Category: News
FRA publishes minimum drug and alcohol testing rates for 2019
On Dec. 28, 2018, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) published its determination of minimum random drug and alcohol testing rates for 2019 for covered service employees and Maintenance of Way (MOW) employees in the Federal Register. FRA determined that the minimum annu [...]
Local 495 member dies in train accident
Jeffrey Keith Hague, 34, died Sunday, Dec. 30, 2018, as the result of a railroad accident in Oakley, Kan. Hague was a conductor for Union Pacific and a member of Local 495 (Salina, Kan.) since 2012. Hague was the salutatorian of his 2002 graduating class. He went on from high [...]
AP analysis: DOT miscalculated when considering brake rule
The Associated Press reported Dec. 20 that an analysis by the federal Department of Transportation (DOT) did not take into account up to $117 million in damage reductions when considering the repeal of a Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) rule requiring the installation of [...]Fundraiser established for TD member affected by Calif. fire
A GoFundMe online fundraising effort has been created in order to assist a Local 492 member who lost his home in the Camp wildfire that ravaged more than 153,000 acres of Butte County, Calif. The home of Ervis R. Obregon Jr., a conductor with Union Pacific, was one of the nea [...]
CSX shareholders suing carrier’s board over Harrison hiring
A ruling is expected in January on whether a lawsuit by a trio of CSX shareholders who have sued the carrier’s board over the hiring of late CEO E. Hunter Harrison in 2017 can advance, the Florida Times-Union reports. The 72-year-old Harrison sought an $84 million finan [...]
Former UTU Assistant President Lloyd W. Swert passes away
Lloyd W. “Corky” Swert, who served as United Transportation Union assistant president in the 1990s, passed away at his home in Hillsdale, Mich., on Wednesday. He was 86. Swert, a member of UTU Local 2 in Toledo, Ohio, hired on as a brakeman for the New York Centra [...]
SMART TD members help crew Bush funeral train
Two SMART Transportation Division members from Local 524 in Palestine, Texas, were given the privilege by Union Pacific Railroad (UP) to serve their country as conductors on President George H.W. Bush’s funeral train, Thursday, Dec. 6. The funeral procession consisted o [...]
RRB: Railroad Retirement and Unemployment Insurance taxes in 2019
The amounts of compensation subject to railroad retirement tier I and tier II payroll taxes will increase in 2019, while the tax rates on employers and employees will stay the same. In addition, unemployment insurance contribution rates paid by railroad employers will continu [...]