Transportation News

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

OSHA slams Norfolk Southern again

WASHINGTON – Norfolk Southern Railway Co. has been ordered to pay $1,121,099 to three workers following an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which found that the company violated the whistleblower provisions of the [...]

SMART joins fight against larger trucks

Some Congressional lawmakers want to allow bigger trucks on the nation’s highways, but the SMART Transportation Division and others are asking them to hit the road. In a letter to all 435 members of the House of Representatives, the SMART Transportation Division has joined wi [...]

Halt the neglect of transportation infrastructure

SMART Transportation Division President Mike Futhey and Assistant President John Previsich this week joined the leaders of other AFL-CIO affiliate unions at the organization’s annual winter meeting. They also meet separately with members of the organization’s Transportation T [...]

Congress must advance plan for Amtrak


ORLANDO, Fla. – As lawmakers prepare to debate passenger rail reauthorization, leaders of AFL-CIO transportation unions are calling on Congress to set a long-term future for Amtrak that meets the demands of a growing ridership, invests in the railroad’s decaying equipment an [...]

Engineer says cell phone not factor in crash

The engineer of one of two ore trains that crashed head-on just outside of Two Harbors, Minn., in 2010 is taking issue with the National Transportation Safety Board report on the accident, disputing that cell phone use by the train crews was a relevant factor. In an exclusive [...]

FRA issues new report on fatigue

The Federal Railroad Administration has issued a new report on the status of fatigue among railroad industry employees. In 2001, the FRA began examining the fatigue status of safety-critical railroad employees by using logbooks to collect work and sleep data over a period of [...]

With elections past, our work begins

By James Stem, National Legislative Director –  As a new Congress begins its largely partisan struggles, which are sometimes difficult to understand and frequently disturbing, the job of the National Legislative Office is to convince lawmakers that the legislative agenda of S [...]

Diet, weight control, exercise are keys to healthy living

By Dr. Norman K. BrownUTU Medical Consultant We have known for a long time that inadequate oxygen from poor heart or lung function, or poisonous gases such as carbon monoxide carried from breathing into our lungs, can injure our brains. Recent studies of women exposed to seco [...]

First Student employees bring Christmas to kids

“First Student bus drivers and mechanics from Local 1908 are so much more than just people who get your children to and from school,” said Local Secretary Joann Ehrhardt. If you need proof, just ask some of those children. After a Buffalo, N.Y., School District family of six [...]

Szabo: Rail investment spurs manufacturers

The following message was sent to the UTU National Legislative Office from Federal Railroad Administrator Joe Szabo: In his State of the Union Address last week, President Obama spoke about the importance of investing in our infrastructure as a path to create new jobs and lay [...]