Transportation News

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Dr. King’s legacy lives with Barack Obama

By UTU International President Mike Futhey When my grandchildren ask about the most memorable day of my life — other than my marriage to my lovely wife April, the birth of my children and being elected your International president — I suspect my answer will be, &# [...]

Community Transit members ratify pact

By Vice Baffoni Vice President, Bus Dept. Congratulations to Community Transit General Chairperson Calvin Studivant in Newark, N.J., whose members in Local 759 ratified a new contract providing an across-the-board wage increase, an extra holiday with pay, an increase in vacat [...]

Futhey administration: Year 1 report

Almost a year has passed since Mike Futhey, Arty Martin and Kim Thompson took office. They ran on a platform of specific promises, including full disclosure. Following are Futhey administration promises and results, so far: Promise #1: Restructure the International by reducin [...]

UTU, BLET seek cell-phone ban fixes

The UTU and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen filed on Nov. 14 a joint petition for review by the Federal Railroad Administration of the FRA’s so-called emergency cell phone order, requesting that the FRA make additional exceptions to the order in the [...]

Moving forward with President-elect Obama

By International President Mike Futhey Barack Obama is the first presidential candidate to promise in writing that he stands behind the objectives of the United Transportation Union. We look forward to working closely with President Obama. He is a leader who has put the well- [...]

Obama: The choice for working families

By International President Mike Futhey Remember back in grade school, when we were given a page with four pictures on it — a dog, a cat, a horse and an apple — and told to identify which one of the four didn’t belong? Imagine, instead, a page with these four pictu [...]

Baffoni: Progress on members’ behalf

By Vic Baffoni Vice President, Bus Dept. Thank you to all who attended regional meeting workshops in Denver and Nashville, and those who made presentations. By the comments received, the workshops were a great success. Our bus workshops had the largest attendance in many year [...]

UTU finances solid & growing

Wall Street may be in a devastating financial free fall, but UTU finances are solid and growing. That’s the conclusion of the two UTU International officers responsible for UTU finances. “I asked for a thorough review of our finances after hearing that mischief ma [...]

Foremost rail safety expert to aid DLC

Attorney Larry Mann, named by his peers as the “nation’s foremost authority on railroad safety legislation and regulation,” has been appointed by UTU International President Mike Futhey as Rail Safety Coordinator to UTU Designated Legal Counsel (DLC). In thi [...]

FAQs on member medical coverage

The SMART-TD Membership Services Department has compiled a list of frequently asked questions from SMART-TD rail members regarding medical-benefits coverage and has supplied appropriate answers to these questions. These questions pertain to coverage when an employee is workin [...]