Pursuant to a March 4 ruling of a federal district court judge, an arbitrator has been named to determine whether the merger agreement between the UTU and the Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMWIA) is an enforceable agreement. Georgetown University law professo [...]
Railroads are expecting an even stronger second quarter in 2011 following a 5 percent increase in carload volume during the first three months of 2011, carrier executives told a J.P. Morgan financial conference in New York March 24. This prediction comes on top of strong prof [...]
The Federal Railroad Administration’s ban on the use of cellphones and other electronic devices — personal and carrier-issued — becomes permanent Monday, March 28. The ban applies to all on-duty train crew members. Don’t let a railroad or federal safet [...]
KELSO, Wash. — A van shuttling BNSF workers to Vancouver, Wash., was struck by a BNSF freight train at a private crossing here Wednesday afternoon, March 23, killing two van passengers and the van driver, and critically injuring another passenger. Killed were conductor [...]
Why are many UTU members participating across America in rallies opposing attacks on collective-bargaining rights? Why have we created the Collective Bargaining Defense Fund to assist our union brothers and sisters under attack? Because we know that those who ignore the past [...]
It is said that “all politics is local,” and a hero co-pilot with U.S. Airways made a symbolic gesture in Madison, Wis., last week on behalf of the public employees whose collective bargaining rights are under attack. He withdrew hundreds of thousands of dollars o [...]
By Vic Baffoni Vice President, Bus Department These are troubling times for our nation, states and municipalities. Budget problems are forcing cutbacks in a wide variety of public services, and public transit often is targeted for cuts. At the extreme is the union busting g [...]
Imagine baseball without rules against bean balls, football without helmets or rules against clipping, roadways without stop signs, and cars without seat belts. Rules have a purpose. On railroads the rules — developed over more than a century-and-a-half — are to s [...]
WASHINGTON — Federally mandated improvements to locomotive cab security and comfort, along with enforceable remote control operation (RCO) regulations, are being sought by the UTU and the BLET in joint comments filed with the Federal Railroad Administration. Significant [...]
WILMINGTON, Del. — Amtrak CEO Joseph Boardman, FRA Administrator Joseph Szabo and former BNSF top attorney Jeff Moreland, now an Amtrak board member, were enroute here from Washington Saturday morning for dedication of the new station renamed for Vice President Joe Bide [...]
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