Category: Washington
Transportation labor groups urge DOT and NHTSA to launch industry-wide investigation of driverless vehicles
The following letter was submitted by the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, on behalf of SMART, SMART Transportation Division and a number of other labor unions to the U.S. Department of Transportation and to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. [...]
House Republicans push back vote on Amtrak cuts
The SMART Transportation Division has been asking for help and advocacy from our members this week to reach out to Congress and let them know that it is not OK to gut the federal spending for Amtrak. Late Thursday, it appears that your voices have been heard loud and clear an [...]Rail labor collectively urges representatives to oppose House THUD bill
The Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, of which the SMART Transportation and Mechanical Divisions are members, issued the following letter today, Oct. 31, on the Transportation Housing and Urban Development bill under consideration in the U.S. House. Dear Repres [...]
In labor victory, FRA alters conditions of UP variance, now requires U.S. crews
Since 1998, trains coming across the Mexican border to the United States in Laredo, Texas, have been run by non-FRA-certified foreign national crews from Mexico. These foreign crews have been taking trains into Port Laredo, where they receive an initial Class I inspection and [...]
SMART-TD and labor win latest battle against carriers, AAR
The SMART Transportation Division would like to thank all our members who have been filling out the safety forms when PTC doesn’t work as intended, when long trains make handheld radios useless, when signals drop out and when a DP units fail and there’s a mile of cars between [...]
FRA issues safety advisory on long trains
On April 27, Federal Railroad Administration Administrator Amit Bose issued a safety advisory regarding carriers’ operation of longer trains. The recommendations by FRA include that carriers review theiroperating rules and existing locomotive engineer certification prog [...]
Input from hybrid rail workers/volunteer firefighters needed
At the scene of a derailment, there is no substitute for the knowledge and experience of conductors as well as firefighters. In our current national climate, government and media attention are on the topic of derailments and the emergency response to them. SMART Transportatio [...]
SMART-TD takes action to defend transit worker safety
June 26, 2023, was the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) deadline for the public to respond to their Notice of Public Rule Making (NPRM) on forming new Public Transportation Agency Safety Plans (PTASPs.) FTA requested public comments on how to keep bus operators safe on [...]