Transportation News

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Leadership message: Jan. 18

Brothers and Sisters: We know our rail members employed by BNSF, CSX, KCS, NS and UP are anxious about the status of talks with the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC). The talks resume Jan. 22 in Jacksonville, Fla. It has been a year since the UTU and the NC [...]

Leaders report: Week one

Brothers and Sisters: This is another in a series of what will be many leadership messages to our membership. Our first week in office involved: Familiarizing ourselves with the day-to-day operation of the International; Assessing the financial condition of the UTU and the UT [...]

Let them explain themselves

By UTU International President Mike Futhey In spite of a federal court ruling Dec. 27 that UTU members were provided insufficient — and even misleading — information regarding the proposed merger with the Sheet Metal Workers’ union, seven current members of [...]

With new year comes new opportunities, hope

By Vic BaffoniVice President, Bus Department As we enter the new year, we must be on the lookout for new opportunities to organize the unorganized, increase financial resources and gain political power. We also must take advantage of new training and educational opportunities [...]

A new year, a new start

Brothers and Sisters: The membership of our union spoke through their delegates last August and chose a new team to lead us forward in these challenging times for labor unions. We accept that challenge and pledge today — as we pledged in August — to move the Unite [...]

Your family needs you so exercise, live right

By Dr. Norman BrownUTU Medical Consultant Baseball legend Mickey Mantle once joked, “If I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.” I wish more of us, including myself, would look into their crystal balls of the future and find themse [...]

Must I see doctors chosen by the railroad?

FELA Update By Mark Allen Coordinator of UTU Designated Legal Counsel I frequently hear about injured railroad workers who are confused by statements made to them by railroad claims department persons or supervisors that if they don’t see doctors chosen by the railroad, [...]

Proving negligence under FELA

FELA Update By Mark Allen Coordinator of UTU Designated Legal Counsel The Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA) was enacted by Congress in 1908 to give railroad employees the right, under federal law, to recover damages from their employers for injuries occurring at w [...]

What are my rights if I’m injured in a hired van?

By Mark Allen Coordinator of UTU Designated Legal Counsel Railroad workers sometimes jokingly say they spend more time in vans than trains as railroads transport their workers using contract limousine services. As agents of the railroad, these companies may be held to the sam [...]

Fatigue killing railroad crews

LOS ANGELES — When a Union Pacific freight train thundered into tiny Macdona, Texas, just before dawn June 28, the engineer and conductor had clocked more than 60 hours in the previous week, working the long, erratic shifts that are common in the railroad industry, acco [...]