The lifetime maximum benefit for the Railroad Employees National Early Retirement Major Medical Benefit (ERMA or GA-46000) Plan will increase from $175,700 to $182,700 beginning Jan. 1, 2022. At the end of 2001, labor and management had agreed on various procedures to adminis [...]
Greg Regan, president of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department, of which the SMART Transportation Division is a member, testified on behalf of labor before the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee at the Nov. 17 hearing regarding “Industry and L [...]
In anticipation of today’s House hearing on the U.S. supply chain, an “exclusive” pro-carrier piece in the Washington Examiner on freight crew size says that keeping two people on freight crews is making the problem worse, neglecting to mention the massive c [...]
In response to an Emergency Temporary Standard (ETS) to protect workers from coronavirus that was issued earlier this month by OSHA, National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memo to all field offices concerning COVID vaccine mandates and collec [...]
Today, President Joe Biden signed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act into law. SMART General President Joseph Sellers and rank-and-file union members joined him at the signing ceremony. SMART issued the following statement after the ceremony: WASHINGTON, DC — “ [...]
This year, as every year, I wanted to take a moment to give my thanks and to show appreciation to our SMART Transportation Division members who are also veterans of the United State military. Our veterans are a source of patriotism and pride for what they have done and what t [...]
Tommy Manuzewski, a probationary member of our union’s Local 1566 (Buffalo, N.Y.), was severely injured in an accident late last month after being struck by a train in a Norfolk Southern yard. Brother Manuzewski’s arm was amputated and his collarbone and multiple [...]
Legislation championed by SMART Transportation Division New Jersey State Legislative Director Ron Sabol to protect transportation workers passed unanimously through a state Senate committee Nov. 8. The bill (S-4071) or the Motorbus and Passenger Rail Service Employee Violence [...]
The U.S. House of Representatives in the waning hours of Nov. 5 passed H.R. 3684, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), also known as the bipartisan infrastructure framework, by a 228-206 vote. The bill provides $1.2 trillion in funding for infrastructure, with a [...]
U.S. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), the chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, introduced the Stop Sexual Assault and Harassment in Transportation Act (H.R. 5706) Oct. 25, legislation to help protect passengers and personnel from sexual assault and [...]
