UTU members and their dependents insured under the Railroad Employees National Early Retirement Major Medical Benefit (ERMA) Plan (GA-46000) will have their lifetime maximum amount of coverage increased, effective Jan. 1. ERMA is a comprehensive benefits plan for employees wh [...]
HARRISBURG, Pa. – The Pennsylvania state House delivered a body blow Nov. 18 to hopes for a major transportation spending proposal in a test vote that raised doubts about whether any roads bill will pass this year. The House voted 98-103 against a proposal to raise gasoline t [...]
New tour buses and buses that provide service between cities must be equipped with seat belts starting in late 2016 under a federal rule issued Wednesday, a safety measure sought by accident investigators for nearly a half century. Beginning in November 2016, all new motorcoa [...]
Henry L. Dacanay Jr., 46, president of SMART Transportation Division Local 1732 at San Jose, Calif., died Nov. 14 following a heart attack. Dacanay worked for Amtrak as a conductor for 19 years. Besides serving as local president, he held various other positions including loc [...]
Members of the SMART Transportation Division and all of rail labor have the opportunity to make it federal law to have two qualified persons working on all freight trains operating in the United States a reality. Now is the time to contact your legislators in the House of Rep [...]
As the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee prepares a markup on rail reauthorization legislation, the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP) is urging Congress to embrace a national vision for intercity passenger trains. NARP is concerned that commit [...]
It’s been sitting around in Pomona for nearly 53 years, but now the beast they call Big Boy is making tracks for Wyoming. Officially known as Union Pacific steam engine No. 4014, the locomotive has been parked at the RailGiants Train Museum in Pomona since 1962, a displ [...]
SEPTA officials are preparing for the worst, detailing a doomsday scenario that they say will take place if Pennsylvania lawmakers don’t pass a transportation funding measure in the next nine days. In a written press release, officials stated that SEPTA’s fiscal year 2014, wh [...]
Thirty operating employees from Union Pacific Railroad in the La Grande, Ore., area, who retired or left employment on disability in the last year, will be honored at a retirement party Nov. 23, SMART Transportation Division Local Chairperson Larry Romine reports. The 30 memb [...]
WASHINGTON – The Association of American Railroads Nov. 14 urged the U.S. Department of Transportation to press for improved federal tank car regulations by requiring all tank cars used to transport flammable liquids to be retrofitted or phased out, and new cars built to more [...]
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