Several changes regarding the SMART Voluntary Short-Term Disability (VSTD) Plan for bus and rail members will take effect Jan. 1, 2023. The temporary reduction of premiums for Plan participants announced Oct. 21, 2020, will expire Dec. 31, 2022. VSTD premiums will be reset to [...]
Good labor relations with elected officials can be summed up by knowing that the people who represent us in our state legislatures and Washington D.C. are familiar with our needs and concerns, and that they keep us informed on what is going on in their committee meetings and [...]
IMPORTANT MESSAGE TO ALL SMART-TD MEMBERS SUBJECT TO NATIONAL RAIL NEGOTIATIONS As you are likely already aware, SMART Transportation Division members will soon be voting on the 2022 Tentative National Rail Agreement. As required by Article 21B, Section 91, of the SMART Const [...]
SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson and Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen President Dennis Pierce stood shoulder-to-shoulder as they answered direct questions from a standing-room-only crowd Oct. 18 at the annual Solidarity Rally for Rail La [...]
The hotel booking deadline has been extended for the SMART Transportation Division’s Regional Training Seminar (RTS) to take place Nov. 14 through 17, 2022, at the Hilton Branson Convention Center in Branson, Mo. Single- and double-occupancy rooms can now be b [...]
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced Sept. 22 that the public comment period for the two-person crew size Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) has been extended. Stakeholders now have an additional 60 days to show their support for the minimum crew size of two [...]
SMART-TD Local 653 (Chicago) is proud to announce the recognition of Legislative Representative Orlando Rojas as the winner of the 2022 Charlie Hayes Award for his work in the greater Chicago labor community. This award is given by an organization known as Chicago Jobs With J [...]
Railroad Retirement annuitants subject to earnings restrictions can earn more in 2023 without having their benefits reduced due to increased limits indexed to average national wage increases. Like Social Security benefits, some Railroad Retirement benefit payments are subject [...]
The CEO of the National Association of Chemical Distributors seems to understand how to fix the railroads better than the carriers do. Supply Chain Dive published an opinion article Oct. 17 by Eric R. Byer, who leads the National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD), i [...]
In a rare acknowledgment of the value railroaders bring to the table, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) has named October 15 as “Railroad Workers Day”. Gov. Murphy went on the record saying, “Through extreme weather events and a global pandemic, our state’s railroad workers hav [...]
