Category: Amtrak/Commuter

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DOT ‘hero’ awards to 2 Amtrak conductors

November 4, 2011 Heroism has no timetable, no expectation, no formula. It is displayed instantaneously and accompanied only by rare courage. Enter, center stage, two UTU heroes – Amtrak conductors Richard d’Alessandro and Loxie Sanders – a couple of regular rails, represented by the UTU and s [...]

Tags Amtrak, DOT, heroes, Laurette Lee, Local 1525, Local 166, Loxie Sanders, Ray LaHood, richard d'alessandro

UTU S. Florida Tri-Rail agreement finalized

October 31, 2011 Previsich Operations center employees of South Florida Tri-Rail, who voted UTU “yes” early in 2011, have their first collective bargaining agreement in place. It provides for a signing bonus; an immediate wage increase, plus additional wage increases in 2012 and 2013; a 40-ho [...]

Update on Amtrak negotiations

October 22, 2011 Amtrak General Chairperson Dirk Sampson (GO 769), issued the following update on wage, benefits and work rules negotiations with Amtrak: “In continuing contract talks with Amtrak, we are striving to obtain an equitable agreement for our members. “We recently sent [...]

Tags Amtrak, Bill Beebe, Dirk Sampson, John Previsich

FRA’s final HOS rules for passenger, commuter service

August 15, 2011 WASHINGTON – Passenger and commuter train conductors and engineers face new hours-of-service rules effective Oct. 15 under a final rule published Aug. 12 by the Federal Railroad Administration. The new rules differ in certain areas from hours-of-service regulations imposed on [...]

Tags Amtrak, commuter, FRA, HOS, hours of service, passenger train

UTU to congressional audience: ‘HSR is jobs machine’

August 4, 2011 Risch WASHINGTON — New jobs building and operating high-speed rail “are American jobs that can’t be shipped overseas and would be a Godsend in this economic downturn,” UTU Alternate National Legislative Director John Risch told a congressionally sponsored forum here Aug [...]

Tags Acela, Amtrak, high-speed rail, John Risch

Maglev’s future bleak after Pa. firm’s bankruptcy

July 29, 2011 The likelihood of 300-mph magnetic levitation trains operating in the United States anytime soon took another body blow in July when a private-sector firm planning a maglev route in Pennsylvania filed for bankruptcy. Maglev uses powerful electro-magnets to levitate, propel, g [...]

Tags maglev, magnetic levitation

Amtrak contract talks: July 2011 update

July 14, 2011 Sampson Dirk Sampson, now acting general chairperson for Amtrak GO 769, issued the following update on wage, benefits and work rules negotiations with Amtrak following the death of General Chairperson Roger Lenfest. Sampson will join with Amtrak General Chairperson Bill Beebe [...]

Tags Amtrak contract, Bill Beebe, Dirk Sampson, John Previsich

Amtrak GC Roger Lenfest, 65, dies

July 12, 2011 General Chairperson Roger Lenfest (Amtrak, GO 769), age 65, died July 10 following a short illness. Lenfest, of Sicklerville, N.J., succeeded Al Suozzo as general chairperson following Suozzo’s death in March 2010. Assistant General Chairperson Dirk Sampson becomes acting gen [...]

Tags Al Suozzo, Bill Beebe, Dirk Sampson, GO 769, John Previsich, Local 898, Roger Lenfest

House bill would slash Amtrak, transit funding

July 8, 2011 WASHINGTON – The Republican leadership of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee will introduce legislation July 8 to slash Amtrak’s federal subsidy by 25 percent, prevent federal funds from being used to create additional rail passenger services unless they [...]

Tags AFL-CIO, Amtrak, bus safety, Chamber of Commerce, high-speed rail, Mica, Shuster, transit

2 Amtrak conductors: A story of selfless bravery

June 29, 2011 This is a story about heroes. It is a story about two UTU conductor heroes in Fallon, Nev., June 24. In utter disregard of their own safety, these UTU conductor heroes braved intense flames and choking smoke, repeatedly returning inside two burning Amtrak passenger cars to sa [...]

Tags Amtrak, Boardman; d'Alessandro, bravery, conductors, Fallon, heroes, Laurette Lee, Reno, Sanders