Brothers and Sisters: Meetings are underway across the country to explain our tentative national rail agreement and provide members the opportunity to ask questions. Check with your local officers, general chairperson or state legislative director if you have not been notifie [...]
By Mike FutheyInternational President A railroader’s most cherished workplace safety assurance is the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA), which turns 100 years old this month. Railroading is among the most dangerous occupations in America. In an industry that too o [...]
By Bonnie Morr Alternate Vice President, Bus When operating a motor coach — whether carrying students, commuters, tourists or the handicapped – whenever we open the door, we are exposed to assaults. We are vulnerable to what we do see, and what we cannot see, such [...]
By Mike FutheyInternational President We have been receiving numerous reports of members disciplined following an on-the-job injury. Too often, the injury was the result of a carrier’s failure to correct its own safety hazard or safety violation. But if there is no paper trai [...]
By Norman K. Brown, M.D., UTU medical consultant Please wash your hands. Micro-organisms – bacteria, viruses, yeasts – are all around us. Bacteria live especially closely with us, most often in a friendly manner, in the nose, mouth, lower intestine, genitals, on t [...]
By Vic Baffoni Vice President, Bus Department Negotiations for improved wages, benefits and working conditions are Bus Department priorities in 2008. Negotiations are underway in Locals 710 (Newark, N.J.), 1589 (New Brunswick, N.J.) and 1670 (Laredo, Texas). Agreements held b [...]
Local treasurers and other officers should be aware that all UTU locals are now required to file Internal Revenue Service Form 990 for fiscal year 2007. The form must be filed no later than May 15, 2008. Previously, locals that ordinarily received less than $25,000 in adjuste [...]
By Mike Futhey UTU International President Brothers and Sisters: The tentative national agreement with BNSF, CSX, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern, and Union Pacific, which you will vote on soon, was hammered out in an intense two-day bargaining session Jan. 22-23 becau [...]
Brothers and Sisters: We know our rail members employed by BNSF, CSX, KCS, NS and UP are anxious about the status of talks with the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC). The talks resume Jan. 22 in Jacksonville, Fla. It has been a year since the UTU and the NC [...]
Brothers and Sisters: This is another in a series of what will be many leadership messages to our membership. Our first week in office involved: Familiarizing ourselves with the day-to-day operation of the International; Assessing the financial condition of the UTU and the UT [...]