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Nigro
Nigro

By SMART General President Joe Nigro – 

It was really great meeting so many of your leadership team at the recent regional meetings in Boston and Anaheim. They are an active and involved group with a commitment to the labor movement. It confirmed my belief in the potential value we have in joining forces on several fronts to build membership and greater influence at all political levels. I used the opportunity to talk candidly about the importance of finalizing the merger when the result of the current arbitration is received. As soon as we have that opinion, an interim SMART Constitution, comporting the Transportation Division Constitution (Article 21B) with the SMART Constitution in accordance with the Merger Agreement, will be effective until the adoption of a new SMART Constitution at the SMART General Convention, beginning Aug. 11, 2014.

Essentially, there are two stages in the process for developing a new constitution that will guide SMART’s operations for five years. Amendments proposed through the provisions of the Transportation Constitution (Article 21B) will be submitted for vote by the delegates at the Transportation Division Convention to be held June 30 – July 2, 2014. The approved amendments at that convention shall be submitted to the SMART Constitution Committee as recommendations. The SMART Constitution Committee, composed of delegates from both the sheet metal and the transportation operations of SMART, shall consider and submit all amendment recommendations for concurrence or non-concurrence by all delegates to the SMART General Convention.

Every member of SMART must be involved in the process. The SMART Constitution governs the union, its officials at all levels and, most importantly, the members. It’s really a contract between you and your union. To help keep you better informed and to make transparent the provisions of your membership, we’ve posted the current SMWIA Constitution, the Merger Agreement and the November 2011 Arbitrator’s Opinion and Award on the smart-union.org homepage. The interim SMART Constitution should be available in October to be posted on the smart-union.org website and the www.utu.org website. In addition, each SMART local will receive printed copies for members without access to the Internet to read at the local’s office. Most community libraries also provide access to the Internet.

I encourage you to submit any proposed amendments to your local union for consideration in preparing its amendments to be submitted to the respective Constitution Committees in accordance with the provisions in Article 13, lines 1-18, in the UTU Constitution and Article 33 in the SMWIA Constitution. If you have any questions, please send them to info@smart-union.org or to SMART Constitution, 1750 New York Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20006, for referral to the appropriate office.

As this publication is being finalized, thousands are marching and gathering at the Lincoln Memorial, just a few blocks from our offices, to commemorate the peaceful march in 1963 and Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Jobs and justice still require national attention and we must be involved in assuring those for ourselves and future generations.

Let me close by thanking Al Nowlin’s wife, Phyllis, for asking me at the Anaheim regional meeting to present a clock to her husband on the 35th anniversary of his becoming a union officer (local chairperson, Local 349 at Kansas City, Mo., and now general chairperson, GO 569). I really appreciate everything our wives do for us and our families because of the hours we are away from home.

Fraternally,

Joe Nigro, SMART General President

BISMARCK — As oil industry representatives met here Tuesday to discuss the ever changing industry, one thing was clear, there will be new regulations over shipping crude oil by train.

After the July derailment in Canada of a train carrying crude oil from North Dakota, the crude-by-rail safety inspections by the Obama administration, dubbed the “Bakken blitz,” has many in the industry anxious about new federal regulations.

Read the complete story at The Grand Forks Herald.

 

HAMMOND, Ind. – A Lake County Superior Court judge has ruled Indiana’s right-to-work law unconstitutional, but the decision doesn’t mark the end of a legal battle over the measure.
Judge John Sedia ruled the law unconstitutional last week because the state constitution calls for just compensation for services, according to an order. The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed in February 2013 on behalf of members of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150 AFL-CIO, who argued the law violated the constitution.
Read the complete story at The Times of Northwest Indiana.
 

A federal investigation found a freight train crew member was distracted by text messaging soon before crashing into a stopped train in northwestern Indiana, causing the derailment of more than two dozen locomotives and rail cars.

The January 2012 derailment in a rural area a few miles from Valparaiso prompted the evacuation of more than 50 nearby homes as spilled diesel fuel burned and sent smoke billowing from the wreckage.

Read the complete story at the Sumter Item.

 

The first phase of CSX Transportation’s National Gateway project, which will allow trains carrying maximum-sized freight containers stacked two-high to travel between Ohio and East Coast ports, has been completed on time and within budget, the railroad said.

The project involves enlarging tunnels and improving clearance heights beneath bridges to allow trains taller than previously allowed to pass through.

Read the complete story at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

 

WASHINGTON – The Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) Sept. 6 endorsed certain changes by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to Buy America policy that will lead to job creation and stronger transportation and manufacturing sectors.

“TTD and our affiliated unions have long advocated for strong transportation Buy America policies,” said TTD President Edward Wytkind. “We should be using the taxpayers’ investments in transportation to maximize U.S. job creation.”

TTD submitted comments today to the FHWA supporting its review of three Buy America general waivers that exempt certain products from the requirement that FHWA-funded projects use American-made iron, steel and other manufactured products. TTD also supports the agency’s determination to apply Buy America standards to fuel efficient and low emission vehicles and related equipment purchased with FHWA Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) Program funds.

“FHWA’s decision to apply Buy America standards to CMAQ-funded purchases of vehicles is an investment in American manufacturers, including the thousands of workers who melt and pour steel and produce parts and components for vehicle production,” said Wytkind. “We applaud the continuing efforts of this Administration to beef up transportation Buy America rules.”

TTD suggested the FHWA require that no less than 60 percent of each vehicle be U.S. made, increasing that percentage over time until it reaches 100 percent. This should be coupled with the requirement that the vehicles be assembled in the U.S.

“The bottom line is that the FHWA has the authority to set standards that ensure federal transportation spending supports American jobs. We should expect no less from our government as it invests public funds,” said Wytkind.

PORTLAND, Maine – A bankrupt railroad whose runaway train sparked a fire and explosion that killed 47 people in Quebec is seeking financing to use two-person train crews in the U.S., a company trustee said.

The move to beef up the crews comes after criticism of Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway’s decision to keep one-person crews in the U.S., said Portland lawyer Robert J. Keach.

Read the complete story at the Boston Globe.

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Marshawn Robinson is waiting for a pair of prosthetic feet after his were severed by a freight train in St. Paul just a few weeks ago, but his recovery was interrupted with what his family describes as a “strange visitor.”

The 9-year-old spent nine days in the hospital after the accident, and while he and his mother tried to figure out how they were going to cope, they met a representative from the railroad.

Read the complete story at MyFoxTwinCities.com.

Retired conductor John Herrmann of Local 694 invites all active and retired railroaders in the San Francisco Bay area to the sixth annual lunch and reunion from 1-5 p.m. on Oct. 26 at Spenger’s Fresh Fish Grotto, 1919 Fourth St. in Berkeley, Calif.
The cost of lunch, dessert, beverage, tax and tip is $35 in advance, or $40 at the door.
Entrée choices are chicken marsala, grilled sirloin of beef or salmon and include a vegetable and potato side dish. To make a reservation, call Herrmann at (925) 465-4122.
The meal will be served at approximately 2:00 p.m. Railroaders, family and friends from SP, UP, WP, AT&SF and Amtrak, as well as other lines, from all crafts, are invited to participate in special event. Those paying in advance should send their check or money order to Herrmann at P.O. Box 4763, Walnut Creek, CA 94596, and indicate the entrée choice.

The number of freight trains carrying oil across America has soared in the past five years, but federal officials warn that the massive steel tank cars that carry most of that oil through towns and past schools – the same cars that exploded in Quebec this summer, killing 47 – may be unsafe and prone to rupture.

“The clock is ticking,” said Jim Arie, fire chief of the Chicago suburb of Barrington, Ill., where the number of trains that rumble across Main Street has grown from five a day to nearly one an hour. “As long as these rail cars are out there and they’re being used, potential exists for a major disaster.”

Read the complete story at NBC News.