Category: Bus news

Our fight for right has just begun

May 13, 2011 By International President Mike Futhey I was asked if our Collective Bargaining Defense Fund, the UTU PAC and our recently inaugurated direct-contact-with-members outreach can stop the assault on labor by conservative extremists. In union there is strength, and when members o [...]

Tags assault, collective bargaining defense fund, fund

New bus operator CDL and CLP rules finalized

May 11, 2011 WASHINGTON — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has published a final rule — effective for drivers in 60 days — amending the commercial driver’s license (CDL) knowledge and skills testing standards, and establishing new minimum federal sta [...]

Tags cdl, clp, driver, license

al-Qaida but one transport terrorist threat

May 6, 2011 The news media may be atwitter with concerns of an al-Qaida attack on trains, but there is no validation that any specific attack is imminent or has been planned. What is crucial is that each of us — whether we work for an air, bus, freight train, transit or passenger t [...]

Tags al-Qaida, plot, sabotage, terrorist

Union Plus offers disaster relief grants

May 6, 2011 Union members living in areas impacted by the recent tornadoes and flooding, and who participate in Union Plus programs, may be eligible for financial assistance. Union Plus disaster relief grants of $500 are available to help participants in the Union Plus credit card, insur [...]

Tags disaster, FEMA, grants, relief, Union Plus

Arty Martin; Martin, Arty; Assistant President

Unions under attack; we must respond

May 5, 2011 By Assistant President Arty Martin While we go about our daily lives, political extremists are gaining strength and working non-stop to undermine and eliminate much of what we cherish on the job and look forward to in retirement. It’s not just Wisconsin and Ohio where r [...]

Tags anti-union, attack, bargaining, collective bargaining, right-to-work, union busting

Ready to help those ravaged by weather

May 3, 2011 Recent tornados in southern states — from Mississippi to Virginia that killed more than 340 and injured thousands more — plus severe flooding in other parts of the country have likely affected UTU-member families living in those areas. While identification of the [...]

Tags flooding, help, ravaged, tornado, weather, weather-ravaged

We no longer offer UTU credit cards

April 26, 2011 Due to changes in the financial services markets, the UTU is no longer able to offer a UTU-branded credit card. Over the years, these UTU-branded cards generated much-needed funding for the union’s education and training fund. Servicing of former UTU credit card account [...]

Tags credit cards, PNC, UTU credit cards

Help available for alcohol, drug abuse

April 22, 2011 We know all too well that alcohol consumption and drug use can imperil our jobs. But how about off the job; and how about family members? The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reports more than 600,000 emergency room visits annually due to alcohol or drug problems; [...]

Tags abuse, alcohol, drugs, jobs, substance abuse, United Behavioral Health

UTU, SMWIA arbitration set for June

April 21, 2011 Arbitrator Michael H. Gottesman will hear presentations by the UTU and the Sheet Metal Workers International Association during five days of arbitration in June to determine whether the merger agreement between the UTU and the SMIWA is an enforceable agreement. Gottesman, a l [...]

Tags arbitration, arbitrator, merger, SMART, SMWIA

Non-union bus drivers need our help

April 19, 2011 By Calvin StudivantAlternate vice president — Bus Department A tragic bus accident in New York City in March, which killed 15 passengers, has put an unfriendly spotlight on low-fare tour bus drivers. The driver of the ill-fated low-fare tour bus reportedly had previousl [...]

Tags bus drivers, non-union, organize, unionize