Transportation News

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Labor rallies produce the votes we want

MADISON, Wisc. — Are labor rallies in support of collective bargaining rights effective? Can the UTU Collective Bargaining Defense Fund make a difference? Do trains run on tracks? Do buses operate on highways? As for Wisconsin, the proof of the value of labor rallies wa [...]

If your physician withdraws from Medicare…

Many physicians and medical practitioners are choosing to withdraw from participation in Medicare. This has a direct financial impact on all UTU members who are retired or intend to retire in the near future. If you are eligible for Medicare, and your physician or medical pra [...]

Don’t let them fool you about Railroad Retirement

An opinion article recently published by the Financial Times and Fox News, written by conservative financial columnist Liz Peek, takes a nasty and incorrect swipe at Railroad Retirement, saying Railroad Retirement should be eliminated and folded into Social Security. The argu [...]

Collective-bargaining defense goes nationwide

Throughout America Monday, UTU members joined with brothers and sisters across craft and industrial lines in We Are One rallies reinforcing labor solidarity and raising public awareness of mean-spirited attacks on collective bargaining rights by right-wing extremists. The wor [...]

York Railway agreement gains 100% ratification

YORK, Pa. — UTU-represented trainmen, engineers and carmen employed by York Railway have ratified new collective bargaining agreements, with 100 percent of the membership voting in favor of contracts retroactive to Jan. 1, 2010 and extending through Dec. 31, 2014. The a [...]

Mother of UTU International president dies

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Coy Marie Bradshaw Futhey, age 89, mother of UTU International President Mike Futhey, died April 3 in a nursing home here. She was active in the Auxiliary of the UTU and its predecessor, Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, and served as president and legi [...]

House agrees to anti-union measure

WASHINGTON — Although 16 Republicans refused to be cowed by their conservative leadership, the House of Representatives last week succeeded in another attack on collective bargaining by voting to nullify a National Mediation Board ruling making representation elections [...]

Safety alert: Electronic device ban

The Federal Railroad Administration’s permanent ban on use of electronic devices, including cellphones, became effective March 28, 2011. Please make careful note of the following: In the event of a collision, derailment or fatality, one of the first actions taken by Nat [...]

Funds created for victims of Kelso collision

A memorial fund has been established for the three killed in a collision between a shuttle-van and freight train in Kelso, Wash., March 23. A second fund was established to assist a UTU-member and conductor critically injured in the accident. Killed in the collision at a priv [...]

The shameful state of bus-safety advances

WASHINGTON — Observing that her five-year-old soccer-mom van contains safety technology more advanced than is integrated into many motor coaches, National Transportation Safety Board Chairperson Deborah Hersman March 30 chided Congress and the Federal Motor Carrier Safe [...]