Canadian Pacific Railway has furloughed approximately 30 workers in recent months from its operation in Thief River Falls, Minn., according to union officials.
The job cuts are among roughly 90 furloughs at CP sites across Minn. that the United Transportation Union has counted since October 2012, part of what the union says are aggressive job cuts that followed leadership changes in the company at that time.
“We’re not happy about it,” said Phillip J. Qualy, SMART-UTU Minnesota legislative director.
CHEYENNE, Wyo. – A new law upping the number of hours a person has to fly before they can be hired as an airline pilot is causing headaches for Great Lakes Airlines.
A spokeswoman for the Cheyenne-based regional airline said the new law, which went into effect Aug. 1, has made it harder for Great Lakes and other regional airlines to hire and retain pilots.
Fare increases. Route cuts. General frustration over life. In New York City, there is no shortage of reasons why bus drivers are targeted for assault – an average of 88 attacks every year in the nation’s largest bus system.
Jose Rondon’s 27-year career as a driver came to an abrupt end last summer at a stop in the Bronx, when a man punched him repeatedly without warning, breaking his nose and bloodying his face.
WASHINGTON – Anne S. Ferro, Administrator of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and Lisa Raitt, Minister of Transport, in July announced the launch of the North American Fatigue Management Program (NAFMP), a website that provides training and education on commercial bus and truck driver fatigue management.
“We can help save lives and prevent crashes on our roads by providing drivers and companies with educational tools, like those contained in the North American Fatigue Management Program website,” said Administrator Ferro. “This is another supportive resource truck and bus drivers can utilize in addition to complying with our hours-of-service rules.”
“The launch of the program is very good news,” said Minister Raitt. “The collaborative work that has been done with partners will assist motor carriers and drivers in managing fatigue, and promote safety by reducing fatigue-related crashes.”
The NAFMP is a voluntary, interactive web-based educational and training program developed to provide commercial truck and bus drivers and carriers with an awareness of the factors contributing to fatigue and its impact on performance and safety. It provides:
Information on how to develop a corporate culture that facilitates reduced driver fatigue;
Fatigue management education for drivers, drivers’ families, carrier executives and managers, shippers/receivers and dispatchers;
Information on sleep disorders, screening and treatment;
Driver and trip scheduling information; and,
Information on Fatigue Management Technologies.
The program was developed by multiple partners, including the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Transport Canada, Alberta Employment and Immigration, Alberta Transportation, Alberta Worker’s Compensation Board, Alberta Motor Transport Association, Commission de la santé et de la sécurité du travail du Québec, Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec, and the American Transportation Research Institute.
The NAFMP fatigue management tool does not replace or override the FMCSA or TC’s regulations on hours-of-service. FMCSA and TC-regulated commercial motor carriers and drivers continue to have a duty to know and comply with the respective FMCSA or TC hours-of-service regulations.
For more information on the North American Fatigue Management Program, please visit www.nafmp.org. Additional educational tools for commercial drivers are available on FMCSA’s website at www.fmcsa.dot.gov.
WASHINGTON – With Thomas Perez now confirmed as head of the Labor Department, the agency is expected to unleash a flurry of new regulations that have been bottled up for months – a prospect that has business leaders worried and labor advocates cheering.
Some long-awaited rules would help boost employment for veterans and the disabled, increase wages for home health care workers and set new limits for workplace exposure to dangerous silica dust.
Crude oil shipped by railroad from North Dakota is drawing fresh scrutiny from regulators concerned that the cargo is adding environmental and safety hazards, something that analysts say could raise costs.
The U.S. Federal Railroad Administration is investigating whether chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing are corroding rail tank cars and increasing risks. Separately, three pipeline companies including Enbridge Inc. warned regulators that North Dakota oil with too much hydrogen sulfide, which is toxic and flammable, was reaching terminals and putting workers at risk.
Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway Ltd., whose runaway oil train exploded and killed 47 people in a Quebec town last month, had its operating certificate suspended by Canada’s transportation regulator.
The Canadian Transportation Agency said the carrier lacked sufficient liability coverage in the wake of the disaster in Lac-Megantic, according to a statement today. The suspension of the so-called certificate of fitness will take effect Aug. 20.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — This week marked the first time in a decade in which all five National Labor Relations Board members were confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Aug. 21, 2003, was the last time the board was fully staffed, according to a NLRB news release. But perhaps the most recent case of the panel operating with members who hadn’t gotten Senate confirmation is the most politically charged.
Beginning September 3, 2013, a longtime friend of this Union, talk radio host and author Bill Press will be moving The Bill Press Show to Free Speech TV. The show joins a lineup of several leading progressive voices like Thom Hartmann, Democracy Now! with Amy Goodman, Openline News with Davey D and The David Pakman Show. Free Speech TV is available on DISH Network channel 9415 and DirecTV channel 348. It can also be streamed live from BillPressShow.com, FreeSpeech.org or Facebook.com/FreeSpeechTV. The Bill Press Show broadcasts live on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. EST. For more on The Bill Press Show, click here.
Krohn
The state of Washington has an opportunity to expand our ports and to secure the region’s position as a global trade leader for decades.
Private industry, using private capital, is ready right now to put people to work expanding our export facilities to allow us to export more bulk commodities — including ores and minerals like iron, coal and potash — as well as agricultural products including wheat, rye and other grains.
Unfortunately, there are plenty of folks who want to stop these projects, and in the end jobs won’t be created here and the exports will come from other countries.
In contrast, there is bipartisan support to keep Boeing manufacturing in the state. Gov. Jay Inslee is pitching in to help in that effort and has even asked for an expedited environmental review process.
The governor could have asked for a review of the environmental implications of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions where the components for these planes are built; many come from China where they use coal to power Boeing’s parts manufacturing.
Also to his credit, the governor chooses not to consider the GHG emissions from the utilization of planes manufactured at Boeing by the world’s airline industry, which is among the highest carbon-emitting activities in the world. We applaud him for these non-obstructionist decisions.
What we don’t applaud is the governor’s inconsistent approach to job creation. He takes a different approach when it comes to building trade and transportation jobs that would be created by the proposed new export facilities. There he wants a comprehensive review (read delay) of the effects the items being exported have on the world’s climate.
Inslee’s request caters to those who want to not just delay, but kill these projects and deny thousands of people construction employment as well as the many hundreds of permanent good middle-class working class jobs they will create.
It’s time for the governor and his “save the world” contingent to quit being obstructionists and allow these projects to proceed. We are not even asking for his help in creating all these jobs, even though most of the blue-collar folks who will be put to work voted for him.
All we are asking is that our governor allow the port expansions to proceed through the regular accepted environmental scoping and permitting processes.
The preceding letter was written by Herb Krohn, the SMART Transportation Division’s Washington state legislative director, and was published Aug. 8 by The News Tribune.
Fare increases. Route cuts. General frustration over life. In New York City, there is no shortage of reasons why bus drivers are targeted for assault – an average of 88 attacks every year in the nation’s largest bus system.
