John Harold Burner, 75, of Robinson, Ill., a former assistant state director for the United Transportation Union, died at 10:50 p.m. Oct. 22, 2017 at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Vincennes, Ind. He was born April 21, 1942, the son of Harold & Edith (Comer) Burner, both [...]
CLEVELAND – The Great Lakes Science Center is looking for current and retired rail workers to come aboard and volunteer to help with “All Aboard! The Science of Trains,” a railway display exhibit running Friday, Nov. 3, 2017, through Feb. 19, 2018, at the museum, 601 Erieside [...]
The National Transportation and Safety Board (NTSB) announced Oct. 12 that it ruled that a collision between a pair of Union Pacific trains in Texarkana, Texas, in September 2015 was probably caused by crewmembers who did not respond to wayside signal indicators because they [...]
Beginning Oct. 15 and running through Dec. 7, 2017, the open enrollment period allows Medicare-eligible patients the option of changing their coverage for 2018. Your 2018 Medicare & You Handbook should have arrived via the postal mail, and it’s important that you read thi [...]
Retired Texas State Legislative Director Cornelius “Connie” M. English Jr., 74, died at his home of Congestive Heart Failure, Sat., Oct. 14. A veteran of the Army National Guard, English joined the Army in 1962 and was stationed in Ft. Polk, Louisiana; Bergstrom Air Force Bas [...]
On October 6, 2017, the six Rail Unions comprising the Coordinated Bargaining Group (CBG) announced that they had reached a Tentative National Agreement with the Nation’s Freight Rail Carriers. Shortly after that announcement, a Union belonging to a different bargaining coali [...]
SMART TD General President Joseph Sellers Jr. plans to hold an online town hall forum Nov. 2 to hear and respond to concerns and questions from members. Registration is required for this first of its kind event, scheduled 6:30-7 p.m. EST, Nov. 2. To sign up to participate in [...]
The Montreal, Maine and Atlantic (MMA) employee in charge of safety and training at the railroad testified that a minimum of nine handbrakes should have been used on the train that destroyed the town of Lac-Megantic, Quebec, in 2013. Michael Horan testified that only seven ha [...]
SMART TD opposes the recent nomination of former U.S. Rep. Lynn A. Westmoreland of Georgia by the Trump administration to serve on the Board of Directors of Amtrak. As a longtime member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and H [...]
In early 1998, a Federal task force was created to examine railroad switching fatalities. Coordinated by the FRA, this working group consisted of representatives from both rail labor and carrier industry management. For 22 months they poured over data from the 76 switching de [...]
