Federal agency rejects Brightline’s effort to delay union election for onboard attendants

The National Mediation Board, a federal agency overseeing labor relations in the airline and rail industries, has rejected an attempt by Brightline to delay a union election for their onboard service attendants in Florida, who recently announced their intent in to unionize with the Transport Workers Union.

The union, which represents roughly 155,000 workers across the U.S., filed a petition for a union election with the National Mediation Board in August, accompanied by signed cards of support from more than 50 percent of the roughly 100 Brightline employees who would be eligible to join. It’s a historic organizing effort, as the first documented effort by Brightline workers to form a union.

But Brightline filed an objection to the union’s application, claiming it was not a “rail carrier” and therefore not under the jurisdiction of the National Mediation Board, the administrator of the Railway Labor Act.

The National Mediation Board on Tuesday, however, rejected Brightline’s argument, which the union characterized as nothing more than a delay tactic. Efforts to delay union elections are one of many common tactics in the anti-union playbook, deployed by employers that wish to fend off the threat of unionization.

“This is a major victory for onboard service workers who want a voice at the table,” said John Samuelsen, president of the Transport Workers Union, in a statement responding to the ruling. “The NMB correctly ruled that Brightline IS a railroad and MUST move forward with an election.”

Brightline, formerly known as All Aboard Florida, is a privately owned passenger rail company that has received millions of dollars through federal grant programs specifically earmarked for railway projects. Brightline, for instance, secured $15.9 million in federal funds from the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2022 for a planned expansion of Brightline from Orlando to Tampa, and has received millions of dollars more through federal grants secured by the cities of Jacksonville and Boca Raton for Brightline projects.

“Brightline has received a number of CRISI [Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements] grants in recent years for infrastructure improvements such as improving safety at grade crossings,” the National Mediation Board’s ruling reads. “Because it has received these grants and is operating on “rail infrastructure constructed or improved” with this funding, Brightline is deemed a carrier under the RLA [Railway Labor Act].”

After Brightline first tried to object to the election, the Transport Workers Union decided to escalate their fight, urging the federal Department of Transportation to reject further subsidizing the company. The union wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg in September, requesting that the department deny requests from Brightline for taxpayer-funded rail grants while the for-profit company continued to argue it was not in fact a railway.

“Brightline Florida is abusing the public coffers and denying workers their fundamental labor rights,” Samuelsen, the union president, wrote in the letter. “We urge you to take immediate action by denying all outstanding grant requests which involve the railroad or benefit the railroad, and by opening an investigation into whether funds previously awarded should be clawed back due to the railroad’s non-compliance with federal law.”

Since then, at least two federal grant applications from Brightline for Florida projects have been rejected by the Federal Railroad Administration — for projects in Cocoa and Martin County. When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the Department of Transportation declined to comment on whether the union’s letter had anything to do with their rejection of the Brightline grant requests. “The Federal Railroad Administration does not provide specific details regarding unsuccessful applications,” the spokesperson told Orlando Weekly.

However, eligibility criteria for applicants of the railway grant program is telling. Within its selection criteria for applicants, for instance, the FRA writes that it will “assess how the project will create good-paying, safe jobs with free and fair choice to join a union including through the use of a project labor agreement, promote investments in high-quality workforce development programs, adopt local and economic hiring preferences for the project workforce, and promote local inclusive economic and entrepreneurship programs.” Also considered in applications is whether project planning activities and project delivery actions support “strong labor standards and the free and fair choice to join a union.”

The grant program is competitive. That hasn’t stopped Brightline from securing federal funds through that same grant program before, and Samuelson, the union president, argues Brightline will “have a better shot at securing federal grant money in Washington with the TWU’s help.” The union also represents workers employed by Amtrak, Norfolk Southern, as well as mass transit and airline workers.

Brightline did not respond to a request for comment in response to the National Mediation Board’s ruling, which is considered final and cannot be appealed. The board has ordered than an election be held from Nov. 27 through Jan. 14, 2025, by mail — a timeline that the union sees as a win.

The period between when workers file for a union election and their vote can be a critical, and rather vulnerable period, allowing the employer time to convince employees they don’t need a union, or if they really want to skirt federal labor law, try to convince workers that having a union will actually worsen their working conditions.

The union has criticized Brightline for hiring lawyers from Littler Mendselon, a law firm notorious for its “union avoidance” services, to represent the passenger rail company in the unionization fight, even as the company struggles to turn a profit.

Using recommended talking points from the firm, Brightline president Patrick Goddard sent an email to Brightline employees after attendants first announced their intent to unionize, emphasizing that he would prefer to maintain a “direct relationship” with employees — meaning, he wishes for them to remain non-union.

“I believe the best way to approach these matters is by working together, without a third party involved,” Goddard wrote. Goddard, who’s served as Brightline president since 2017, helped oversee Brightline’s $2.7 billion expansion project connecting Orlando to Miami. He previously worked in the hotel industry, working for hotel groups like Hilton Hotels, a multinational company that has historically spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on anti-union labor consultants, according to federal records.

“The Onboard Leads and Attendants continue to endure constant policy changes and increased workloads by an uncaring management team,” Angelo Cucuzza, director of organizing for the union, shared in a statement. “Their resolve to vote for the TWU remains strong and we look forward to giving them a real direct relationship at the bargaining table.”

According to the union, roughly 100 onboard attendants for Brightline in Florida would be eligible to join the union, if the union prevails in the union election. Because Florida is a right-to-work state, paying union dues would be voluntary.

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This article appears in Nov 13-19, 2024.