Wade Carlisle, a loyal member of Local 113 (Winslow, Ariz.), died in a non-work-related accident May 1 at age 50. He was a member of our union for six years, and worked as a trainman/brakeman for BNSF. He was vocal on worker safety issues and participated in an in-depth inter [...]
The SMART Transportation Division is mourning two union brothers who have died in recent weeks because of COVID-19. Member Thurman Wheeler, 47, of Local 1348 (Centralia, Wash.) passed away on April 30 after being hospitalized for nearly two weeks with the virus. He was a Unio [...]
SMART Transportation Division Local 934 member Curtis A. Deines, 52, a member of our union for more than 20 years, died before dawn on the morning of March 19 after the SUV he was being transported in was involved in a head-on collision with another vehicle on U.S. Highway 2 [...]
Brother Wesley Welch of Local 1381 (Hammond, Ind.), his wife and their two daughters lost their house in a fire Jan. 30 and are seeking help. Welch, 39, a switchman with Norfolk Southern, and his family saw their home in Cedar Lake, Ind., destroyed and one family member was t [...]
Angel Lomeli, a 14-year member of our union, passed away Jan. 5, 2021, from COVID-19. He was 48 years old. Brother Lomeli was a member of Local 1846 (West Colton, Calif.) and worked as a trainman for Union Pacific. “God gained the absolute best angel today, we miss you, [...]
Our union is in mourning after losing Jose “Joe” Alfaro, a member of SMART Transportation Division for more than 15 years, to the COVID-19 pandemic on Nov. 13. He was 58 years old. Brother Alfaro was a member of Local 18 in El Paso, Texas, and worked as a trainman/brakeman fo [...]
Our union is in mourning after losing two of its active members this week: one in a work-related fatality and one in a traffic accident. Ryan Sandy, 37, a member of Local 662 (Richmond, Va.) and a former local chairperson of LCA-201C, was killed in an on-the-job accident at 2 [...]
Brother Matt Bryant of Local 1067 (Virginia, Minn.), his wife and their three children lost their house in a fire Aug. 14 and could use some help as they attempt to rebuild their lives. Bryant, 34, a conductor with Canadian National, was furloughed in late May and had returne [...]
Britnee Griffin, daughter of Mike Griffin (a yardmaster, alternate vice chairperson of GCA 347 and the president of Local 1963 in Louisville, Ky.), has been battling aggressive cancer since the spring. The medical bills for her family are mounting, and an online fundraiser ha [...]
On July 22 of this year, Local 1715 member Karen Taylor was shot five times in broad daylight while her Charlotte Area Transit Systems (CATS) bus was stopped to unload passengers. “…just as the last person stepped off of her bus, a man appeared out of nowhere and shot five ti [...]