Category: Two-person crews
Michigan Legislature takes up rail safety
State Senate has rail safety bills regarding two-person crews and train length before it Michigan State Legislative Director Donald Roach served as a primary source as The Detroit News published articles this week (subscription required to read) centering on two pieces of rai [...]
From the Ballast: ‘Getting railroaded’
“From the Ballast” is an open column for SMART Transportation Division rail members to state their perspective on issues related to the railroad industry. Members of the union are encouraged to submit content by emailing to news_TD@smart-union.org. Columns are published at th [...]
Union Pacific reaches labor agreement with largest union
Agreement with SMART-TD provides greater flexibility for railroad, improves service for customers and enhances quality of life for employees OMAHA, Neb., (March 25, 2023) — Union Pacific has reached a tentative crew consist agreement with General Committee 953 [...]
Norfolk Southern and SMART-TD statement on conductor redeployment bargaining
Atlanta, GA, and Independence, OH, (March 23, 2023) — Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers — Transportation Division (SMART-TD) announced Thursday that they are discontinuing formal nego [...]
Ohio SLD Whitaker, senators state case for Railway Safety Act before commerce committee
In the aftermath of February’s rail disaster in Ohio, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee held a key hearing March 22 on “Improving Rail Safety in Response to the East Palestine Derailment” to get to the bottom of what went wrong in the accident and to discuss the bipart [...]
UPDATED: President Ferguson appears with U.S. Sen. Brown to discuss Railway Safety Act
SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson appeared with U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown in Cleveland on Monday morning to discuss the bipartisan Railway Safety Act of 2023 as momentum for legislative action on railroad safety continues to build on Capitol Hill. Sen. Bro [...]
Kansas rail safety legislation needs support
Kansas is a state with a population of only 2.94 million people — ranking as the 35th largest state in the country, population-wise. In contrast to that number, according to the American Association of Railroads’ website, Kansas ranks sixth in the nation for distance of rail [...]
Railway Safety Act top of mind at Senate’s NS hearing
Last week’s much-anticipated hearing of the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Environment and Public Works featured a discussion of the Norfolk Southern derailment and the subsequent release of chemicals in East Palestine, Ohio. The spectacle of seeing NS CEO Alan Shaw fend off ques [...]