Charlie Woodcock is a Senior Labor Relations Consultant with FH Solutions Group.
Charlie has more than 43 years of labor relations and human resources experience, including developing labor strategy, conducting negotiations, restructuring processes and systems, and improving operating efficiencies and service quality.
He retired from an accomplished career at Amtrak, where he headed up the labor relations function, strategy, and staff—12 unions and 24 labor contracts—for the past nine years. He also served as chief negotiator for labor contracts at the local and national levels, including significant wage and rule agreements under the Railway Labor Act (RLA). In addition, Charlie administered Amtrak’s collective bargaining agreements (CBAs), including contract interpretation and claim and grievance administration through arbitration.
As Management Chairman of the Joint Medical Administration Committee (JMAC), a labor-management committee, he oversaw and periodically bid on Amtrak’s agreement-covered employee medical plan. He also held other field corporate human resources and labor relations roles at Amtrak, where he led recruiting and labor relations functions supporting division operations and various field and corporate labor relations initiatives.
During his labor relations career, Charlie advised and formally trained line officers on labor agreement application, work rule implementation, management rights, and the discipline process. He was a labor relations liaison with outside counsel, consultants, and department teams, researching and preparing issues for fact-finding panels, interest arbitration forums, and government oversight agencies. He also served as an expert and chief witness in special arbitrations. Charlie conducted a wide range of special projects and research, including analyses of arbitration, wage, and contract trends; existing rules applications and improvements; and effective work rules and best practices.
Charlie has been a member of various professional organizations, including the Labor and Employee Relations Association (formerly IRRA), Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), Mercer Labor and Employee Relations Network, Wharton Research Advisory Group, and freight/commuter/airline professional labor relations organizations.
Charlie earned his bachelor of science degree in industrial relations from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, which he attended as a Morehead-Cain Scholar.