Category: Press release
RRB begins payment on extended unemployment benefits
From the RRB’s Public Affairs office: The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, recently signed into law by President Trump, authorized extended unemployment insurance (UI) benefits for railroad workers sidelined during the COVID-19 pandemic. [...]
New Guaranteed Approval Offering for SMART-TD Long-Term Voluntary Disability Plan (VDP)
All previously declined members and future enrolled members of the SMART-TD Long-Term Voluntary Disability Plan (VDP) now have access to up to $1,000 of guaranteed approved coverage. North Olmsted, Ohio (April 16, 2020) — In May 2019, the SMART Transportation Division rolled [...]SMART-TD, BLET petition FRA for emergency protocols regarding COVID-19
CLEVELAND, Ohio (March 20) — The SMART Transportation Division (SMART-TD) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) today filed a joint request urging the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to issue an Emergency Order (EO) to address employee safety c [...]
Union Pacific reports full PTC implementation on its trackage
Class I carrier Union Pacific announced Monday that it has completed implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) on all federally mandated freight and passenger routes requiring the collision avoidance technology. The carrier still must achieve full interoperability, that [...]
Rail union chiefs announce formation of Coordinated Bargaining Coalition
CLEVELAND, Ohio and WASHINGTON, D.C., (November 1, 2019) — Top leaders of 10 rail unions announced today that their organizations will be participating in coordinated bargaining in the round of national negotiations that began on Nov. 1, 2019. The unions comprising the Coordi [...]
New Jersey Transit expanding its de-escalation training for rail and bus workers
New Jersey Transit (NJT) is expanding its de-escalation training for front-line employees to include curriculum from Rutgers’ National Transit Institute (NTI), the carrier said in a press release on Monday. NTI presented a “Train the Trainers” program on conflict de-escalatio [...]
TD ready to respond as carriers once again attack crew consist
NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio (October 3, 2019) — Today, the nation’s Class I rail carriers, along with a few other railroads, filed suit in federal district court in the Northern District of Texas in an attempt to undermine our collective bargaining agreements as well as the bar [...]Supreme Court: Part of lost wages award is taxable under Railroad Retirement Act
A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court found that the portion of a damages award attributable to lost wages for a workplace injury is considered to be taxable compensation under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act (RRTA). The decision in BNSF Railway Co. v. Loos (No. 17-1042) was r [...]