uses trains to move people around but especially since Brightline takes federal funds meant for railroads, is that Brightline IS a railroad under the auspices of the Railway Labor Act and NMB (National Mediation Board)," he added.

Brightline managers have told workers they can't give them raises because of the union organizing drive despite no law barring the company from granting them, the union said Tuesday in a news release. The company is also exaggerating the cost of union dues, the union said. Dues are equal to two hours of a member's hourly pay rate.

The company did not deny the union's assertions about raises and union dues when asked Tuesday to respond to them.

RELATED: Brightline workers to unionize, saying the company provides no help for trauma from crashes

“Brightline recently signed a historic agreement with organized labor to build and operate Brightline West (including the TWU) and have always recognized our teammates right to explore representation," company spokesman Ben Porritt said. "That said, there are longstanding jurisdictional channels that regulate and oversee this process and it’s in everyone’s interest — especially our employees — to get those right. While that decision plays out, we’ll continue to focus on our goal to provide the best workplace experience for all teammates, allowing for career and individual growth.”

Representatives for the Department of Transportation and the National Mediation Board did not comment.

Brightline's "indifference" to the trauma train attendants experience after fatal crashes — at least one person each week has died on the tracks this year — led them to try to unionize, Samuelsen said in August. Onboard crew who prepare food, serve refreshments and alcohol to passengers, and help with bags and luggage, are "subjected to absolute verbal abuse" from customers after a crash delays their trips, Samuelsen said.

While pay wasn't the main motivator for unionization, Samuelsen said, the $20 to $22 hourly wage for attendants needs to be higher.

Workers have also complained about what the union calls a draconian attendance policy where they can be fired after getting three warnings for infractions such as clocking in five minutes later than they're scheduled to work. The policy also requires employees who call off of their shifts with less than six hours' notice to their bosses to provide "proper documentation" from a "reasonably verifiable source," such as a school or hospital.

Chris Persaud covers transportation for The Palm Beach Post. Send tips and story ideas to cpersaud@pbpost.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Transport Workers Union wants federal investigation into Brightline