Category: Transportation
Ratified! Union gets paid sick leave from Union Pacific
Five General Committees ratify tentative agreement securing up to eight sick days The oldest railroad in the nation has finally realized that people get sick. About 6,000 SMART Transportation Division conductors and trainmen have secured paid sick leave from Union Pacific aft [...]
AFL-CIO TTD, carrier associations oppose House budget cuts targeting RRB funding
This letter was co-signed by Greg Regan, the president of the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, of which the SMART Transportation Division and SMART Mechanical Divisions are members. July 31, 2023 The Honorable Patty MurrayChairCommittee on AppropriationsUnited [...]
Vice President John D. Whitaker III passes away at age 50
Vice President John D. “J.D.” Whitaker III, whose vital and key roles in negotiating numerous contracts on the general committee and national levels that improved the lives of many SMART-TD rail members, passed away July 27, 2023, of cancer. VP Whitaker was 50 years old. “It [...]
CSX enhances conductor training with additional week of hands-on experience
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (July 31, 2023) – CSX (NASDAQ: CSX) and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers — Transportation Division (SMART-TD) announced they are partnering to extend CSX’s conductor training program to five weeks from the p [...]
FRA issues safety advisory on long trains
On April 27, Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Amit Bose issued a safety advisory regarding carriers’ operation of longer trains. The recommendations by FRA include that carriers review theiroperating rules and existing locomotive engineer certification prog [...]Lasting legacy of late VP and GC receives member ratification
SMART-TD General Committee of Adjustment 261 representing our members working on the CP-SOO property were dealt a blow when General Chairperson Gerald Wallace passed away July 16th. Less than two weeks later, on July 27, Vice President John (J.D.) Whitaker III, who served as [...]
Kansas secures two-person crews as the law of the land
Making two-person crews the rule of the land in the state of Kansas took an atypical route to the finish line but got there just the same. It has been the goal of SMART Transportation Division Kansas State Legislative Director Ty Dragoo for years and it was finally achieved. [...]
Union announces ratification of tentative agreement with White Pass & Yukon Route
SKAGWAY, Alaska (July 31, 2023) — Members of the SMART Transportation Division (SMART-TD) have voted in favor of ratifying a tentative agreement the union recently reached with the White Pass & Yukon Route (WP&YR). The more than two-dozen unionized workers for WP& [...]