At a meeting last week involving Metra and suburban Chicago city leaders, U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski, chairman of the U.S. House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials, told the carrier that it needed to step up its performance. “Too often, Metra riders are [...]
The U.S. Department of Transportation published a final rule April 23 that makes technical corrections to regulations governing drug testing for safety-sensitive employees to ensure consistency with recent amendments made to DOT’s “Procedures for Transportation Workplace Drug [...]
Russell “Dale” Hogan, a former general chairperson and retiree of Local 933 (Jefferson City, Mo.), died April 20, 2019, after a battle with cancer. He was 76. He joined the United Transportation Union (UTU) after hiring on as a fireman for Missouri Pacific in Janu [...]
North Dakota locals will be holding informational meetings for their members on April 30 in Fargo, May 1 in Minot, and May 2 in Bismarck. These meetings provide an exceptional opportunity to learn about your benefits and visit with union officers and representatives from the [...]
U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D – Mont.) recently criticized the Trump administration for budget proposals that would cut funding for Amtrak rural services, especially the Montana Empire Builder line, and wrote Amtrak’s President Richard Anderson asking for accountability and answ [...]
Transportation Division Local 367 (Omaha, Neb.) has announced that the 10th annual SMART Day at the Races will be at 3 p.m. on Friday, April 26 at the Fonner Park Racetrack, 700 E. Stolley Park Road, Grand Island, NE 68801. This year the race will be in honor of the late Gene [...]
A private equity firm has completed its acquisition of Coach USA and its subsidiaries, it was announced on April 15. Both the bus carrier’s U.S. and Canadian operations was purchased for $271.4 million by Variant Equity from prior owner Stagecoach Group plc. Coach USA o [...]
Two-person crew legislation endorsed by our union progressed ahead in two state legislatures late last week. In Illinois, S.B. 24 was passed by the state Senate by a party-line 36-19 vote on Thursday. The state House of Representatives’ Rules Committee has received the [...]
Just after midnight on April 11, BNSF Railway LCA Secretary and Local Trustee Carlos Barela sustained life-threatening injuries while switching in the Belen Yard in New Mexico. Local 1168 Local Chairperson Tanner Griffitt and other local chairpersons have organized a GoFundMe [...]
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) will have some major shoes to fill with the April 13, 2019, retirement of Robert “Bob” Lauby, the agency’s chief safety officer. Lauby had served in that capacity for FRA since September 2013. He was a frequent presenter at SMART Tran [...]