Alternate National Safety & Legislative Director
Donald Roach, a member of Local 1760 (Detroit, Michigan), became the Alternate National Safety & Legislative Director on July 1, 2025.
Brother Roach began his railroad career in 1998 with Grand Trunk & Western as a brakeman and also worked briefly as a track laborer.
In May 1998, he joined CSX as a conductor and was promoted to locomotive engineer in 1999. Brother Roach became an RCO-certified operator in 2004. He was elected Legislative Representative and Safety Chairman for Detroit in 2010, the same year he was elected Local Chairman, a position he held until 2020.
Brother Roach quickly rose through the ranks of his local before being elected as Michigan’s Safety & Legislative Director in 2020. During his time in the position, his leadership played a critical role in several important initiatives, including the push for a two-person crew (2-PC) law in Michigan and preventing violent assaults on the state’s transit operators and freight rail members.
More recently, Brother Roach co-led a new curriculum beginning with the 2025 SMART-TD Regional Training Seminars (RTS) for Local Legislative Representatives (LRs) focused on how to properly onboard and mentor new employees, a crucial aspect of ensuring the future success and safety of the railroad workforce.
He works alongside National Safety & Legislative Director Jared Cassity in the Union’s National Legislative Office in Washington, DC