LIRR, SMART heading back to bargaining table

Long Island Rail Road union leaders and MTA managers will meet Friday for their first face-to-face contract negotiation session in nearly two months, five weeks before a possible strike that could strand 300,000 daily commuters, a key union official and an MTA source said. &# [...]

Organizing is good for SMART and good for America

By John Previsich, SMART Transportation Division President –  Organizing – it is good for you, for our members, for our union and also for America. Those of us who enjoy the benefits of working as organized labor are acutely aware of the value that our membership in the union [...]

SEPTA to impose terms on rail workers; strike likely

SEPTA moved Monday to impose management’s terms in a long-running labor dispute with Regional Rail workers, which union leaders said could prompt a strike that would halt all commuter rail service at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. SEPTA’s goal apparently is to risk a strike [...]

Need a doctor? Here's how to find one

If you find yourself in need of a doctor, and you don’t know if one practices near you, or if they participate in Medicare, and you have internet access, you can use the ‘Physician Compare’ tool at www.Medicare.gov. Physician Compare is a website maintained by the Centers for [...]

RRB appeals procedures

Persons claiming retirement, disability, survivor, unemployment or sickness benefits from the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) have the right to appeal unfavorable determinations on their claims.  The following questions and answers describe the appeals process for persons who [...]

Federal Metra investigation begins after complaints

CHICAGO (WLS) — A federal investigation into Metra’s operations has begun following three separate complaints that have raised red flags about safety. Those three incidents happened within days of each other, one of them occurring a little bit south of the 35th St [...]

Former UTU Vice President George Cahill dies

Former UTU Vice President George J. Cahill, 85, died June 3 after a courageous battle with cancer. A member of SMART Transportation Division Local 1978 at New York and the former Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen Lodge 328, Cahill began his railroading career as a crew caller [...]

SEPTA railroad engineers authorize strike

Nearly 99 percent of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) members working for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) have voted to authorize a strike when a mandatory 30-day cooling off period under the Railway Labor Act ends in less [...]