Category: Washington
Action needed to support Congressional Workers Union
This is a call to action. The burning wreckage of what used to be the Grand Old Party (GOP) is attempting to attack the labor movement immediately after the holidays while our guard is down and as the transition to the new Congress occurs. SMART is asking you to take action and contact your congressional […]
FRA issues second safety advisory in two weeks’ time
The Federal Railroad Administration published a safety bulletin Dec. 29 regarding an unintended release of a train’s air brakes while stopped at a signal. The text of the advisory as published in the Federal Register is reproduced below. FRA is issuing Safety Advisory 2022-02 to make the rail industry aware of a recent issue encountered by a […]
More than 13,000 comments received for FRA’s Rule of 2
The SMART Transportation Division would like to thank all of you for your historic response to the FRA’s Notice of Public Rulemaking (NPRM) on Freight Train Crew Size. In the moment when our livelihood and the safety of all involved was on the line, SMART members, along with their friends and families, answered the bell […]
Union organizes rallies on Capitol Hill, elsewhere
WASHINGTON – SMART Transportation Division organized rallies in multiple locations Dec. 13 to bring attention to rail-related issues, including maintaining the current safe level of a minimum two-person crew in the cabs of locomotives, paid sick leave for workers and an end to the carriers’ Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) scheme. A solidarity rally took place […]
Union states 2PC case before FRA
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) held its much-anticipated hearing Dec. 14 to receive public testimony on its Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) regarding a minimum train crew size. As it was set up, representatives from just two Class I carriers — Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern — the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and […]
Seventy members of Congress send letter to Biden urging action on railroader sick leave
More than five dozen Democratic members of the U.S. Senate and the House sent a letter to President Joe Biden advocating that the government guaranteed paid sick leave for freight rail workers. “It is literally beyond belief that rail workers are not guaranteed this basic and fundamental human right. Therefore, we urge you and your […]
AFL-CIO TTD: Rail labor will not rest until freight rail industry is fixed and rail workers are treated fairly
The AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD), of which the SMART-TD and -MD are members, released the following statement on behalf of rail unions regarding next steps in our push forward on reforms to a freight rail industry that is failing its workers and the American people: “Across this nation, the American people have been awakened […]
SMART-TD statement on the results of the U.S. Senate vote to impose the rail agreement
As prescribed by the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution, the SMART Transportation Division acknowledges the ability of Congress to legally impose the Tentative National Rail Agreement upon the operating-craft employees represented by the SMART-TD. While it is unfortunate that our members were not able to approve the agreement in which they work under, we […]