It happens every three hours in the United States: a person or vehicle is struck by a train. When this tragedy occurs, lives are changed forever: for the people involved in the crash, their family, friends and community, and the train crewmembers.
To raise awareness of the dangers of being on or around railroad tracks, the first U.S. Rail Safety Week is happening this year on September 24-30. This event is being spearheaded by Operation Lifesaver, Inc. in partnership with the U.S. Department of Transportation and other safety organizations.
Activities are being planned each day during the week to share lifesaving messages throughout our communities, including “Operation Clear Track” on Tuesday, September 26, a three-hour exercise to raise awareness and enforce the railroad grade crossing and trespassing laws.
Author: amyr
Union Pacific switchman, Jon Beckman, 48, was killed when he was struck by a train Friday, Sept. 22. He was working in Arlington, Texas when the accident occurred.
Beckman was a member of Local 243 in Ft. Worth, Texas, for 19 years. He served the local as president since 2007 and local chairperson since 2012, and was also the local’s delegate.
The SMART TD National Safety Team has been dispatched to the scene and is helping the NTSB with the investigation.
SMART TD extends its deepest condolences to the Beckman family and to all who knew him.
The Rail Workers Hazardous Materials Training Program is pleased to announce the following HazMat/Chemical Emergency Response Training Programs. This training addresses OSHA and DOT required training in addition to procedures, different levels of response and worker protection in a hazardous materials emergency or release, weapons of mass destruction awareness and the incident command system. The training also provides completion of the OSHA 10-Hour General Industry Outreach requirements. The programs are delivered using interactive classroom instruction, small group activities, hands-on drills and a simulated hazmat response in full safety gear.
The Rail Workers Hazardous Materials Training Program is funded to provide this training by a federal grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). This five-day hazmat training course will provide rail workers the essential knowledge, skills, and response actions in the case of an unintentional release. These tools will allow rail workers to protect themselves, their co-workers and their communities.
The funding provides the following student expenses: air travel, lodging and meals. In addition, an incentive of $175.00 per day is available to all training participants of these programs, except those who are able to secure regular pay through their employer, or are paid union officers.
The dates of the training class are as follows:
- November 12-17, 2017
- January 7-12, 2018
- February 11-16, 2018
- March 18-23, 2018
Training will be conducted at the Houston Fire Department’s Val Jahnke Training Facility, 8030 Braniff Street Houston, TX 77061.
Programs begin Sunday evenings* at 5:30 p.m. and conclude Fridays at 1:00 p.m. Students may be asked to travel on Saturdays to meet program start times or where substantial reductions in airfare warrant. When registering, please select dates in order of preference:
Click here for a printable information sheet.
Click here to register for classes.
For phone inquiries please call 202-624-6963, Monday through Friday, between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. EST.
Earlier this year, Union Pacific instituted a revised attendance policy for transportation employees. This new policy contained the following provision which allowed them to discipline employees who utilized their collectively bargained compensated leave days (personal leave, vacation, etc.):
Q: 7. Are personal leave or single vacation day(s) subject to review under the Attendance Policy?
A: Personal leave and/or single vacation days may be subject to review if the use of these days indicates a frequency or pattern of avoiding work and failing to protect one’s employment on a full time basis.
Such compensated time is part of the collective bargaining/agreement bedrock guaranteed to operating employees. Unilateral changes to how such compensated time is utilized is highly improper under the Railway Labor Act.
In response, SMART TD General Chairpersons Brent Leonard representing GO 953, Al Nowlin representing GO 569, Jerry Kalbfell representing GO 225, Roy Davis representing GO 577, Steve Simpson representing GO 927, and Gary Crest representing GO 887, worked together in solidarity, serving a single notice of SMART Transportation Division’s intent to initiate a strike unless Union Pacific removed this egregious new provision from its attendance policy.
Upon reviewing the Organization’s position, Union Pacific removed the policy provision restricting the use of compensated leave, and SMART Transportation Division members will not lose time over a work stoppage due to this issue. This is a precedent-setting victory in the protection of member’s use of their compensated vacation and leave days.
Members are reminded that regular elections of Local officers are being conducted in November 2017, but regular elections for Local Committee of Adjustment (LCA) officers are not held until 2018.
As per the Constitution’s Article 21B, Section 57, Local officers are elected every three years, and LCA officers are elected every four years.
According to Article 21B, Section 56, the “…elective officers of a Local shall consist of a President, Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer, and a Board of Trustees consisting of three (3) members. By action of a Local, the office of Secretary and Treasurer may be separated and elections held to fill each office….”
Locals will be taking nominations for Local officers this October, with the tabulation of ballots scheduled for November 2017. Vacancies in other positions, such as Legislative Representative, Alternate Legislative Representative, Local Chairperson, Vice Local Chairperson or LCA Secretary can also be addressed at this time.
The positions of Delegate and Alternate Delegate do not need to be addressed at this time, as there is no role for these positions between conventions. Delegates to the Transportation Division convention, and their Alternates, will be elected in the autumn of 2018. Those Locals entitled to additional Delegates for the General Convention will elect those Delegates in the spring of 2019.
A chart indicating when the various elections are scheduled can be downloaded from:
https://www.smart-union.org/td/secretary-and-treasurer-tools/secretary-treasurer-forms/
Chicago-area auto mechanics are back to work this morning after a seven-week strike. Members of Local 701 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) was on strike against 130 new car dealerships across the city. The mechanics of the local ratified a new four-year contract that addresses many of the union’s key issues.
Click here to read more from IAM.
General Chairperson Stephen Burkert reports that New Jersey Transit is actively looking to hire locomotive engineers. Members who have questions can contact Burkert at sburkert@utulocal60.com.
Click here for instructions on how to apply.
Click here for the job posting on Monster.com.
Updated: September 13, 2017
Dear Members of the SMART Transportation Division:
The catastrophic storm damage and flood waters caused by Hurricane Harvey and Irma have devastated Texas and Florida with loss of life and immeasurable destruction of property.
Some of those affected by the devastation are our Brothers and Sisters of SMART Transportation Division (SMART TD) who live in and near the areas affected. The silver lining is, the generosity of citizens around the country who are giving what they can to help those affected to reclaim their lives.
We are asking the SMART TD family to rise to the call and give what you can, so that the daunting task of starting over and rebuilding can begin. Your generous donation will help lessen the struggle and bring real hope and relief to our SMART TD members who are suffering from this great loss. SMART TD will administer donations sent to the UTU Disaster Relief Fund.
Contributions may be sent and made payable to:
UTU Disaster Relief Fund
24950 Country Club Blvd.
Suite 340
North Olmsted, OH 44070-5333
Questions:
Please call the Transportation Division office at 216-228-9400 referencing Disaster Relief.
Sincerely,
John Previsich
President, SMART Transportation Division
The SMART Transportation Division is comprised of approximately 125,000 active and retired members of the former United Transportation Union, who work in a variety of crafts in the transportation industry.
Click here for a pdf of this letter.
NJ.com reports that despite legislation requiring strengthened security procedures for railroads having passed a decade ago, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has yet to put any new security measures in place.
Both the House Homeland Security Committee and the Department of Homeland Security have found that railroads in the U.S. are especially vulnerable to attack. What’s more, al Qaida recently published information on how to attack trains in the U.S. and Europe.
Click here to read more from NJ.com.
Your Track to Health today released important health and wellness information for members who have been impacted by Hurricane Irma.
Click here to view this important information.
Click here for a pdf document of the available resources.