INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — Thousands of locomotive engineers at CSX Transportation have voted to ratify a new contract. They are represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen of the Teamsters Rail Conference.

“It’s an honor to congratulate our members at CSXT for earning this hard-fought contract,” said Mark Wallace, President of the BLET and the Teamsters Rail Conference. “Adding paid sick days without concession has been a contentious issue that the BLET refused to concede. But thanks to the hard work of our negotiating team, we were able to get it done.”

These 3,500 CSXT locomotive engineers will earn raises of 18.77 % over the life of the agreement and five additional sick days per year, in addition to improved work rules.

“The gains our members secured in this contract were a long time coming,” said Randy Fannon, Vice President of the BLET. “Our years of negotiating and fighting for the fair treatment our members deserve are finally paying off.”

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents over 1.3 million people in the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico. Visit Teamster.org for more information.