“From the Ballast” is an open column for SMART Transportation Division rail members to state their perspective on issues related to the railroad industry. Members of the union are encouraged to submit content by emailing to news_TD@smart-union.org. Columns are published at th [...]
Agreement with SMART-TD provides greater flexibility for railroad, improves service for customers and enhances quality of life for employees OMAHA, Neb., (March 25, 2023) — Union Pacific has reached a tentative crew consist agreement with General Committee 953 [...]
On Thursday, March 23 – after 15 months of negotiations – the TCU & Shop-Craft Coalition reached a tentative agreement with Amtrak to settle each organization’s respective Section 6 notices for this round of bargaining. The coalition is comprised of the SMART Mechanical D [...]
Atlanta, GA, and Independence, OH, (March 23, 2023) — Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE:NSC) and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers — Transportation Division (SMART-TD) announced Thursday that they are discontinuing formal nego [...]
In the aftermath of February’s rail disaster in Ohio, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee held a key hearing March 22 on “Improving Rail Safety in Response to the East Palestine Derailment” to get to the bottom of what went wrong in the accident and to discuss the bipart [...]
Many members miss opportunities when their address and contact information on file is not current. To keep things up to date, this can be accomplished through the SMART mobile app, via the SMART Member Portal on the SMART website or the old-fashioned way — by just letting you [...]
SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson appeared with U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown in Cleveland on Monday morning to discuss the bipartisan Railway Safety Act of 2023 as momentum for legislative action on railroad safety continues to build on Capitol Hill. Sen. Bro [...]
The brutal effects of Precision Scheduled Railroading, better known as PSR, on the lives of railroaders since 2017 have been well-documented. It’s been almost as bad for suppliers, who have seen delays in their products making it to market. It’s been bad for shippers, who hav [...]
FRA SAFETY BULLETIN 2023-02 SUBJECT: Highway-Rail Grade Crossing and Shove Movement Accident The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) is investigating a recent switching accident that resulted in a crew member fatality. Based on FRA’s preliminary investigation, a conductor w [...]
This morning (March 15), the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) announced its decision to allow the merger of two of our nation’s seven Class I railroads. The Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP) has now been given the federal clearance needed to finalize its agreement [...]
