Category: Leadership Messages
Transportation labor groups urge DOT and NHTSA to launch industry-wide investigation of driverless vehicles
The following letter was submitted by the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, on behalf of SMART, SMART Transportation Division and a number of other labor unions to the U.S. Department of Transportation and to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. [...]
SMART-TD BNSF members ratify tentative agreement addressing quality-of-life issues
Phone: (216) 228-9400 Fax: (216) 228-0411 Department Email: news_td@smart-union.org INDEPENDENCE, Ohio (Nov. 3, 2023) — SMART Transportation Division (SMART-TD) members working under the proposed agreement voted, with approximately two-thirds in favor, to ratify a tentative a [...]No increase to 2024 H&W contributions for rail members in national plans
SMART-TD announces that there will be no increase to the monthly health & welfare contributions for eligible railroad members for all of 2024. On November 1, 2023, SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson emailed notification to all affected members with email addresses on file [...]Strike vote authorized at SEPTA
“Our General Chairperson for the SEPTA property, Ray Boyer, served Section 6 Notices on SEPTA well over a year ago. SEPTA management knows full well that SMART-TD’s members are the backbone of the greater Philadelphia area. Our members operate heavy rail, buses, light rail, a [...]
In labor victory, FRA alters conditions of UP variance, now requires U.S. crews
Since 1998, trains coming across the Mexican border to the United States in Laredo, Texas, have been run by non-FRA-certified foreign national crews from Mexico. These foreign crews have been taking trains into Port Laredo, where they receive an initial Class I inspection and [...]
SMART-TD announces tentative agreement with BNSF that addresses quality of life issues and predictability for time off
“Our rail members from BNSF properties definitely had their voices heard in this process and they should be proud to see their fingerprints throughout this outstanding TA. They were very clear that they wanted a level of predictability for when their time off would be honored [...]
FRA awards SMART-TD over $600,000 to fill void in rail carriers’ training programs
It’s easy to levy criticism at the training programs run by the railroad carriers in 2023. But as we all know, criticism is meaningless without action. SMART Transportation Division is doing more than talking about the decline in the quality and quantity of training new hire [...]What TD members can do to support the UAW strike
Brothers and sisters — As the strike action of our brothers and sisters at the UAW moves forward, I wanted to reach out to all SMART-TD members and reiterate our support for the UAW and the goals they are working to achieve. On Thursday, I reached out to our rail members to l [...]