Category: Washington
High-tech chicken soup to ease fatigue
Sleep, fatigue, workplace safety and quality of life are stitched together tighter than the seams on a major league baseball – and unpredictable work schedules can undo those stitches faster than a Stephen Strasburg 100-mph heater. A new website, created by sleep scientists a [...]
November election all about saving middle-class
If you’re part of a working family and attracted to some of the positions of the Tea Party, you had best check the bait for a barbed hook intended to reel-in labor unions, government-provided benefits such as Railroad Retirement, Social Security, Medicare and unemployment ins [...]OSHA reiterates zero tolerance for worker retaliation
Here we go again – or should we say, again and again and again and again. This time it is Canadian National’s Illinois Central Railroad and short line Chicago, Ft. Wayne & Eastern Railroad that have been hit with more than $650,000 in sanctions by the Department of Labor’ [...]
Update on congressional funding for Amtrak
Here is an update on federal funding to keep Amtrak operating. The House of Representatives in June approved a transportation funding bill — for the 12-month fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 — that includes $1.8 billion for Amtrak (H.R. 5972). This is an almost $400 [...]
FRA, OSHA to coordinate safety complaints
Following almost 1,000 complaints from rail workers that they were improperly disciplined for reporting injuries or unsafe working conditions, the Federal Railroad Administration and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration have forged an alliance to bring more press [...]
Coal vital to America’s energy future
By James Stem, UTU National Legislative Director – Coal is America’s most abundant source of energy, helping reduce our nation’s dependence on imported oil. Coal also means jobs, with almost one in every five freight rail jobs dependent on transporting coal. And coal m [...]
Affordable Care Act eliminates many copays
UTU members with questions on how the Affordable Care Act will affect them and their families should visit the websites of their health care insurance carriers. For UTU members covered under the national railroad medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, and life insurance [...]