WASHINGTON — Two commuter railroads — Los Angeles Metrolink and Chicago Metra – get it. They recognize that commuters aren’t hogs and logs on freight trains, and passenger and crew safety is paramount. Unfortunately, 24 other commuter railroads don’t g [...]
BOSTON — UTU-represented conductors and assistant conductors on Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad (MBCR) have ratified a four-year agreement covering wages, benefits and working conditions. The agreement is retroactive to July 2009, and may be reopened for amendment i [...]
Containerized auto-parts shipments from Japan to the U.S. are expected to be cut significantly in the weeks and even months ahead, which could have a direct short-term impact on rail shipments and employment. Flooding, shortages of electricity and damage to roads and bridges [...]
LANSING, Mich. — In another blow to public employee collective-bargaining rights, the Michigan House and Senate have passed legislation allowing non-elected emergency financial managers in financially struggling cities and school districts to terminate union contracts f [...]
WILMINGTON, Del. — Amtrak is naming its refurbished station here in honor of Vice President Joe Biden, who regularly commuted between Washington and his home in Wilmington for most of his U.S. Senate career that spanned almost 25 years. The official name will be the Jos [...]
By International President Mike Futhey In state after state, anti-union right-wing extremists are targeting labor unions for destruction. It started with public-employee unions, but that’s not the end game. The end game is destruction of all labor unions in America. Ext [...]
If you wish to attend a rally in support of public-employee collective bargaining rights and workplace democracy, contact your state legislative director. The UTU National Legislative Office, in conjunction with the AFL-CIO, is keeping each state legislative director updated [...]
WASHINGTON — At a hearing of the House Rail Subcommittee March 11 into prospects for privatizing portions of Amtrak, rail labor and Amtrak sounded a warning that intercity rail passenger operations in the U.S. cannot succeed or continue without a an adequate, consistent [...]
The natural disaster that hit Japan will have both a positive and negative impact on U.S. rail jobs, although it is too early to determine more precise impacts or their timing. The Journal of Commerce, quoting the U.S. Grains Council, reports that many of Japan’s agricu [...]
LOS ANGELES — Metrolink has entered into a partnership with the University of Southern California’s engineering school to create an advanced rail system safety certification program to, in its words, “pioneer efforts to standardize system safety leadership p [...]
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