Transportation News

Visit the digital archive of the SMART-TD News (PDFs)

Unions file for injunctions against Norfolk Southern

CLEVELAND, Ohio (Oct. 28, 2021) — The SMART Transportation Division (SMART–TD) and Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) escalated their fight against Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) to stop the railroad from forcing locomotive engineers to work as conductors, [...]

Member of Local 807 dies from COVID-19

Brother Tony Carbajal, a member of Local 807 (Tucson, Ariz.), passed away Oct. 27, 2021, from COVID-19 at the age of 51. He joined the union in 2004 and worked as a conductor for Union Pacific for more than 17 years. “Tony was well-liked and respected by his co-workers [...]

Your Commitment Pushes Us Forward

Brothers and sisters: It’s hard to believe that we’re three-quarters of the way through 2021. With the changing of the seasons into autumn, it seems like an opportune time to outline a few of the positive changes we’re making to better serve you. Responsiveness to members’ sa [...]

NJ SLB member introduces President Biden at NJT facility

As President Joe Biden appeared Oct. 25 at the New Jersey Transit Meadowlands Maintenance Complex in Kearny, N.J., it was SMART Transportation Division New Jersey State Legislative Board Vice Chairperson Joseph Williams (GCA-770), a New Jersey Transit engineer, who set the st [...]

Rail workers’ right to choose medical network upheld

In early July 2020, just over eight months after the current round of national bargaining had begun, the carriers’ representative — the National Railway Labor Conference (NRLC) — proposed reconfiguring the National Plan’s network structure in a way that would forc [...]

Bose’s FRA nomination advances; he also meets with TD SLDs

Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) Deputy Administrator Amit Bose’s nomination by President Joe Biden to become administrator of FRA was advanced Oct. 20 by the U.S. Senate’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee. Along with Bose, the nomination of Meera Joshi to [...]

SMART-TD responds to carrier vaccine mandates

Recently, Amtrak, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern announced that they will require their employees, including those represented by SMART Transportation Division, to be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. It is anticipated that many of the remaining, if not all Class I r [...]

GoFundMe set up for members’ devastated family

Local 904 (Evansville, Ind.) S&T Brian Hall reports that the local has opened a GoFundMe page to support CSX yardmaster and Local 1963 (Louisville, Ky.) member Jason P. Melton and his family after his 13-year-old son tragically took his own life on Sunday, Oct. 17. Melton [...]

Unions join to fight Union Pacific on COVID orders

CLEVELAND, October 15, 2021 — The Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) are jointly taking on Union Pacific Railroad (UP) over a [...]

Medicare’s 2022 open enrollment period: October 15 – December 7, 2021

October marks the beginning of Medicare’s open enrollment period for the 2022 coverage year. If you already have Railroad Medicare and want to make a change to your Part D coverage or plan, you can do so between October 15 and December 7, 2021. Any changes you make during ope [...]