CSX workers picket near Tropicana plant for better pay, benefits

Carrying signs that read, “People Over Profit “ and “Say No To The Sick Paying More,” about a dozen CSX Transportation employees picketed for two hours at the entrance of the Tropicana plant along Ninth Avenue East in Bradenton on Sunday afternoon, demanding better pay and medical benefits from the railroad company.

The protesters said they were picketing at Tropicana to draw the juice company’s attention to the fact that contract negotiations between CSX and their employee union has gone on unsuccessfully for two years.

Picket leaders said they want Tropicana to “communicate to CSX that fairness at the negotiating table is in everyone’s best interest.”

Tropicana is one of CSX’s most influential customers, employing the railroad company to run its “juice train” from Florida up the East Coast of the U.S.

The protesters did not block Tropicana employees from getting to work on Sunday, calling their picket “informational” only.

“We are protesting the fact that the railroad is not bargaining in good faith,” said Matt Weaver, a CSX employee and union member from Port Clinton, Ohio, who was holding a “People Over Profit” sign.

Weaver and the other picketers — none were from Bradenton — were all members of The Brotherhood of Maintenance Way, a Teamsters division serving railroad workers who work on maintaining the tracks, which can be extremely dangerous work.

The union plans to do informational picketing at CSX’s local yard Monday and will also picket at other locations where the Tropicana train makes deliveries on its route up the East Coast, Weaver said.

“The Tropicana juice train has always been an iconic train for CSX,” Weaver added. “You don’t slow it down. You get out of its way. You definitely get out of the way of the juice train.”

Weaver and the other CSX picketers were hoping that their presence Sunday at Tropicana and over the next few months at other locations on the juice train route will spur CSX to end the contract stalemate.

The picketer who lives closest to Bradenton was Nate Beard, a CSX employee from Tampa who was joined on the picket line by his wife, Jakinia, and daughter, Kayla.

“CSX is not really giving any explanation,” Beard said when asked why the negotiations are taking so long.

The picketers waved at Tropicana workers Sunday and shared their story with some who stopped their cars to get a flier.

The flier said, in part: “Dear Sisters and Brothers at Tropicana. We are the men and women who build and maintain the railroad tracks that Tropicana relies on to get its juice to market. We greet you as workers and fellow Teamsters.”

“Today we are picketing your plant to draw Tropicana’s attention to the demands of our employer — CSX Transportation — at the contract negotiating table. Our picket line is for informational purposes only. We have no intentions of blocking the normal course of business.”

The flier also said: “We are asking CSX and the other Class 1 railroads to respect our labor by paying us fairly and providing quality health benefits for our families. We call on Tropicana to communicate to CSX that fairness at the negotiating table is in everyone’s best interest.”

Many Tropicana employees driving by the sign-carriers beeped their horns, seemingly in support of the union.

This story was originally published October 29, 2017 at 5:40 PM with the headline "CSX workers picket near Tropicana plant for better pay, benefits."