Lawmakers demand stricter oil train regulations

Lawmakers are calling for a comprehensive review of the nation’s rules that govern freight rail shipments of crude oil cargo following a string of rail accidents in recent months, and after receiving a warning from safety regulators that inaction could lead to a “major [...]

LIRR to track employee hours with fingerprinting

The Long Island Railroad will start keeping track of employees’ hours by having them sign in and out of work with their fingerprints. An audit by the city comptroller found that neither Metro-North nor the LIRR had a good system in place for regulating worker overtime o [...]

Private-sector union membership grows in 2013

In 2013 the total number of workers in unions rose by 162,000 compared with 2012, led by an increase of 281,000 workers in private-sector unions. There were strong gains in construction and manufacturing, against a background of strike actions by low-wage workers in the priva [...]

Tank-car safety woes date decades before crude

WASHINGTON — Long before crude oil and ethanol were transported by railroads in large quantities in minimally reinforced tank cars, other flammable and poisonous materials were riding around the country in the same cars, threatening major cities and waterways. Federal r [...]

2013 Union Density Changes Little from 2012

This morning, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its annual data finding that in 2013, the union membership rate—the percent of wage and salary workers who were members of unions—was 11.3 percent, the same as in 2012. The number of wage and salary workers belonging [...]

NTSB wants higher standards on trains hauling crude

The National Transportation Safety Board Jan. 23 issued a series of recommendations (see Safety Recommendation Letters R-14-001-003 and R-14-004-006) to the Department of Transportation to address the safety risk of transporting crude oil by rail. In an unprecedented move, th [...]

Stem: FMCSA Denies Bus Company’s CDL Exemption

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has denied an application by motorcoach tours company Miami Nice Tours to operate bus tours in the United States by drivers who would be exempt from the commercial driver’s license (CDL) provisions of part 383 of the Federal Mot [...]

Rep. Rahall Says Unions Good For Business

CHARLESTON, W.Va. – U.S. Rep. Nick J. Rahall told West Virginia union leaders on Tuesday that people who believe cheaper, non-union labor is good for American business are “short-sighted.” “Union labor also helps increase corporate America’s bottom lin [...]