Safety setback: DOT repeals ECP brake rule

In a blow to safety, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) repealed a 2015 Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) rule that required railroads to implement electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) braking technology on trains hauling hazardous flammable contents. “Clear [...]

National Rail Agreement documents updated

A special webpage has been created for members to read and download various documents related to the newly ratified National Rail Agreement that was approved by SMART TD members on Dec. 1, 2017. Follow this link to view the signed agreements, questions and answers, a synopsis [...]

SMART TD members ratify National Rail Agreement

By a margin of nearly four to one, SMART Transportation Division members have voted to APPROVE the new National Rail Contract. The voting was conducted by BallotPoint Election Services, who certified the following results for each craft eligible to vote: CRAFT ACCEPT REJECT C [...]

Secretary Acosta Visits Local 100 Training Center

U.S. Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta last week toured the Sheet Metal Workers’ Local Union 100’s Apprenticeship Training Center in Suitland, Maryland. Earlier in the week, SMART’s General President Joseph Sellers, Jr., participated in a meeting of the President’s Task For [...]

Partnership Between Contractor and Union Grows Market Share

Thomas Company got its start in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., in 1920 in the years following World War I and less than a decade before the Great Depression. Despite that beginning, the economic collapse in 2008 and subsequent fallout in Atlantic City left the then 94-year-old co [...]