Ready For a Change, Connecticut Southern Railroad Joins SMART-TD 

Following a nearly unanimous vote, Connecticut Southern Railroad is the newest addition to the SMART-TD union family. This is the second Genesse and Wyoming property that has joined our union in the past two weeks.   

SMART-TD welcomed the Wilmington Terminal Railroad earlier this month. 

Connecticut Southern workers were previously under an umbrella agreement with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (BLE), which benefits some (but not necessarily all) properties that it covers. 

With only 15 members in train and engine service, they often felt like they were left in the dark and didn’t have their needs fully addressed. 

“Looking at our own situation, we had to say ‘Hey, are we getting our bang for our buck?’” said Garrett Desjardins who was the Local Chairperson while they were represented by the BLE. 

Tired of feeling like they weren’t being heard, our new brothers reached out to SMART-TD. 

Previous umbrella agreement failed to deliver results 

GCA 687 Associate Chairperson Nick Greficz assisted with the organizing efforts and explained how the decision was made after a lot of thought. 

“It wasn’t a knee-jerk reaction,” Greficz emphasized. “There was some apprehensiveness about the contracts in place, the longevity of the contracts, and there was some misinformation that was being spread.” 

Discussions with Local Chairman Matt Pietrzak from Local 352 (West Springfield, MA) eased many of their worries. 

He knew most of our new members before the switch.  

“We worked side-by-side with those guys,” Pietrzak said.  

“I see [Pietrzak] almost every day when I’m at work,” Desjardins said. “We just met each other through doing the job, and you meet good people along the way. So it almost seemed like a no-brainer for us because our representation is right there.”   

He emphasized that SMART-TD’s newest members are excited about the change and look forward to no longer being under an umbrella agreement  like the one they worked under with the BLE.  

“We got held to the standards of other railroads that don’t do our work and don’t carry our qualifications [under our previous umbrella agreement],” Desjardins pointed out.   

New members recognized for their professionalism 

Brother Greficz noted that he’s been very impressed by these workers throughout their journey to join SMART-TD. 

“They’ve got a very tight-knit group of guys over there,” Greficz said. “I was very impressed with the participation and the solidarity that Connecticut Southern showed. That was something that struck me. Everybody was professional, everybody was reasonable.” 

He’s also proud of Brother Pietrzak, who is preparing to become an official organizer, for his leadership throughout the campaign. 

“It’s a true story of organizing from the rocks, because he [Pietrzak] wasn’t an organizer,” Greficz explained. “It doesn’t matter what your title is…everybody is an organizer at the end of the day.” 

For Brother Pietrzak, this is a victory that feels particularly good. 

“It [joining SMART-TD] was years in the making and now it’s finally done.”  

SMART-TD congratulates Brother Greficz and Brother Pietrzak on this organizing win and proudly welcomes the newest members of our union family!