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Brother Aaron Hatter of SMART-TD Local 1594 (Upper Darby, Pa.) has only been a member of SMART-TD since June.

Aaron was operating his bus on the South East Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA) 108 Route from Upper Darby to the airport in southwest Philadelphia when a passenger got on the bus and informed him that he didn’t have enough money to cover his fare.

Hatter, who had received new-hire training from SMART-TD General Chairperson Anthony Petty knew he wasn’t supposed to put himself in harm’s way by arguing a fare with a passenger.

He took the correct course of action by not engaging and allowing the passenger to ride. As he was getting close to completing his run, he stopped to let this passenger off the bus at the corner of Church Lane and Connell Road in Yeadon about 1 p.m.

Member hurt in unprovoked confrontation

As the man exited the bus, he stopped and, without being provoked, stabbed Aaron twice, first in his face and then in his stomach.

Brother Hatter had to be rushed into surgery because doctors believed the knife had damaged his intestine. Fortunately, they were incorrect, and our brother is expected to recover fully.

“Aaron is a good new operator who does his job well,” GC Petty said of Hatter. “You hate to see any of our operators put in this situation, but in this case in particular, Brother Hatter did everything right and still ended up being violently assaulted.”

Recovery progressing, but frustration mounts for SMART bus union leader

Petty’s frustration was evident. He said when he went to talk to Hatter following the surgery, he was encouraged to hear that he is recovering well.

“I was glad to see Aaron is going to be all right, but this never should have happened.” Petty said. “Our operators know to file reports of physical assaults and altercations, but there is no mechanism to report verbal assault. A handful of our operators have had negative experiences with this particular passenger. Up to now, he has never become violent. He would make insulting comments and walk away, but it never escalated. We need to start documenting these verbal assaults and have a way to address these problems before they grow into situations like this with our member fighting for his life.”

SMART bus union taking action, to roll out reporting tool

SMART-TD agrees with Brother Petty 100%. An assault report designed by SMART-TD’s internal Bus/Transit Assault Prevention and Safety (BTAPS) committee will soon be made available on the SMART app and our website. This form will get this information into the hands of our local officers and BTAPS members.

With actionable information, these local officers will be better-equipped to ensure our brothers and sisters like Aaron are not caught off guard and unnecessarily put in harm’s way.

“I want to make it very clear that the SMART Transportation Division’s National Legislative Department has outdone itself with the announcement of House Resolution 8996, known as the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2024.

This legislation is the result of National Legislative Director Greg Hynes and Alternate National Legislative Director Jared Cassity’s passion for railroad safety, which combined forces with the leadership and vision of Congressmen Troy Nehls (R-Texas) and Seth Moulton (D-Mass.). These men had the desire to get down to the ballast level and fix what needed to be fixed on America’s rails. SMART-TD was more than happy to provide the details and first-hand knowledge needed to produce comprehensive and effective safety legislation.

As president of the largest labor union in this great country, I want to personally thank these two representatives and their 7 colleagues on both sides of the aisle who have worked to realize this important bill. I also want to extend my appreciation to Greg, Jared and Jenny Miller for their dedication, fortitude, and the shoe leather worn through to make sure the RSE of 2024, when passed, will keep our brothers and sisters safe for years to come!”

Jeremy Ferguson, president, SMART-TD

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (July 24, 2024) — SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson and TD’s National Legislative Department proudly endorse Congressman Troy Nehls’ bill known as the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2024.

National Legislative Director Greg Hynes delivers testimony before the House Rail Subcommittee on July 23.

Greg Hynes, SMART-TD’s National Legislative Director (NLD), noted that in his years of working toward rail safety legislation that “H.R. 8996 is the most complete and comprehensive rail safety bill I’ve seen on the Hill. With the bipartisan leadership of Nehls and Moulton and the coalition of co-sponsors they have put together, this bill is poised to change this industry for the better. It locks two-person crews in as a federal law and goes much further to remedy some of our most-important day-to-day safety concerns on this country’s rails. I can’t thank these two Congressmen and their staff enough. They engaged Jared and I early in this process, and they were relentless in their pursuit of a bill that made sense and fixed our industry’s problems organically from the ground up.”

Hynes went on to say that he was honored to be selected by Congressman Nehls to represent the operating employees of rail labor in the House’s first hearing for the RSE of 2024.

“The congressman has been working directly with Brother Cassity and I every step of the way on this bill, and I was proud to stand for every SMART member and every railroader past, present, and future to discuss the safety enhancements we aim to accomplish by passing H.R. 8996.”

Alternate National Legislative Director Jared Cassity had this to say: “This bill and the legislators behind it deserve the support of every man and woman in this union. Some of the highlights include:

  • Two-person crews aboard Class I railroads becoming federal law with penalties to railroads in the range of $5,000 – $1 million;
  • Strict regulations on blocks of empty cars in mixed-freight trains;
  • Buffer cars being required between locomotives and hazardous commodity trains;
  • Amtrak and all six Class I railroads will have 60 days to enroll in the Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS) run by NASA and FRA;
  • Comprehensive studies to be done on train length and weight aimed at putting federal limits on both;
  • Managers directly causing federal hours-of-service violations will be fined between $100 and $1,000;
  • Accurate real-time updates will be provided to ensure consistent information is electronically maintained by carriers and made available to all first responders in emergencies;
  • Phase-out of DOT 111 tank cars that have proven to be prone to puncture in derailments, putting our crews in harm’s way, will be expedited;
  • Carriers’ practice of limiting the time taken to inspect locomotives and cars by Qualified Mechanical Inspectors (QMIs) will be banned;
  • Mandates that class one brake tests on originating trains must be conducted by QMI employees (not conductors);
  • The Department of Transportation secretary will change rail accident reporting forms to include train length and weight data as part of an effort to regulate the size of trains;
  •  The National Academy of Science will conduct a study to determine the effect longer trains have on community safety by creating more blocked crossings;
  • Railroad managers will face personal fines for interfering with engineers’ inspections of locomotives;
  • Hot bearing defect detectors will be regulated and no more than 15 miles apart on main lines. They will be strategically placed within 10 miles of population centers;
  • Rail crews will be notified of the results of all defect detectors;
  • Railroads will be required to notify state emergency services about hazardous load locations and quantities.

All labor unions in this country are founded on the principle of increasing the safety of their membership. SMART-TD is proud to stand on our record in this arena. President Jeremy Ferguson, along with our National Legislative Department, have been pushing hard to get Congress’s attention to address day-to-day issues creating unsafe conditions for our members and the communities we travel through.

The RSEA and the leadership of its sponsors stand to do just that. SMART-TD looks forward to ensuring this bill reaches President Biden’s desk for a signature.

If you’re interested in speaking more about the legislation, we’d be happy to connect you with:

SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson

President Jeremy Ferguson, a member of Local 313 in Grand Rapids, Mich., was elected president of SMART’s Transportation Division in 2019.

President Ferguson, an Army veteran, started railroading in 1994 as a conductor on CSX at Grand Rapids, Mich., and was promoted to engineer in 1995. Ferguson headed the recent national rail negotiations for the Union with the nation’s rail carriers.

SMART Transportation Division National Legislative Director Gregory Hynes

Greg Hynes is a fifth-generation railroader and was elected national legislative director in 2019.

Hynes served on the SMART Transportation Division National Safety Team that assists the National Transportation Safety Board with accident investigations, from 2007 – 2014.

In 2014, he was appointed to the Federal Railroad Administration’s Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC), which develops new railroad regulatory standards.

Hynes was appointed the first chairperson of the UTU Rail Safety Task Force in 2009 and served in that capacity until being elected SMART Transportation Division alternate national legislative director at the Transportation Division’s 2014 convention.

SMART Transportation Division Alternate National Legislative Director Jared Cassity

Jared Cassity, a member of Local 1377 (Russell, Ky.), was elected to the office of alternate national legislative director at the Second SMART Transportation Division Convention in August 2019 and became director of the TD National Safety Team in June 2021.

Cassity started his railroad career with CSX in September 2005 and was promoted to engineer in 2008.

In addition to his elected roles, he has been a member of the National Safety Team since 2014, where he was subsequently elected to the position of Alternate Director (East) for the NST in 2016. Likewise, he was elected by his fellow peers of state directors to serve as the directors’ representative on the CSX Safety Model Executive Board in 2013.

The United States Congress is not known for its ability to agree on anything. Anything, that is, except for the fact that large railroad companies are 100% incapable of self-regulation.

SMART-TD railroad union gives labor’s perspective

SMART-TD’s National Legislative Director Greg Hynes represented all rail operating crafts before the House Transportation and Infrastructure committee today. He joined NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy, FRA Administrator Amit Bose, Deputy Administrator of PHMSA Tristan Brown, and David Arouca, national legislative director of the Transportation Communications Union (TCU) in testifying. The topic: Answer questions related to the current state of rail safety.

The second panel of the rail safety hearing before the House Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee is shown on July 23. SMART-TD National Legislative Director Greg Hynes is at right.

Can railroads be trusted?

Republican and Democratic congressional representatives, along with three members of the Biden/Harris administration, all put the Class I railroads on notice with a collective answer of NO!

When Brother Hynes was asked the direct question of whether big railroads can be trusted to self-regulate, he answered definitively: “Absolutely not, and I have a 150-year record to prove it!”

At one point in his line of questioning, Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wisconsin) asked for everyone on the panel who works for the railroads to stand up and be recognized. He paused and followed it up with, “Let the record show reflect that no one stood up, because they didn’t bother to show up, even though they were invited to this hearing! BNSF, Union Pacific, and Canadian National were all invited to this hearing, and they are not here, and that is shameful. That is NOT OK.”

The time for union action is coming

Today’s hearing was not a close call — railroaders won big. The carriers not only lost, but they looked bad doing it! Everyone in the room knew what needed to be done: Pass the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2024 and make the carriers accountable for the flatlined approach to improving rail safety that Precision Scheduled Railroading has encouraged.

We will continue to follow this story and stay alert as Congress throttles up its attention on these sister rail safety bills — the Railroad Safety Enhancement Act of 2024 and the Senate’s Railroad Safety Act of 2023.

After three years without a revised contract, SMART-TD Local 1704 ratified a tentative agreement (TA) in Kansas City, Missouri, on Saturday with First Student. The 66-member local’s refreshed contract secured significant raises, the addition of one paid holiday and made it so that six years of seniority raised their members to the top of the pay scale, rather than the 16 years required in past contracts.

Preparation from SMART-TD bus union empowered Local 1704 leaders

Local 1704 negotiators General Chairperson Darryl Redmon, President Ethel Maze and Trustee Carol Johnson poses with Bus Department Vice President James Sandoval.

After months of negotiation, Local President Ethel Maze was quick to credit the preparation she and her team, including General Chairperson Darryl Redmon and Trustee Carol Johnson, received from Bus Department Vice President James Sandoval for their success. Maze said that in past negotiations, she had been in the room but wasn’t able to take the lead in getting her people what they needed. This time around, she could rise to meet the moment.

“James (VP Sandoval) spent an entire day with a group of four local officers and taught us things we never knew about how to advocate for our members,” she said. “Not only did this help in negotiating this agreement, but it also made me more effective in representing my members on the property in day-to-day operations.

Know your contract and stand firm

“Through my conversations with James, I found things in our agreement First Student has never honored. It empowered me to go into the office and stand firm, insisting on improvements to which we are contractually entitled. All in all, our team, along with VP Sandoval, put Local 1704 on a better track, and we provided a quality of life for our men and women that is better than our managers wanted us to believe was possible,” Maze continued.

SMART-TD succeeds in tense negotiations

Some of the members of Local 1704 pose for a photo after ratification of a contract July 20 that brought a three-year negotiation process to an end.

Negotiations came to a head when management called for an all-day closed-door session.

Sandoval attended the meeting and had high praise for the efforts and professionalism of 1704’s local officers.

“Maze, Redmond, and Johnson were an impressive team. It was obvious to everyone in the room that they had done their homework,” he said. “Sister Maze took the lead in the negotiations, and she left no doubt that she knew the contract, the rights of her people, and most importantly, that she had her finger on the pulse of what her brothers and sisters needed to achieve in this agreement.”

Preparation and hard work results in overwhelming support

The proud, 66-member local had not received a significant raise or a revised contract in three years. Their local negotiating team received overwhelming support by their brothers and sisters.  The July 20th vote ratified the tentative agreement with a resounding 97% approval.

LACMTA, SEPTA, CATS, Montebello, California, and other properties have won strong agreements, increased member safety, and operators and mechanics were brought back to work. While these large properties get large headlines, SMART-TD believes that, whether a local has 60 or 600 members, every member deserves the same training, representation and resources.

That’s how we fight, and why we win.

ATTENTION: All SMART Transportation Division members employed by rail carriers negotiating under the umbrella of the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC).

As you are likely aware, on June 10, 2024, SMART Transportation Division began the process of formulating Section 6 notices to be served on rail carriers represented by the NCCC, which will include proposals to increase wages, benefits and improve working conditions. In our communications, all officers and members were invited to submit proposals for the Section 6 Notices to the SMART-TD headquarters.

To those members who have already submitted proposals, we thank you for providing your valuable input..

Members who have not yet responded are reminded that proposals are being cataloged through July 24, 2024. Soon thereafter, a committee of general chairpersons from the Association of General Chairpersons, District No. 1, will review the proposals and begin to fine-tune those suggestions into the notices to be served on the carriers.

In order for your proposal to be cataloged and considered by the Section 6 review committee, your proposal must be received in the Transportation Division office by the end of the day on July 24, 2024.

As a reminder, members may submit their proposals by email (preferred), fax or U.S. Mail:

Email – Section6@smart-union.org

Fax – (216) 228-5755,

or by writing to the attention of the SMART Transportation Division President at

6060 Rockside Woods Blvd. N., Ste. #325

Independence, OH 44131

Following this review process, the full Association of General Chairpersons, District No. 1, will be convened to review and finalize the union’s Section 6 notices. Those final notices will be reproduced and mailed to all participating general chairpersons for serving on the affected railroads no earlier than November 1, 2024, with changes to become effective no earlier than January 1, 2025.

In addition to membership submitted proposals, SMART-TD will be conducting a randomized membership survey to help define the issues for prioritization during negotiations. To ensure that you are eligible to participate in surveys, and to stay up to date on future developments, members are encouraged to register for the Member Portal and log in to the SMART-TD website at www.smart-union.org, and/or download the SMART Union app from the Google Play or Apple Store. 

The serving of notices under Section 6 of the Railway Labor Act is the first step in reaching a new national agreement with railroads represented by the NCCC. The carriers represented by the NCCC also have been working on their own Section 6 notices that they will serve at or about the same time the SMART-TD Section 6 notices are served.

All SMART-TD members are reminded that the current national agreement between the SMART-TD and NCCC will not expire on or after January 1, 2025. Under the status-quo provisions of the Railway Labor Act, the current national agreement will remain in effect.

Retired General Chairperson David Haack, a TD Alumni member from Local 322 (Milwaukee, Wis.) who served our membership on the Chicago & North Western, passed away July 13, 2024, at age 88.

David Haack was a general chairperson on the Chicago & North Western for many years.

Brother Haack joined our union in May 1959 and in addition to negotiating numerous contracts on behalf of his members, contributed testimony in Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) 213 regarding the C&NW in 1988.

Brother Haack attended UW-Oshkosh and UW-La Crosse and served in the United States Army. 

He worked with the Chicago and North Western Railroad as a conductor and the United Transportation Union as General Chairman. Brother Haack served as a union representative and advocate for his railroad brothers before his retirement. in 1998. 

He is survived by his wife of 65 years, Mary Ellen Sage Haack; his children, Dawn and Brian Kennedy, Tim and Molly Haack; and eight grandchildren.

Memorials can be made in Brother Haack’s name to St. Jude’s Hospital or Critter Junction Pet Rescue/Fond du Lac.

Visitation will be 9-11 a.m. Tuesday at Holy Family Church, 271 Fourth St. Way in Fond du Lac. A Memorial Mass of Christian Burial will follow, at 11 a.m. Cremation has taken place.

Additional information and guestbook can be found at ueckerwitt.com.

SMART-TD offers its sincere condolences to Brother Haack’s family and friends and his union brothers and sisters. 

CLEVELAND — The closing session of the SMART Transportation Division 2024 National Training Seminar recapped significant safety advancements driven by our railroad members over the last year.

The key to continuing those improvements is sharing safety concerns at every level. Several examples were presented at the seminar.

Officers in Minnesota won hours of service cap for yardmasters

TD President Jeremy Ferguson recognized Minnesota State Legislative Director Nick Katich who, along with Alternate Vice President Christopher Bartz, pushed legislation to create hours-of-service limitations for yardmasters in the state.

Passed in May 2024, Minnesota became the first state to protect yardmasters from excessive fatigue and overwork. After listening to their members, and with evidence in hand, they were able to make a positive change. Their shifts in the tower are now capped at 12 hours.

“They were successful, and I want to thank them for a job well done in getting hours of service protections for our yardmasters,” Ferguson said.

The push for federal protection for yardmasters continues in Washington, D.C.

Railroad union and FRA continue working for C3RS

SMART-TD officers also were instrumental in getting a pilot program for the Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS) together on three Norfolk Southern properties — the first time in recent years that a Class I has committed to anonymous safety reporting.

After the East Palestine, Ohio, rail disaster, the Association of American Railroads committed its member railroads to take part in C3RS. Already routine for aviation workers, the anonymous reporting system is independently administered by NASA.

“They said they were in,” Alt. National Legislative Director Jared Cassity said, but the carriers balked during discussions with the FRA’s Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC). They wanted to keep the ability to punish their employees.

“So, we’ve not made a lot of headway,” Cassity said. “I am not going to stop our fight to pursue C3RS on Class Is across the country, and for every railroader, because the reality of it is the data’s there.”

Norfolk Southern’s pilot and BNSF, with its dispatchers and signal maintainers, are the two exceptions.

C3RS has been established on 31 freight and transit operations nationwide, with about one-third of those properties with SMART-TD representation. Passenger rail properties such as SEPTA, Metro North, MBTA and Amtrak, and a smattering of short lines are among the participants. As a result, those SMART-TD members can anonymously report incidents that could have resulted in an accident.

“It works in the aviation industry. They’ve had it for more than 40 years. We’ve had it for 20 years,” Cassity said. “It’s a proven product.”

Local union officers learn how to bring C3RS to their property

Rob Castiglione, staff director of safety partnerships and Liz Gross, legal counsel from the Federal Railroad Administration, outlined how to get a freight or passenger carrier to take part in C3RS.

FRA’s Rob Castiglione speaks during Day 3 of the National Training Seminar in Cleveland on July 11.

First, the local chairperson on smaller properties or general chairpersons on larger properties must reach a memorandum of understanding with carrier management. It’s not difficult, as FRA and labor set up a template in 2003.

“It’s important to get FRA involved early,” stressed Castiglione, who once served as an FRA inspector. “Once you start having conversations about what an agreement or an IMOU (initial memorandum of understanding) looks like, get us involved. We are a stakeholder — this is a tri-party agreement between labor, railroads and the FRA.”

Next, encourage union members to use the system. Unless people on properties with the program make reports, it won’t be useful.

“We can’t promote this program all by ourselves,” Castiglione said. “This program does not succeed if members do not participate. It really starts at the grassroots level with your local chairpersons. Some of those folks who work side by side — the engineers and conductors talk about this program and how it works.”

Finally, provide all the details in those reports. Sometimes it’s a struggle to collect usable information due to railroaders’ guarded nature, he said.

“Too often we get reports that lack sufficient detail for the peer review team to understand what the hell happened,” Castiglione said.

But NASA, which has handled close to 2 million reports since the program began, eliminates any personally identifiable details from the reports. Workers shouldn’t be wary of taking part.

“Never once has NASA breached confidentiality for either the carrier or the worker,” Castiglione said.

The safety benefits are well-documented. C3RS has resulted in 19 safety alerts, nine notices to industry at large and 90 immediate alerts to individual carriers.

Properties who take part see marked improvements in safety with no risk to those who take part — a more than 25 percent improvement in incidents from years before.

“Close-call reports will never put people in a worse place,” Gross said.

C3RS and related links

FRA C3RS home page: https://railroads.dot.gov/railroad-safety/divisions/safety-partnerships/c3rs/confidential-close-call-reporting-system-c3rs

Volpe Center Lessons Learned: https://www.volpe.dot.gov/featured-report/confidential-close-call-reporting-system-c3rs-lessons-learned-evaluation-final

NASA C3RS page: https://c3rs.arc.nasa.gov/

NASA C3RS database search tool: https://c3rs.arc.nasa.gov/products.html

CLEVELAND — The closing session of the SMART Transportation Division 2024 National Training Seminar highlighted an eventful year in terms of bus and transit safety. By continuing to communicate safety concerns at all levels SMART-TD can continue to lead the charge for member safety. Union leadership shared several victories and outlined the road ahead.

Bus Day on the Hill

For the first time, members of the SMART-TD Bus Department engaged legislators and representatives from federal agencies in our nation’s capital.

To raise awareness about members’ issues, National Legislative Director Greg Hynes, Bus Vice Presidents Alvy Hughes and James Sandoval and the Bus and Transit Assault Prevention and Safety (BTAPS) Committee made 15 visits to members of Congress and to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA).

“We’d never done that before for bus and transit,” President Jeremy Ferguson said. “The assaults have to stop. We’re done with it. Our operators have to be protected.”

By all accounts, the event got the attention of Capitol Hill and the FTA.

“I was getting reports all day and the second day, they rolled into FTA — the first time FTA has heard from SMART,” President Ferguson said.  “My hat’s off to all of you to what you accomplished on that day.”

FTA Chief Safety Officer: Communication is key

Joe DeLorenzo, one of the chief safety officers of the FTA, addressed transit union officers at the seminar. He stressed that there are practical steps to improve safety across the board — but the key first step is to share information with the union and with the watchdog agencies.

The FTA’s Joe DeLorenzo addresses the third and final day of the National Training Seminar in Cleveland. Behind DeLorenzo is FRA’s Liz Gross.

“There’s a lot of good information out there,” he said. “But we still need more.”

The kind of safety information the FTA needs from our members has broadened. Transit union officers and their members give the real picture of what’s happening. Their reports are crucial, he said.

Bus operators: Don’t accept problems as just “part of the day”

“The more information that I have, the easier it is for me to try and navigate all of the challenges to try to get something done, something that can be helpful to you all in Washington, D.C.” DeLorenzo said. “For a lot of bus operators, a lot of the things that have happened over the years have just come to be ‘part of the day’ and not even things to be reported, but they are, and we need to kind of move forward to doing that.”

DeLorenzo stressed that individual union members have the power to change things to be safer for operators and for their ridership.

“Safety is really driven by the people implementing it, and that’s where those ideas and communications need to come from,” he said.

SMART-TD transit union provides safety reporting tools

SMART-TD has a universal Safety Condition Report that any member can use to report safety concerns on their properties.

The union’s BTAPS committee is developing a new form to report transit assaults.

Similar tools provide a way to report technology failures on freight locomotives and rail hours of service violations. Union leadership uses evidence from member reports to confront management, and to support negotiations for stronger contracts and better legislation.

Union-issued public comments make a difference

SMART-TD’s National Legislative Department frequently issues comments that help shape federal policy. A comment directed to the FTA by SMART-TD helped craft a provision that the representatives on bus/transit safety committees have to be split 50/50, rather than be tilted toward management.

That couldn’t have been done without open communication between SMART-TD transit union members, international officers and the FTA. Our work makes a difference.

“There’s no silver bullet for safety culture,” DeLorenzo said. “It’s been a challenging time for transit agencies, which makes it more and more important to focus on safety.”

CLEVELAND — Chairperson Robert Primus and Vice Chairperson Karen Hedlund of the Surface Transportation Board opened the second day of the SMART-TD National Training Seminar on Wednesday, July 10.  They outlined the vital role labor organizations like SMART-TD play in overseeing the freight rail and bus industries.

Both officials took part in the board hearings under now-retired STB Chair Martin Oberman, where they confronted the nation’s railroads for their part in the post-lockdown supply chain meltdown.

Recap of the 2022 STB hearings on the railroad supply chain meltdown

“We’ve never had a board that has gone to battle for what the workers and shippers were going through like that board did,” SMART-TD union President Jeremy Ferguson said.

Primus: Labor brings critical issues into the light

STB Chairman Robert Primus shared that a void was filled by SMART Transportation Division leadership. Prior to 2021, rail labor did not have a voice with the STB committees overseeing freight and passenger rail.

Surface Transportation Board Chairman Robert Primus, center, speaks with Local Chairperson Nathan Hatton (LCA-769A), left, and General Chairperson/Organizer Justin Wolters (GCA-449).

“We really didn’t hear from labor, and that’s a shame because I think that’s one of the reasons why we are where we are today,” Primus said. “But those things changed. Marty Oberman did something crazy right around 2021… saying let’s bring the folks who run the railroads into the room with us.”

That opportunity allowed the priorities of rail labor to be heard, amplified and to give regulators a clear picture of the situation on the ground. Organizations like SMART-TD brough service issues, massive layoffs, and quality-of-life issues including draconian attendance policies and the lack of paid sick leave to light, Primus said.

“All the corporate types, they all started waking up, and we were able to really start to move the needle on some of these issues,” he said. “What Marty started has brought a powerful partnership between STB and labor. The result is, we’re stronger moving forward. That’s the big thing.

“All the things that they were doing in the dark were brought into the light. The good news is we’re going to be going forward together.”

SMART-TD railroad and transit union leaders sit on STB committees

Two of our leaders, SMART-TD Illinois State Legislative Director Bob Guy and President Ferguson, now sit on the STB advisory committees that oversee passenger and freight rail, respectively.

“For me, that’s important. You’re part of the equation. You’re part of the solution,” he said.

Primus also acknowledged the role unions had in helping him succeed Oberman.

“Labor stepped up first before anybody else,” Primus said. “I wouldn’t be here without the support of you in this room. I want to say thank you for letting me represent you.

“We’ll make people realize that the people who run the railroad are in the room right now.”

Hedlund: STB can help initiate rail growth

STB Vice Chairperson Karen Hedlund then recounted some of the work done during Oberman’s tenure and some things that may come regarding rail service.

STB Vice Chairperson Karen Hedlund

She’s familiar with our union, crossing paths earlier in her career with former FRA Administrator Joe Szabo, a TD Alumni member and former Illinois State Legislative Director.

She began by tamping down concerns about the recent Supreme Court ruling overturning the Chevron decision, which is feared to weaken federal oversight of private industry.

“I don’t think it means that the courts are necessarily going to be second-guessing everything,” Hedlund said. “They first have to find some ambiguity in the statute. Our statutes are pretty clear. There are some things that could use a little bit more elaboration, but if your statutes are clear and your precedents are clear, hopefully you can get through that.”

Another point she made was that the railroads, already a critical and efficient part of our infrastructure, need to expand. Only 30 percent of goods are transported by rail, she said.

“They have failed to grow their carloads over the past 20 years,” Hedlund said. “Over the last two decades, all rail transportation sectors except intermodal have shown significant negative growth.”

The latest forecast by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics says that rail’s market share is forecast to shrink compared with trucking in the future.

 STB can potentially prevent railroads from doing less with less via the common-carrier obligation, while supporting competition and abiding by STB’s reciprocal switching ruling.

The Staggers Act, passed in the early 1980s, ushered in an era of consolidation in the rail industry. This led to the current duopolistic structure of Class I railroads — only two in the east, two in the west and two running north-south — that restricts competition.

“Maybe it’s time for the statutory pendulum to swing the other way,” she said. “We have to start this conversation about what we need to find things to strengthen us to help the railroads and to help the employees. To help the economy and to help the environment. And we’re going to look to our advisory committees to work on that.”

CLEVELAND — Greg Regan, president of the 37-union coalition Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO (AFL-CIO TTD) of which SMART-TD is a member, reminded attendees Tuesday, July 9, that labor’s collective efforts brought the needs of bus, transit, passenger and freight rail to the public eye.

But a change in the country’s leadership could reverse our progress. Labor needs to stick together.

“If you go back three and a half years ago or so, rail labor issues, transit labor issues were kind of hidden. Not a lot of people had a lot of awareness of the issues working people in those industries were facing,” Regan said. “We had rampant problems in the freight rail industry. We had a growing Amtrak service, but people were looking to cut them. Same with commuter rail. In transit we had people being beat up constantly.”

Railroad and transit union campaigns woke people up

Federal lawmakers didn’t begin to take notice until the 2022 national rail labor dispute that brought attention to draconian attendance policies, the lack of paid sick days and the strategies rail carriers were using to ensure record profits for companies.

“People were waking up,” Regan said. “That got an amount of attention that I’ve never seen in a contract dispute where people were on the side of the workers.”

The East Palestine disaster in February 2023 also highlighted the risks to people who live in communities that tracks run through.

“If things go wrong, the consequences can be very severe,” Regan said. “We cannot let federal lawmakers and the administration forget what happens when things go poorly, and we’re pushing.”

Labor’s persistence will be important in getting the Railway Safety Act and other measures passed that protect bus and transit.

“This does not happen without the advocacy of rail labor and the labor movement more broadly,” Regan said. “We are the ones on the ground. We see the problems and we see the opportunities.”

Unions pry the door open for important advances

Labor’s voice has helped to move infrastructure legislation forward that will result in more jobs for unionized labor. Keep the momentum going, press for more service where it is needed. This will eventually create more jobs as well, Regan said.

“When we look at where we can go from here, there’s a lot of opportunity and a lot of risk,” Regan said.

Receptive leadership of the federal agencies overseeing the rail and transit industries is in place, Regan said. The current administration listened, and the Federal Railroad Administration and Federal Transit Administration acted to protect union members and improve safety conditions.

“We did that together and we look forward to that, but we can’t do it without the right people in charge,” he said.