Transportation News
Two new rail agreements ratified
Wier Two new UTU negotiated rail agreements have been ratified by members. UTU-represented trainmen and engineers employed by Evansville & Western Railroad overwhelmingly ratified a new five-year agreement, while UTU-represented trainmen and engineers employed by Iowa Int [...]Health care tax benefit for Mass. rail members
UTU members in Massachusetts covered under the National Rail Contract and other UTU plans will not face a tax penalty for the 2011 state tax year for dependent child maternity benefits. The Massachusetts state legislature had mandated coverage of dependent child maternity ben [...]FAA announces new pilot fatigue rules
WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has announced new rules aimed at preventing dangerous fatigue among passenger aircraft pilots. The rules do not affect all-cargo aircraft pilots. The new rules are in response to a Colgan Air crash near Buffalo, N.Y [...]Fund established for family of member killed on job
A fund has been established for the family of Local 1957 member Stacy Rieger, a BNSF conductor, who was killed Dec. 18 when his head reportedly struck a bridge beam while leaning over the railing of his moving locomotive’s side running board in an attempt to check the fuel le [...]OSHA raps UP again for whistleblower violation
Once again, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has ordered a railroad to reinstate an employee and pay him back wages for violating an employee’s rights as a whistleblower. In the latest OSHA order, Union Pacific was ordered i [...]Court cancels UP fines in drug smuggling
The Department of Homeland Security has been ordered by a federal district court in Nebraska to cease assessing fines against Union Pacific and seizing its rolling stock following discovery of illegal narcotics on trains originating in Mexico and delivered by Mexican railroad [...]We are now SMART
Click here for a joint letter from UTU International President Mike Futhey and Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association General President Joe Nigro on the merger between our two organizations to become the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail & Transportation Workers (SMART).Santa Monica drivers ratify new contract
SANTA MONICA, Calif. – UTU members employed by Santa Monica Regional Bus Lines (UTU Local 1785) have ratified a new three-year contract by a three-to-one margin. The contract, which expires June 30, 2014, includes pay raises, maintains and improves work rules, retains full-co [...]