“From the Ballast” is an open column for SMART Transportation Division rail members to state their perspective on issues related to the railroad industry. Members of the union are encouraged to submit content by emailing to news_TD@smart-union.org. Columns are pub [...]
Union officials, auxiliary members and their spouses as well as rail employees and spouses within five years of retirement are welcome to attend one of a series of Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) pre-retirement seminars. The spring schedule is as follows: Date Site April 28, [...]
SMART Transportation Division Alternate National Legislative Director Jared Cassity was a guest of The Rick Smith Show podcast released on Friday night. In the interview, Smith and Alt. NLD Cassity discussed the Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and the rol [...]
As we all know, the crown jewel of all U.S. sporting events is the National Football League’s Super Bowl. This weekend, Phoenix, Ariz., hosts Super Bowl LVII featuring the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. SMART Transportation Division’s own Gary Hayes, vi [...]
The SMART Transportation Division organized rallies in multiple locations Dec. 13 to bring attention to rail-related issues, including maintaining the current safe level of a minimum two-person crew in the cabs of locomotives, paid sick leave for workers and an end to the carriers’ Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) scheme.
SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson and Adam West, secretary and treasurer of SMART-TD Local 744 in Lafayette, Ind., served as speakers during a press conference Feb. 9 demanding that rail companies provide seven days of paid sick leave to workers organize [...]
Prior to the lifting of an evacuation order for residents of East Palestine, Ohio, SMART officers and members pitched in to assist the displaced residents with supplies and other support. Due to the massive Norfolk Southern derailment there on Friday, February 3, and the haza [...]
WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 – SMART Transportation Division leadership as well as officers from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes and the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department [...]
Those wishing to contribute donations to the community of East Palestine, Ohio, due to the major Norfolk Southern derailment Friday are urged to pitch in to assist evacuees of the village near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. The NTSB will be the lead agency for providing update [...]
Bus operators of SMART Local 1715 in Charlotte, N.C., on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with a vote margin of 20 to 1. The new contract for the operators for the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) calls for a significant wage increase [...]
