For Amtrak, Santa has been nice all year – if you forget the numerous and vicious attacks on Amtrak by outgoing House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica. As we look back on 2012, Mica’s attacks were primarily theater, for the benefit of his conse [...]
UnitedHealthcare has begun mailing a welcome kit to those rail members covered under the national railroad health & welfare plans who have enrolled in the Flexible Spending Account (FSA), to become effective Jan. 1, 2013. The mailing includes a claim form, information as [...]
By UTU International President Mike Futhey – For many of our brothers and sisters in the Northeast, much was washed away by Hurricane Sandy – but not their hope, their pride or their sense of duty. Despite the flood devastation that stole irreplaceable possessions, homes and [...]
WASHINGTON – Nicholas C. Geale, a Republican staff member of the Senate Health, Education and Labor Committee, was nominated by President Obama Dec. 17 to be a member of the National Mediation Board, which administers the Railway Labor Act affecting railroads and airlines. If [...]
UTU Amtrak conductors and yardmasters are currently in mediation with regard to an amended wage, benefits and working conditions agreement. The UTU and Amtrak are far apart on a few difficult issues. At this time, the parties are exploring alternative methods of interest-base [...]
Train and engine service employees on Birmingham Terminal Railway – a Watco property – have voted to be represented by the SMART Transportation Division. Rich Ross, SMART Transportation Division’s director of organizing, thanked Alabama State Legislative Director Neil Elders [...]
The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a proposed policy statement to establish the extent to which OSHA regulations may apply to flight attendants onboard an aircraft in operation. An FAA-OSHA memorandum of understanding (MOU) previously established a team to identif [...]
By Assistant President John Previsich We all know that drug and alcohol use can have a negative impact on users, fellow employees and the transportation industry. That said, it must be emphasized that SMART members are to be commended for setting a compliance standard that pl [...]
Amtrak Board Chairman Tom Carper has won endorsement from Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) for renomination by President Obama. That nomination would require Senate confirmation. Carper, a former mayor of McComb, Ill., has served on the Amtrak board since March 200 [...]
PAULSBORO, N.J. — A signal problem and/or a bridge-locking defect may have been contributing factors in a Conrail bridge collapse and CSX train derailment here Nov. 30. Paulsboro is some 20 miles southeast of Philadelphia. Some 12,500 gallons of the hazardous material [...]
