If you want to carry crude oil in an older railroad car, it’s going to cost you. Fort Worth-based BNSF Railway, the largest U.S. crude-by-rail carrier, is offering lower rates to lug oil in cars that meet the latest federal specifications issued in May. That means the vast ma [...]
SMART Transportation Division-represented trainmen (Local 556 of Tacoma, Wash.) employed by Tacoma Rail have ratified a new six and one-half (6.5) year agreement by an overwhelming majority. The agreement provides for true parity for all trainmen, with the elimination of entr [...]
WASHINGTON, DC – Operation Lifesaver, Inc.(OLI), in partnership with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), announced that $205,000 in grants will be awarded to 13 state Operation Lifesaver programs for a variety of rail crossing safety and anti-trespassing public educati [...]
Trenton, N.J. – While admitting that their hands are largely tied, New Jersey lawmakers on Monday, June 15, took steps to better prepare the state in the event of a catastrophic oil train accident. “There is not a whole lot we can do to regulate rails going throug [...]
The National Mediation Board yesterday released from further mediation every commuter union on New Jersey Transit (NJT). The unions, working together in the New Jersey Transit Rail Labor Coalition, immediately announced their intention to invoke a Presidential Emer [...]
The White House on Thursday, June 4, endorsed a requirement that U.S. railroads install new safety equipment (Positive Train Control – PTC) by the end of 2015, despite bipartisan efforts in Congress to give passenger and freight rail companies extra time to comply. Admi [...]
Donald L. Allard, 55, of Minot, N.D. died Tuesday, June 9 in a Minot hospital. Allard (L-1059 of Minot, N.D.) was a BNSF brakeman and long-time local chairperson and delegate. He also served as assistant general chairperson for GO 386 from 2003 to 2015. He originally hired ou [...]
Two workers endured several weeks of skin graft surgery and physical therapy after suffering second-degree burns when gas vapors exploded in a railcar in December 2014 at GBW Railcar Services LLC. The car was being prepared for cleaning when an electric heater ignited the fla [...]
On Thursday, June 4, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon traveled to SMART SMD Local 36 in St. Louis to veto a toxic right-to-work for less bill passed by that state’s legislature. With a fired up crowd of hundreds of onlookers, he noted that “For generations, the ability of workers [...]
A new infrastructure package in Ontario will require contractors on large scale projects to hire apprentices and set up recruitment plans to hire economically disadvantaged workers from the community. It is the first law of its kind at the state or provincial level anywhere i [...]
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