GARY, Ind. – Michael M. Shoemaker, 55, a conductor and member of UTU Local 1383, was killed Jan. 30 in a switching accident on at U.S. Steel’s Gary Works here. Reports are that he was wedged between two freight cars. Shoemaker, of Hobart, Ind., was an 10-year employee, of Gar [...]
UTU local and International officer Kenneth L. Knorr, 58, died Jan. 20. Knorr was a member of Local 1031, Savannah, Ga. He hired on with the Seaboard Coast Line, now part of CSX, in 1977. He served in a variety of local union offices for 29 years, and was president of Local 1 [...]
AMARILLO, Texas – A BNSF maintenance-of-way employee was killed here Jan. 9 after being struck by a rail car, according to media reports. One report said the accident occurred as a rail grinder was being moved in a BNSF yard. The Federal Railroad Administration is investigati [...]
James F. Carrico Sr., 61, former Indiana State Legislative Director of the United Transportation Union, died Jan. 4. A member of Local 333 at North Vernon, Ind., Carrico entered rail service as a conductor with CSX in 1974 following discharge from the U.S. Army. He was a grad [...]
A benefit fund has been established for the family of Norfolk Southern conductor Christopher Ochoa, a member of UTU Local 1895, Chicago, who died Oct. 17. Ochoa is survived by his wife, Elly Medrano-Ochoa, and children: Daniel Medrano, age 15; Brian, age four; and twins Alexa [...]
LIMERICK, Maine – Former Alternate National Legislative Director Gene Plourd (1993-1997) died Oct. 15 at age 79. Plourd, 79, born in Providence, R.I., hired out on Maine Central Railroad in December 1954, and was promoted to fireman in 1955, and engineer in 1962. Early in his [...]
Janna Shaver, 49, daughter of retired Colorado State Legislative Director Jack Shaver, and his wife Barbara, died Oct. 10. Janna would have graduated from The University of Denver Law School next May. She is also survived by her sister, Lisa. Donations made in Janna’s h [...]
MARRERO, La. – CSX conductor Jonathan Batieste, 29, with a wife and four young daughters between the ages of three and 12, died unexpectedly Aug. 22 following a motorcycle accident. Batieste, a member of UTU Local 1066 in New Orleans, signed on with CSX just 13 months ago. He [...]
The sister of UTU General Chairperson Anthony Simon (Long Island Rail Road, GO 505) died Sept. 15 following a long-struggle with cancer. Cards of condolence may be sent to Simon at his general committee office at Suite 3, 200-B West Main St., Babylon, N.Y. 11702.
BOTKINS, Ohio – CSX conductor Dennis A. Hemme, 59, became the ninth UTU member to die in an on-the-job accident in 2011 when he reportedly was crushed to death here Sept. 8 during a mainline shove of a stalled train. Botkins is some 110 miles north of Cincinnati. Hemme, with [...]
SMART Union