Medicare Part B premium and deductible for 2023

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the Part B premium and deductible costs for 2023. Railroad Medicare processes claims for Part B services. This year saw a modest decrease in both costs. The 2023 annual Part B deductible decreased from $233 to $226, a $7.00 difference. The 2023 standard Part B […]

SMART TD seeks photos for annual Alumni calendar

The SMART Transportation Division is seeking high-quality bus and rail photos for the annual Alumni Association calendar. If your photo is chosen, you will receive five copies of the calendar featuring your photo. All photos should be taken from a clear point of safety. Your high-resolution, horizontal photos should be submitted to news_td@smart-union.org by no […]

Your experiences – our PEB case!

Attention freight rail members in national handling: To further strengthen our PEB presentation, we are soliciting additional evidence regarding the restrictive and punitive measures carriers have used to punish employees who are attempting to look after their own health, and the actions taken by members to avoid such. Specifically, we are requesting that members provide […]

Longtime Mo. SLD passes away

William “Larry” Foster, a SMART Transportation Division Alumni Association member and retiree from Local 226 (Moberly, Mo.) who proudly served our union as Missouri’s state legislative director for the better part of two decades, passed away May 4 at his home. He was 80. Foster began as state legislative director in April 1992 and was […]

RRB: Railroad Retirement age reductions

While railroad employees with less than 30 years of service may retire at age 62, their railroad retirement benefits are subject to early retirement (“age”) reductions if they retire before attaining their full retirement age. The following questions and answers explain how full retirement age is determined, and how age reductions are applied to railroad […]

SMART TD President Ferguson and BLET President Pierce give joint interview on podcast

Attention all SMART-TD and BLET members! Tonight at 7:00 p.m. central standard time (8:00 p.m. EST), SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson and BLET President Dennis Pierce will be airing a joint interview on the Rails Tails & Trails YouTube channel, which can be viewed at the following link: https://youtu.be/6N9r6QIGqA8. Presidents Ferguson and Pierce will be providing updates […]

Transportation labor reacts to the State of the Union Address

The AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department, of which the SMART Transportation Division is a proud member, released the following statement on March 1 after President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address. Greg Regan and Shari Semelsberger, president and secretary-treasurer of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued the below statement in response to President Biden’s […]

Rail labor’s largest coalition reaches dead end on path to voluntary agreement

The Coordinated Bargaining Coalition (CBC) released the following statement on January 24, 2022: After more than two years of bargaining with the major U.S. Class 1 railroads, discussions completely stalled last week. Accordingly, pursuant to the terms and conditions of the Railway Labor Act, top leaders of 10 rail unions applied to the National Mediation […]