Category: Bus news

Nomination rules, election procedures for fall local elections have been released

September 24, 2020 SMART Transportation Division members are reminded that elections are scheduled to be held this autumn to fill the three-year Local officer positions described by the SMART Constitution’s Article 21B, Section 56. Positions include President, Vice President, Secretary and Trea [...]

Tags local elections

Elimination period waiver for VSTD extended into November

September 17, 2020 Dear Member: As many of you may recall, the SMART Voluntary Short Term Disability Plan temporarily suspended the Elimination Period for COVID-19 (Coronavirus) disabilities. In an announcement to you dated April 15, 2020, we communicated that the Elimination Period was being w [...]

Tags COVID-19, vstd

Gov. signs bill protecting N.J. SMART-TD bus members during pandemic

September 15, 2020 On Sept. 14, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law S-2380, which retroactively protects the state’s essential workers, including SMART Transportation Division bus members, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Essential employees’ workers compensation claims are routinely rejec [...]

Tags COVID-19, N.J. State Legislative Director Ron Sabol, New Jersey State Legislative Board, Phil Murphy, workers compensation

Disaster relief donations sought in Hurricane Laura aftermath

September 9, 2020 The SMART Transportation Division is primed to assist members in their time of need when disaster strikes. Hurricane Laura hit Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas in late August. According to reports from the ground, the storm has inflicted extensive damage to many homes — particul [...]

Tags Hurricane Laura, Louisiana, SMART TD Disaster Relief Fund

Local 1741 San Francisco school bus drivers plan protest after district announces mass layoff

August 18, 2020 In reaction to the San Francisco Unified School District’s (SFUSD) decision to lay off about 260 school bus drivers effective Aug. 31 on the cusp of the new school year, SMART-TD Local 1741 plans a massive protest in front of City Hall this week. Drivers, dispatchers an [...]

Tags Local 1741, San Francisco Unified School District, Sharon Chappill

Feedback sought for revisions/refinements to time books

August 12, 2020 To Local Treasurers, Local Presidents and Local Chairpersons, As you are aware, we are presently accepting orders for the 2021 time books and while these orders are being processed we are also reviewing the materials contained in the current booklet. This booklet is utilized [...]

SMART-TD, unions, transit agencies call on congressional leaders to provide emergency aid to public transportation

August 4, 2020 The SMART Transportation Division was among the 36 signatories in a letter sent Aug. 4 calling on leaders in Congress to provide $36 billion in emergency aid to public transportation agencies as the economy continues to be staggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter delive [...]

Tags 2020 election, AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department, COVID-19, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, public transit, SEPTA

AFL-CIO TTD’s letter petitions U.S. DOT for passenger face mask mandate

July 29, 2020 Larry Willis, president of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department, of which the SMART Transportation Division is a member, sent the following letter on July 27 petitioning Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao to issue a regulation requiring passengers to wear masks as t [...]

Tags 2020 election, AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department, COVID-19, Elaine L. Chao, FAA, facemasks, Larry I. Willis, U.S. Department of Transportation

H.R. 2 passes U.S. House and moves to Senate

July 2, 2020 H.R. 2, the Moving Forward Act, a massive $1.5 trillion infrastructure bill that contains provisions important to members of all crafts in the SMART Transportation Division and to sheet metal workers, passed through the U.S. House of Representatives by a 233-188 vote on July [...]

Tags 2020 election, Amtrak, blocked crossings, bus operator assault, H.R. 2, INVEST in America Act, Moving Forward Act, National Legislative Director Greg Hynes, Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson, two person crew, U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio, yardmaster

TD General Chairperson Crawford’s op-ed in Tennessean supports Biden

July 2, 2020 General Chairperson Adren Crawford of GO-433 (Canadian National — Illinois Central) had the following op-ed column published in the Tennessean on June 26. To anyone who thinks America’s labor unions aren’t relevant, think again. In what has become both a sad and challenging t [...]

Tags 2020 election, Adren Crawford, Joe Biden, op-ed