Category: News
Judge frees coal company to eliminate benefits
In a May 29 decision long dreaded by union coal miners, a bankruptcy court in St. Louis agreed that Patriot Coal has the right to void its collective bargaining agreements and cancel its pension and retirement obligations to 20,000 workers and family members. The United Mine [...]Rails: Conservers of energy, friends of environment
You might remember the TV commercial: A single locomotive pulling doublestacked containers through a pastoral landscape, a logjam of trucks and autos on the adjacent roadway, everything moving uncharacteristically slow, but the message conveyed with undeniable clarity: Trains [...]Bipartisan effort to regulate dangerous chemicals
The following editorial by The Washington Post’s editorial board was published by the newspaper May 29, 2013. In today’s Washington, it’s strange enough to see a burst of bipartisanship. Odder still is that the unexpected cooperation might lead to the first major environmenta [...]Fire rages for hours after Baltimore train crash
A huge fire outside Baltimore, triggered by the collision of a freight train carrying chemicals and a trash truck, raged for 10 hours before being brought under control, officials said early Wednesday. A dark, thick plume of smoke could be seen for miles after two of 15 derai [...]Railroads crack down on personal electronics
A recent incident discussed by the Federal Railroad Administration reveals just how important it is for railroad workers to abide by all federal regulations, even those that might not seem especially critical or safety related. As the unfortunate episode reveals, failure to d [...]
Szabo: Build more integrated rail systems
The following message was sent to the UTU National Legislative Office from Federal Railroad Administrator Joe Szabo: Friends: We know well the population growth, mobility, and environmental challenges revealing a clear need to invest in passenger rail, and of passenger rail’s [...]Seven hurt when UP, BNSF trains collide
ROCKVIEW, Mo. – Seven people were injured early Saturday, May 25, when two freight trains collided, spurring the collapse of a highway overpass. Dispatcher Clay Slipis of the Scott County Sheriff’s Department said two vehicles were on the Highway M overpass about 2:30 a.m. wh [...]