News - Page 555 of 612

UTU driver uninjured in fatal Texas bus crash

May 13, 2011 VICTORIA, Texas — UTU member and Valley Transit bus operator Guadalupe Ruiz escaped injury May 12 when his bus was sideswiped by a pickup truck near here. Ruiz is a member of UTU Local 1670, Laredo, Texas. The Associated Press reports that one of the bus passengers was [...]

Tags bus, bus crash, operator, Ruiz, valley transit

Our fight for right has just begun

May 13, 2011 By International President Mike Futhey I was asked if our Collective Bargaining Defense Fund, the UTU PAC and our recently inaugurated direct-contact-with-members outreach can stop the assault on labor by conservative extremists. In union there is strength, and when members o [...]

Tags assault, collective bargaining defense fund, fund

FAA to overhaul pilot, flight attendant training

May 12, 2011 WASHINGTON — An extensive overhaul of air-carrier crew training has been proposed by the Federal Aviation Administration. “This is a major effort to strengthen the performance of pilots, flight attendants and dispatchers through better training,” said FAA Ad [...]

Tags air, attendant, aviation, training

Amtrak pass information

May 11, 2011 Amtrak provides eligible active and retired UTU/SMART TD members with passes which can be used to get free or reduced-rate travel aboard the passenger railroad. UTU/SMART TD membership alone does not make the employee or retiree eligible for these travel privileges, and many [...]

Tags Amtrak pass

Florida Tri-Rail members approve new contract

May 11, 2011 MIAMI – By a four-to-one margin, UTU-member train and engine workers employed by Veolia Transportation — operator of South Florida Tri-Rail — have approved a new agreement. The UTU represents both sides of the cab on Tri-Rail. The agreement includes pay incr [...]

Tags contract, florida, tri-rail, veolia

New bus operator CDL and CLP rules finalized

May 11, 2011 WASHINGTON — The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has published a final rule — effective for drivers in 60 days — amending the commercial driver’s license (CDL) knowledge and skills testing standards, and establishing new minimum federal sta [...]

Tags cdl, clp, driver, license

Amtrak big winner in latest rail-grant release

May 10, 2011 WASHINGTON — Amtrak’s vision for high-speed rail along the Northeast Corridor gained a significant boost May 9 when the Federal Railroad Administration redistributed to Amtrak $795 million of some $2 billion in high-speed rail grants previously rejected by Florida [...]

Tags Amtrak, grants, high-speed, Northeast Corridor

Lollapalooza of event aids injured conductor

May 9, 2011 Norfolk Southern conductor Larry McVay, 43, caught a bad break Jan. 3 when he lost his right arm and right leg in a horrendous switching accident near Lafayette, Ind. His brothers and sisters in UTU Local 768 and UTU NS General Committee of Adjustment 687 — and others w [...]

Tags conductor, donations, injured, mcvay

‘No-ride’ list for Amtrak; armed cops on VRE

May 9, 2011 WASHINGTON — Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) says he wants Amtrak and the Department of Homeland Security to create a “no-ride” list for intercity passenger trains, similar to the Secure Flight monitoring program in place for airlines whereby names of air travel [...]

Tags Amtrak, commuter, inspections

al-Qaida but one transport terrorist threat

May 6, 2011 The news media may be atwitter with concerns of an al-Qaida attack on trains, but there is no validation that any specific attack is imminent or has been planned. What is crucial is that each of us — whether we work for an air, bus, freight train, transit or passenger t [...]

Tags al-Qaida, plot, sabotage, terrorist