Category: Leadership
Amtrak furloughs could be avoided with proper action in Congress
Amtrak, despite having been given $1 billion in funding under the CARES Act to prevent furloughs as a result of COVID-19, has announced that more than 500 – 509 to be exact – SMART members are targeted to be furloughed, effective Oct. 1. Carrier leadership announced Sept. 1 t [...]
Court vacates FRA approval of KCSM engineer certification
WASHINGTON, D.C., (August 28, 2020) — A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has vacated Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) approval of the Kansas City Southern Railway (KCSR) certification program under which locomot [...]
Fifth Circuit vacates injunction in crew-consist case
Today, Aug. 28, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit issued its decision in BNSF et al v. SMART-TD (Case No. 20-10162) concerning crew consist. This decision is a long-awaited victory for the Union. The appellate court vacated the injunction that forced SMART-TD Gene [...]Union leadership: Rail bosses are tightening the screws on workers, representatives
CLEVELAND, Ohio, (August 21, 2020) — As freight rail traffic levels rebound strongly from the economic slowdown caused by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, railroad management has unleashed an unprecedented barrage of measures to manipulate recalls from furloughs, make alr [...]
UPDATED: Former President G. Thomas DuBose passes away
G. Thomas DuBose, who served one term as president of the SMART Transportation Division’s immediate predecessor union, passed away on Aug. 20, 2020, after a short illness. DuBose, United Transportation Union (UTU) president from 1991 to 1995, had experienced health complicati [...]
Feedback sought for revisions/refinements to time books
To Local Treasurers, Local Presidents and Local Chairpersons, As you are aware, we are presently accepting orders for the 2021 time books and while these orders are being processed we are also reviewing the materials contained in the current booklet. This booklet is utilized [...]
United Rail Unions sue to block carriers from modifying Healthcare benefits without bargaining
Washington, D.C. (Aug. 7, 2020) — On August 5, 2020, 12 rail unions whose members and their families are covered by the NRC/UTU Plan and the Railroad Employees National Health and Welfare Plan filed suit against the nation’s Class I railroad carriers in the United States Dist [...]