A united front

Brothers and Sisters,

As you all know, 2024 was an eventful year for SMART-TD. Upwards of 90% of our freight rail members now have paid sick leave, and two-person crews are now federally protected across the country. 2024 also saw SMART-TD work with rail carriers and other unions party to the National Agreement to bring down the out-of-pocket Health & Welfare costs for our covered members. As of January 2025, all SMART-TD rail members covered by the National H&W Plans will see a reduction of 10.2% in their monthly employee contributions! That puts an extra $31.67 per month back into the pockets of our members without making any concessions in bargaining.

Our Amtrak members recently ratified a monumental agreement. Amtrak workers have achieved historic gains, including the largest general wage increase in the company’s history and full retroactive pay dating back to July 1, 2022, which will also apply to short crew payments. Key highlights include 10 weeks of paid parental leave, the addition of Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday, increased training pay and improved bereavement policies, all while maintaining the healthcare plan for current employees. This agreement not only enhances financial compensation but also improves Amtrak’s dedicated workforce’s overall working conditions.

Thanks to our organizing efforts, including internal organizing and education, we are organizing new properties and welcoming many new members into our union.

2024 was one of the most successful years SMART-TD has experienced with our short-line rail properties. Our Organizing Department has brought many new short-line properties into the SMART-TD family, like the Louisville & Indiana Railroad, among others. We have also dedicated resources to negotiating fair contracts for our members on these smaller properties, such as our Alabama Gulf Coast brothers and sisters, who ratified an agreement with their railroad featuring significantly higher general wage increases and more generous quality-of-life improvements than any agreement they have seen in recent memory. This union is dedicated to fighting just as hard for our members working on a short line with six members as we do for our brothers and sisters working for the Class I railroads, and it shows!

Our bus members have not only ratified agreements from coast to coast with substantial gains in pay, but we also have made significant progress addressing the growing problem of transit violence. In 2024, the Federal Transit Administration embraced our members’ urgency in addressing these issues. We are starting to see tangible steps being made by employers and legislators toward addressing our concerns instead of doing further studies.

SMART-TD continues to be the transportation union with the most to offer with our first-class job insurance (DIPP) and short-term disability insurance (VSTD), both of which are owned by you, the members! No other union has its own plans that allow members’ money to work directly for them and their benefits. With our Discipline Income Protection Program (DIPP) insurance, 2024 saw benefits increase and out-of-pocket costs to members go down! This is all made possible by the members-helping-members approach DIPP is known for.

As members of this union, we should be proud of our accomplishments in 2024, and we owe it to ourselves and to one another to continue our momentum in this new year. As your president, I want all of our sisters and brothers to know that our organization’s success depends heavily on open lines of communication, from the newest trainee to our International office and everyone in between. We must be a united front. If we accomplish this goal, the rest of our challenges become clear-cut, and our collective goals are much more attainable.

In solidarity,

Jeremy R. Ferguson
President, Transportation Division