Amit Bose, who has been serving the Biden administration as acting administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) since February 2021, was confirmed Jan. 12 by the U.S. Senate to become full administrator. This was a bipartisan vote, 68-29. Bose’s nomination by Pr [...]
The U.S. Senate in a 52-48 vote Dec. 7 confirmed labor attorney Deidre Hamilton to the National Mediation Board (NMB), shifting control of the the government body that facilitates labor-management relations in the aviation and rail industries to a 2-to-1 Democratic margin. No [...]
The Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, of which the SMART Transportation Division division is a member, filed a response to the Federal Transit Administration’s request for information regarding transit worker assaults. Its filing is reproduced below. On b [...]
The takeaway from a Washington Examiner article published Nov. 16 regarding recent supply-chain snarls is that rail labor’s desire to maintain the current standard level of personnel — a certified conductor and a certified engineer — aboard the monster freight trains brought [...]
Washington, DC—Today the House passed the Build Back Better Act. In response, SMART issued the following statement. “We commend the House for passing the Build Back Better Act. This legislation is a monumental investment in American families, will revitalize our economy and c [...]
Greg Regan, president of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department, of which the SMART Transportation Division is a member, testified on behalf of labor before the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee at the Nov. 17 hearing regarding “Industry and L [...]
In anticipation of today’s House hearing on the U.S. supply chain, an “exclusive” pro-carrier piece in the Washington Examiner on freight crew size says that keeping two people on freight crews is making the problem worse, neglecting to mention the massive c [...]
In response to an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to protect workers from coronavirus that was issued earlier this month by OSHA, National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memo to all field offices concerning COVID vaccine mandates and collec [...]
Today, President Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law. SMART General President Joseph Sellers and rank-and-file union members joined him at the signing ceremony. SMART issued the following statement after the ceremony: WASHINGTON, DC — “ [...]