Registration is now open for the Transportation Division’s (TD) 2024 National Training Seminar at the Hilton Cleveland Downtown in Cleveland, Ohio, from July 9, 2024, to July 11, 2024.

This unique and exciting event is open to all TD Local, State Legislative Board, and General Committee officers. Attendees can expect a full slate of informative workshops, educational opportunities, and many chances to reenergize the spirit of solidarity with fellow union brothers and sisters over the three-day event.

A welcome reception is planned for the evening of Monday, July 8, with full-day training beginning on Tuesday, July 9, through Wednesday, July 10, and concluding with a half-day of training on Thursday, July 11. A group event is scheduled at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame for all registered attendees on the evening of Wednesday, July 10th. Special Note: The Local Secretary & Treasurer training will conclude on the afternoon of Friday, July 12. 

An “early bird” registration fee for attendance is $200 per person, covering the welcome reception, three (3) lunches, and the Rock Hall event. On May 1st, the registration fee will increase to $250, and onsite registration will be $290 to cover last-minute additional costs associated with our meeting planning. Children 11 and under are complimentary.

Visit this link to register online.

You may cancel your meeting registration ten days before the first day of the meetings without penalty. Call the Transportation Division at 216-228-9400 or email Nick Torres at ntorres@smart-union.org.

Discounted hotel reservations are available at a rate of $199 per night and are the attendee’s responsibility. Guests can make reservations by using the below link.

https://book.passkey.com/go/SMART24

The cutoff date to make discounted reservations at the hotel is June 14, 2024.

Additional details on the meeting schedule will be updated on the SMART website and in the Member Portal as they become available.

Links to the Transportation Division’s workplace Safety Condition Report and the railroad Technology Event Report in the SMART app are again functional for Transportation Division members.

The links to the report submission forms should work upon opening the app and there is no need to refresh it or log out.

Members’ patience is appreciated as this technical challenge was solved. We look forward to again receiving your submissions via the union’s app. These reports help chart the proper course on to where to focus our efforts to best serve you.

Follow this link to download the SMART app on your device.

Please stay safe out there!

Dexter Perkins

An online fundraiser has been set up for the survivors of Dexter Perkins, a member of Local 171 (Aurora, Ill.), after he was slain in an act of violence Dec. 22 in Wheaton, Illinois.

Brother Perkins, 37, had been a member of our union since September 2022 and worked as a conductor for BNSF before his death.

He leaves behind two daughters, Brynn and Blair, and his mother as well as his brothers and sisters in Local 131.

To contribute, please follow this link.

“I’m sure anyone who knows Dexter will agree we were all truly blessed to call him our friend, and the amount of lives he touched is insurmountable,” wrote friend David Killingsworth, who organized the fundraiser. “The family he’s left behind has been shaken to their core.”

Visitation is scheduled 9 to 11 a.m. Jan. 5 at Lighthouse Church Cook County, 4501 W. 127th St., Alsip, IL 60803 with services immediately following from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. 

Burial will take place in Glenwood, Illinois. 

A celebration of Brother Perkins’ life will occur Jan. 7 beginning at 11 a.m. at the Piazza Aurora, 85 Executive Dr, Aurora, IL, 60504. For information, visit the After Life Chicago website.

SMART-TD expresses its sincere condolences to Brother Perkins’ family, friends and all who knew him.

The SMART Transportation Division’s next Regional Training Seminar (RTS) is scheduled to take place March 4 through 7, 2024, at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Albuquerque.

Attendee check-in begins the afternoon of March 4, and those attending should plan to arrive then. Classes and workshops kick off the morning of March 5.

Attending an RTS is an exciting opportunity for local leadership and members to engage one on one with union experts to help fulfill the need for live, in-person training from local leaders closer to home.

The cost for TD members to register to attend the seminar is $50.

The RTS includes classes for local governance, roles of a local president, secretary & treasurer, legislative representatives and local chairpersons in protecting members and on the SMART Constitution, among others.

The classes are taught by national officers and other subject matter experts associated with SMART-TD.

TD President Jeremy Ferguson will attend a welcome reception 6 to 8 p.m. Monday evening before addressing the RTS on Tuesday. He and other union leaders also will be available to answer membership questions.

To register for the seminar, visit https://register.smart-union.org/.

Please note: Attendees are responsible for making their own hotel reservations.

A room block has been reserved at the site of the meeting, 1000 Woodward Place NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico, 87102. The SMART-TD event rate is $142 per night.

To book accommodations, follow this link.

For more information, contact Nick Torres in the SMART-TD office at 216-227-5269 or by email at ntorres@smart-union.org.

As the expression goes, there is strength in numbers. The SMART Transportation Division is about to get a whole lot stronger thanks to yesterday’s announcement by President Joe Biden in Las Vegas, Nevada.  

On Dec. 8, President Biden and SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson announced a $6 billion investment Biden’s administration is making in this country’s rail infrastructure and in the value of union rail jobs through two projects in California and Nevada. 

“When I ran for president, I made a commitment to build a high-speed rail worthy of America. I mean it — put our nation on track with the fastest, safest and greenest rail ays in the world and high-speed,” President Biden said. “You have no idea how much this pleases me, at long last, we are building the first high-speed rail project in our nation’s history, and it’s starting here.

“It means growth and opportunity for towns and communities between here and the California coast. It’s on track to be completed by the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. And here’s the best part — it means jobs. Union jobs, jobs, jobs, jobs!”

SMART Transportation Division National Legislative Director Gregory Hynes shakes hands with President Joe Biden on Friday, Dec. 8, after Biden’s announcement about funding a pair of high-speed rail projects in California and Las Vegas.

Representing the nation’s largest freight rail union at today’s press conference, SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson had this to say: “The idea of high-speed rail has been discussed in this country for decades, and it is beyond exciting to see it coming together here today. Our members, and our brothers and sisters throughout rail labor should see this as a day when our nation’s president and the country itself recognize our value and what we bring to the table. The skills our conductors, engineers, and yardmasters possess were not an afterthought when the plans for this rail line came together. They are invaluable to this project and woven into the fabric of what will make this high-speed rail project a success. It’s a proud day for us, and we thank Congresswoman Dina Titus from Nevada’s First Congressional District, Congressman Steven Horsford from Nevada district 4, Congresswoman Susie Lee from Nevada’s 3rd district, and Nevada’s U.S. Senators Jacky Rosen and Catherine Cortez Masto, along with the Department of Transportation, and of course, President Joe Biden himself for all of their work to make this dream a reality for our men and women.” 

This project has been years in the making and is becoming a reality now due to the public-private partnership between the federal government and the Brightline West Railroad. In plans submitted to the administration, Brightline highlighted the efficiency of this high-speed rail project stating the trains will travel at speeds upwards of 186 mph and that will make it possible to get 218 miles from Southern California to Las Vegas in just over two hours which is a fraction of the time it takes on the highway.  

Some of the benefits of this high-speed rail project include taking traffic off the heavily congested U.S. Interstate 15, as well as having positive impacts on the environmental emissions. This project will also bolster the economies of some of our nation’s largest cities.  

As a stipulation for receiving federal funding for this project, Brightline West committed to using an organized workforce. SMART-TD has been part of the planning for this project since the railroad made that commitment to Biden and Congress. Along with employing thousands of our brothers and sisters in the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way, Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, SMART-MD, TCU and all of our rail labor partners, they also committed to running their trains with SMART-TD crews.  

Labor representatives at the announcement Friday of two U.S. high-speed rail projects have their picture taken with Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose in Las Vegas.

This is obviously a big win for the U.S. economy, but more directly it is a win for us as a union family. SMART-TD would like to thank the Biden administration, and the U.S. Department of Transportation for their leadership. This project will provide hundreds of good union jobs in our industry and is a wonderful example of what can be accomplished when private industry, federal government, and a strong labor coalition are all pulling in the same direction.  

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If you would like more information about this project or about rail labor’s participation in it, we would be happy to connect you with: 

SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson  

President Jeremy Ferguson, a member of Local 313 in Grand Rapids, Mich., was elected president of SMART’s Transportation Division in 2019.  

President Ferguson, an Army veteran, started railroading in 1994 as a conductor on CSX at Grand Rapids, Mich., and was promoted to engineer in 1995. Ferguson headed the recent national rail negotiations for the Union with the nation’s rail carriers. 

SMART Transportation Division National Legislative Director Gregory Hynes 

Greg Hynes is a fifth-generation railroader and was elected national legislative director in 2019. 

Hynes served on the SMART Transportation Division National Safety Team that assists the National Transportation Safety Board with accident investigations, from 2007 – 2014.  

In 2014, he was appointed to the Federal Railroad Administration’s Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC), which develops new railroad regulatory standards.  

Hynes was appointed the first chairperson of the UTU Rail Safety Task Force in 2009 and served in that capacity until being elected SMART Transportation Division alternate national legislative director at the Transportation Division’s 2014 convention. 

SMART Transportation Division Alternate National Legislative Director Jared Cassity 

Jared Cassity, a member of Local 1377 (Russell, Ky.), was elected to the office of alternate national legislative director at the Second SMART Transportation Division Convention in August 2019 and became director of the TD National Safety Team in June 2021.  

Cassity started his railroad career with CSX in September 2005 and was promoted to engineer in 2008.  

In addition to his elected roles, he has been a member of the National Safety Team since 2014, where he was subsequently elected to the position of Alternate Director (East) for the NST in 2016. Likewise, he was elected by his fellow peers of state directors to serve as the directors’ representative on the CSX Safety Model Executive Board in 2013. 

We need your help brothers and sisters!

SMART Transportation Division members and retirees are always welcome and encouraged to contribute pictures, videos, stories and article leads, and with the ever-changing social media formats, we’re ready for them now more than ever.

Our staff is productive yet small, with many team members wearing more than one hat, collaborating among multiple departments. We truly appreciate what is shared with us. Our in-house Public Relations Department consists of one full-time member, Ben Nagy, with others chipping in to assist when not working on other assigned duties. This includes the frequent postings on the website, social media, print publications, TD-related segments featured on the SMART News, and the daily NewsWire.

We have heard loud and clear that our members want more information that highlights what SMART-TD is doing for them as well as other dynamic stories that relate to or impact all of us. We aim to provide that; however, this creates a never-ending need for content. Fortunately, this union is built from the ground up. The SMART-TD represents roughly 100,000 active members and retirees, and we need the talents of all of you to be successful.

The feedback we’ve received not only stated that they want more information, but also on different formats and beyond the written word, with platforms such as TikTok and Instagram specifically named. There is a large national audience we can reach through these avenues and a diverse membership base with compelling stories of the realities of working in the transportation industry that need to be shared and heard.

We want our members who work on carriers of any size from the Bus Department, commuter, passenger and freight rail, to send in links or videos that are craft- or union-related so we may share them on our TikTok and Instagram accounts.

This is a great way to express to outsiders the stress and complexity of our work schedules, availability demands and safety concerns that you come across as a transportation worker. We also want to share our successes and feel-good news. So please send anything you feel compelled to share with your fellow brothers and sisters of SMART-TD directly to SMART-TD’s PR Department at td_info@smart-union.org.

Please keep in mind that some of the platforms have limits of 90 seconds, and that we cannot share videos that include trademarked or copyrighted songs or images.

Please be sure to observe all rules governing the use of electronic devices that your employer and the federal government has. We don’t know all the carrier-specific rules and don’t want to post something that may create issues for our members, so please use your best judgment.

And if your local already had a thriving social media presence, we need to know that as well so we can keep an eye out for posts and photos so we can amplify what our members have accomplished.

SMART has heard loud and clear that you want to see us engage on all the rapidly changing platforms available on social media. We plan on trying to do just that, but it will take all of us to make it happen. SO please send in as much relevant and timely content as possible and help to be the change you are calling for while spreading the word to your fellow brothers and sisters and to the public!

Please send in your videos and photos, and we’ll start providing a larger platform for our brothers and sisters to be heard!

Phone: (216) 228-9400 

Fax: (216) 228-0411  

Email: news_td@smart-union.org 

The results of a strike vote authorized in October by SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson on the Southeastern Philadelphia Transportation Authority (SEPTA) were finalized yesterday, Nov. 20. SMART-TD members of Local 61 (GCA-STA) in Philadelphia overwhelmingly voted to authorize a potential work action.  

This announcement comes after 19 months of contentious negotiations and mediation led by the National Mediation Board with the carrier.   

General Chairperson Ray Boyer expressed disappointment with what he described as SEPTA’s bad-faith negotiating. 

“SEPTA has implemented a tactic called ‘pattern bargaining’ — blending aspects of the railroad and bus industries. Unfortunately, this strategy has disproportionately affected conductors, leaving us significantly behind our industry peers in terms of compensation,” he said. “In essence, SEPTA is demanding a front-row effort from conductors while offering nosebleed pay. We believe that fair compensation is not just about wages but also about acknowledging the essential role we play in the efficient functioning of SEPTA.”  

SMART-TD President Ferguson said that after workers served through a pandemic while receiving wages that trail other regional transit peers that the carrier needs to rethink its approach.  

“We have been clear with SEPTA from Day 1 that our men and women are the lowest-paid workforce in the commuter industry and that this negotiation was NOT going to be status quo,” he said. “They continue to stand behind a smoke screen of fancy language their lawyers put together — mixing crafts when it is convenient and clarifying our members are railroaders when it is to their advantage.  

“This union is not a business-as-usual organization. Our members spoke loud and clear in their vote. Everyone is scheduled to come back to negotiations late next month, and SEPTA would be wise to recognize the leverage these men and women of Local 61 have authorized. We will not settle for anything less than the respect our members have earned.” 

TD Vice President Jamie Modesitt stated that SEPTA rail workers have spoken as a collective voice and SEPTA’s Board should be listening to that voice. 

“The collective voice has spoken, and that voice seeks to correct the wage suppression that has been largely ignored over the years. It’s time for SEPTA’s board to correct the wage injustice that has plagued their rail labor force. Ultimately, correcting the wage disparity at SEPTA, by investing in labor, will increase employee morale, establish greater retention of good talent, better recruitment opportunities, and reward the commitment of the hard-working SEPTA men and women who serve the public every day of the week.” 

General Chairperson Boyer will work closely with President Ferguson and Vice President Modesitt as this situation develops. SMART-TD will ensure our members and the press are kept up to date as we move ahead. 

The union represents 481 members on SEPTA properties.  

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If you are interested in speaking more about the union’s stance on this issue and its negotiations with management on the SEPTA property, we’d be happy to connect you with:  

SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson   

President Jeremy Ferguson, a member of Local 313 in Grand Rapids, Mich., was elected president of SMART’s Transportation Division in 2019.   

President Ferguson, an Army veteran, started railroading in 1994 as a conductor on CSX at Grand Rapids, Mich., and was promoted to engineer in 1995. Ferguson headed the recent national rail negotiations for the Union with the nation’s rail carriers.  

SMART Transportation Division Vice President Jamie Modesitt  

Vice President Jamie C. Modesitt is a member of Local 298, Garrett, IN, was elected to Vice President in 2019, and resides in Saint Augustine, FL. Modesitt serves on the SMART TD National Negotiation Team and serves as a SMART TD Board Member on the National Railroad Adjustment Board’s First Division. 

The union’s renewed intensity on protecting our Amtrak, bus and transit members from assaults by passengers resulted in a late-night victory for our cause Nov. 8 in Michigan.

State Legislative Director Donald Roach proudly reported that HB 4917 and HB 4918, both to enhance protections for transportation workers, passed in the state House.

HB 4917 passed by a 68-41 vote. HB 4918 passed by a 70-39 vote.

The bills raise punishments for the assault of a transportation operator to a maximum of eight years, depending on the severity of the offense. They also make the punishments for repeat offenses more severe and adjust the state’s sentencing guidelines accordingly.

Fines for assault on transportation workers also would be increased — set at $1,000 or $8,000.

The legislation advances to the state Senate, where it likely will be taken up there next year. SLD Roach says that the time between now and its appearance in the upper house whenever that is in 2024 will be well spent.

“It’s a great step ahead, and we thank all who supported it, especially Rep. Samantha Steckloff of the 19th District, the primary sponsor of the legislation,” Roach said. “We’ll use the end of this year to message, educate and reach out with the help of our great members. We’re happy to have made it a third of the way there now, and we all need to get these protections in place for worker and passenger safety rather than later.”

The bills, introduced July 18, passed through the House’s Criminal Justice Committee with a recommendation from the committee for passage before their successful showing Nov. 8.

This column was submitted by Dan Lough, who worked for the TD Public Relations Department and as a meeting planner for the union for more than four decades prior to his retirement in 2018. His father was an auto worker and a member of the UAW.

I don’t pretend to be an expert in the auto industry or labor relations. But I did work for the largest freight railroad/bus union in the country for 42 years. And I helped negotiate the first employee union contract (and several more after that) for my fellow employees to protect our rights, our seniority and our pensions over the years. With that being said, I’d like to share some information so people can see the UAW employees’ side of the equation and their reasoning in their negotiations with the Big 3 auto makers. 

As of September 1, 2023, the average hourly pay for a UAW worker was $18.54 an hour. A large portion of UAW workers are temporary workers who start at $17 an hour on average and do not get the healthcare and pension that the full-time workers get. The average hourly wage for an assembly line worker is between $19-$24. Top-scale assembly workers make $32.32 an hour. The average assembly line worker in Michigan makes between $41,000 to $52,000 a year. 

Dan Lough shows solidarity for workers in Strongsville, Ohio, in 2011.

When the economic disaster of 2008-09 happened, the Big 3 and the UAW came together and worked together to help the Big 3 survive the economic disaster. Both sides needed to do this to help the Big 3 car companies survive and to help workers save their jobs as well. For years, the UAW gave up general pay raises and cost-of-living wage increases to help the Big 3 control costs and stay competitive with foreign car markets. 

UAW workers hired after 2007 do not receive defined benefit pensions. And their health benefits are less generous, too. 

The average UAW pension is $1,590 a month for an auto worker with 30 years of service. 

It’s important to note that companies with union workers tend to eliminate the higher salaries from the high seniority workers as they retire and then replace those salaries with much lower-tiered salary levels. This is very common in the steel industry, the railroad industry, auto industry, electrical industry, etc. That way they can bring in the new (much younger) workers at a much lower pay rate. 

Consider this:

  • In the last decade, the Big 3 made a quarter TRILLION dollars in profits. 
  • In the last six months, the Big 3 made $21 BILLION in profits. 
  • In the last four years, the price of cars went up 30%. 
  • In the last four years, the Big 3 pay for CEOs went up 40%
  • In the last four years, the UAW workers pay went up 6%. 

AND NO ONE SAID A WORD. 

Over the last decade, UAW workers have given up concessions such as full pension, hourly pay reductions, guaranteed wage increases and healthcare reductions. 

A lot of UAW workers cannot afford to buy the vehicles they build because the cost of living has gone way above the wages UAW workers make. 

But now that the UAW workers are asking for their fair share and repayment for all the concessions they gave up during the economic crisis of 2008-09, people are looking at them and accusing them of being greedy and driving up the cost of cars and trucks.

Corporate greed is at the top of this food chain plain and simple, not the workers who build the vehicles.

GM made more than $22 billion last year. If all 50,000 UAW members received an $80,000-per-year raise, the car makers would still make $18 billion — more than any year prior to 2020.

In October, Local 933’s Jorge Moralez had a hand in two “rebirths” — one public and one personal. 

First is that of a Missouri Pacific caboose that had been out of service for decades. Sitting neglected in the middle of the town of Pleasant Hill, Missouri, its destiny seemed to be a slow, gradual rot as oxidation and moisture both took their toll following years of neglect. 

Yet Moralez, a Union Pacific conductor who formerly served as a trustee at Local 1409 in Kansas City, found himself at his new local in Jefferson City, Missouri, saw potential there and acted to do something about it. 

“It sat there for 20 years,” said Moralez, who’s been a railroader for 16 years. “People didn’t want to see it fade away – we had the community and the support.” 

So while still working as a conductor, Moralez spent his own time coordinating dozens of volunteers, getting supplies, spreading the word to a national audience, getting the project rolling and maintaining the momentum so that, in time, the caboose would be fixed. 

At times it seemed like a difficult thing to accomplish, but the restoration attracted a level of support that surprised even Moralez. At the beginning of October, a planned flurry of activity involving former and current railroaders, members of the community, including Cub and Boy Scouts, and even top union officers, turned back time and preserved a piece of the town’s and rail history. 

“At the end of the day, I was just looking for support,” he said. “We had an amazing turnout. Twelve volunteers a day – the city came out in force. The union came out, and so did Union Pacific. Nothing says community more than the fact that UP, SMART-TD and the city of Pleasant Hill could pull together to accomplish this. Everything got done in six days.” 

While balancing the amount of food needed to keep volunteers happy was admittedly a challenge on a daily basis during the work session, Moralez said the resulting job well done and a collective experience shared by many people who might never have been united in such a common purpose was a special thing.  

“Everything worked out perfectly,” he said. 

The exterior of the Missouri Pacific caboose project in Pleasant Hill, Missouri, was completed on Oct. 23 after a whirlwind effort by a number of volunteers led by Local 933’s Jorge Moralez.

A particular highlight was the engagement of the scouts, ranging from 10 to 12 years old, who peppered the railroaders, both active and retired, with questions about the industry in an impromptu Q&A while chowing down on pizza on a Saturday afternoon. 

One particularly memorable moment came when a scout expressed his disappointment that the caboose wasn’t going to make a triumphant return to active service, Moralez recalled with a laugh. 

And while the bright red caboose will not be returning to the rails, Moralez himself has experienced a rebirth of sorts himself. 

After going through a very difficult period in his life where he struggled with addiction, he had been dismissed from his job. However, the union, in particular General Chairperson Terry Dixon, who retired early this year, had Brother Moralez’s back.  

“It’s come full circle – I was not always the best member,” Moralez said. “I went through a dark time – the union didn’t give up on me.” 

George Moralez of Local 933 smiles for the camera as he works on the caboose restoration project.

Moralez was reinstated to service thanks in part to GC Dixon and the union’s intervention and has now been clean for five years. 

And the efforts by his union family got Moralez back on track as a freight conductor, it also put him on a path where he felt empowered enough to lead and take responsibility for a Herculean task such as the caboose restoration. 

“I wanted to show other members the ownership. That caboose is on our territory, and I wanted to make sure everyone knew that,” Moralez said. “I wanted to make sure that Local 933 is the frontrunner.” 

SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy R. Ferguson helps clean the interior of a Missouri Pacific caboose.

Surrounding locals and even national officers including SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson and Vice President Brent Leonard recognized the energy and drive he was putting in the project, so they headed to Pleasant Hill to assist. 

“I did want all of SMART-TD involved,” Moralez said. 

Moralez’s own personal circle came around on Oct. 4 — seven years after he had last been an officer, he once again stepped up to lead. At a Local 933 meeting held at the caboose, he was nominated and then elected by acclamation to serve as his local’s vice president. 

“All the stars aligned,” he said. “Everything just fell into place.” 

Some of the volunteers, as well as SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson and Vice President Brent Leonard, gather for a group photo during a work session in early October.

Moralez says that he’ll continue to mobilize and motivate members and the public alike in his new position, but first, there’s a touch of unfinished business with the caboose. 

While the final emblems placed on the caboose’s exterior were done Oct. 23, there are a couple of areas of the interior that need wrapped up — namely painting, getting the chairs reupholstered, and running electricity to it. 

To pitch in, contact Moralez directly at jorgemoralez@gmail.com or follow the QR code in the flyer below to donate to the cause. 

“It does take some effort,” Moralez said. “We are not done. It’s just the beginning – there’s other things we fight for,” Moralez said. “I want it to be better for all of us – but I can’t do it all by myself.”