Texas & Northern employees select SMART

Employees of the Texas & Northern Railway Company this week were successful in their efforts to bring union representation to their property.

In separate elections held Feb. 6 and Feb. 7, the operating and non-operating employees at the northeast Texas railroad voted overwhelming for SMART Transportation Division representation.

Non-operating employees include maintenance-of-way workers, machinists and mechanics.

The railroad, based in Lone Star, Texas, provides rail transportation service to U.S. Steel’s Texas Tubular operations, as well as other customers on its line, including A&A Coating, Friedman Pipe and Lone Star Specialties .

The Class III railroad comprises 7.6 miles of the trackage and 32 miles of storage tracks. It interchanges with Kansas City Southern operations at Veals Yard.

SMART Transportation Division Director of Organizing Rich Ross lauded the efforts of International organizers James “Mike” Lewis and Calvin Studivant and International staff member Cara McGinty.

“I would like to personally thank Mike and Calvin for their work put forth in this victory. There was a lot of traveling and a lot of effort involved,” Lewis said.

Texas & Northern Railway is a subsidiary of Pittsburgh-based Transstar, which also operates the Union Railroad Company in Pennsylvania and Delray Connecting Railroad Company in Michigan.