Category: Front Page
True grit: trailblazer Edwina Justus, UP’s first black woman train engineer
In a June 1, 2017 article written by Rosemary Eng for North Star News Today, Edwina Justus offers a personal account of what it was like for a black woman to begin work on the American railroad during the 1970’s, when the railroad industry, like most industries in Ameri [...]
AFL-CIO issues memo to unions on Trump budget; highlights damages to workers
In a memo dated May 31, AFL-CIO President Richard L. Trumka issued a statement to unions on President Trump’s proposed budget. “This budget is the most significant betrayal yet of the working people President Trump claims to support. It is a blueprint for how to r [...]The mile-long circus train rolled into town for the last time
The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus rolled across the U.S. for the last time, holding their final show on May 22, 2017, at Long Island’s Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. The iconic traveling circus that crisscrossed America on the Red and Blue trains for 14 [...]
Patrick W. Simmons passes away, former SLD, Ill.
The following statement was issued June 1 by current SMART TD Illinois State Legislative Director Robert W. Guy: It is with great sadness to announce the passing of former UTU Illinois State Director and longtime UTU member Patrick W. Simmons, who passed away this past Monday [...]
On Average, Non-Union Construction Workers In Southern States Receive Substandard Compensation
A new study has found that construction workers across the southern United States receive little to no employment benefits and have relatively low pay. The Workers Defense Project report found that 40% of construction workers in Houston had no health insurance, retirement sav [...]
Former UTU VP Bruce Wigent dies
Bruce Robert Wigent, 73, of Prescott, Wis., died Wednesday, May 25 at United Hospital. A member of Local 1709 in Pontiac, Mich., Wigent hired out as a switchman on the Grand Trunk Western Railroad in December 1964. He was first elected as a local officer in 1970 and then serv [...]
Thank a veteran: in honor and remembrance of all who served
SMART TD honors and remembers the men and women of our United States military, whose immeasurable sacrifice on behalf of our country will never be forgotten.