Transportation News

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UP posts ‘most profitable year’ in history

(By M.J. Clark for Wyoming Business Report) Wyoming’s main rail line, Union Pacific, reported net income of $3.9 billion in 2012, which makes 2012 “Union Pacific’s most profitable year in our 150-year history,” Jack Koraleski, UP’s CEO said in a [...]

Transportation Secretary LaHood to step down

WASHINGTON — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the only Republican left in President Barack Obama’s first-term cabinet, said today that he would be leaving the administration. Before becoming Secretary of Transportation, LaHood, 67, served for 14 years in the U.S. Ho [...]

Negotiations with Amtrak continue

Contract talks on Amtrak are continuing, General Chairperson Dirk Sampson reports.  “As these negotiations are ongoing and sensitive, I am not a liberty to release the details,” he said.  “My main priority with Amtrak is getting this contract settled,” [...]

Union membership slips after anti-labor attacks

The percentage of American workers in labor unions took an unusually large fall in 2012, dropping to 11.3 percent last year from 11.8 percent in 2011, the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced. The total number of union members also took an unusually big drop, by 400,000, to 1 [...]

GO LIRR Sandy relief fund aids members

Days after super storm Sandy hit the New York Tri-State area, Long Island Rail Road GO LIRR General Chairperson Anthony Simon established the “UTU Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund” for Long Island Rail Road members in need. Through both mail-in and boots-on-the-ground donation cam [...]

Make a union-made toast this Valentine’s Day

How are you and your Valentine celebrating this February 14th? The United Farm Workers (UFW), United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), and International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) suggest toasting your Valentine with a union-crafted wine. Select union-made wines, paired [...]

Enter to win a free iPad mini

You could win a FREE iPad mini ($329 value) just for telling a fellow union member about the Union Plus AT&T wireless 15 percent discount. It’s a great way to help others save money, show support for unionized AT&T workers, and have the chance to win a new iPad mini. [...]

NLC offers hazmat training for railroaders

The National Labor College will conduct regional hazardous materials training workshops for railroad workers at various locations throughout the United States in 2013. The first two workshops are five-day Hazardous Materials Chemical/Emergency Response Training Programs, that [...]

In remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. King The UTU shares with the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the dream that men and women should be judged not by the color of their skin, their nationality or religious beliefs, but by the content of their hearts. Below is the text of Dr. King’s speech, delivered o [...]

Contacting Railroad Medicare when a beneficiary dies

Handling the affairs of a deceased family member can be a difficult task. But like estate planning, it’s important to prepare in advance. Medicare law prevents contractors from disclosing information and updating records for a deceased beneficiary without appropriate document [...]