A contractor working with the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) on the board’s information technology initiatives, including RRB’s online services, is seeking feedback from active railroad workers and retirees that will direct its future plans. Accenture has set a S [...]
State Legislative Director Stu Gardner reports that proponent testimony has been scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2019, in House Hearing Room 114 in the Ohio Statehouse, 1 Capitol Square in Columbus, regarding H.B. 186, a comprehensive railroad safety bill under cons [...]
Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894 after President Grover Cleveland signed it into law to appease angry union workers following a railroad labor strike that President Cleveland sent armed troops in to break up. More than a dozen workers were killed. More information i [...]
Brothers and sisters, let me wish you and your family a Happy Labor Day. This past month, we completed our Second SMART General Convention where transportation and sheet metal members stood together to work on focusing on the future to position our Union for the rapid changes [...]
Patriot Rail and Ports, an operator of short lines in the United States, was acquired by First State Investments, an Australia-based firm that has invested in infrastructure in Australia, Europe, New Zealand and the United Kingdom, Railway Age reported Aug. 27. Terms of the a [...]
All SMART members are invited to participate in annual Labor Day parades. On Monday, Sept. 2, in Galesburg, Ill., Transportation Division Alternate National Legislative Director-elect Jared Cassity is scheduled to be in attendance to march alongside members of TD Local 195 an [...]
Travis “Bowie” Andrepont, the secretary/treasurer of Local 1947 in Lake Charles, La., was killed before dawn on Tuesday, Aug. 20, in a rail accident in Beaumont, Texas. Andrepont, 39, of DeQuincy, La., had worked for Union Pacific for 16 years, a UP company spokes [...]
The North County Transit District (NCTD) has teamed up with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to add an extra level of safety for its staff, contractors and the public. On August 1, 2019, NCTD entered into a [...]
In May, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) withdrew its proposed rulemaking to require two-person crews on freight trains. The agency then went further and stated that all state laws concerning the subject were preempted by the ruling. In response, SMART TD President J [...]
On Friday, August 9, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker signed Senate Bill 24 – the state’s two-person crew bill – into law. “I want to thank and commend Governor Pritzker for honoring the commitment he made as a candidate to sign legislation requiring a crew of at least two indiv [...]
