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UTU-SMART: ‘No knives on aircraft’

Airline passengers will soon be able to carry small knives, souvenir baseball bats, golf clubs and other sports equipment onto aircraft, and transportation workers represented by UTU-SMART and others are not happy about it. The new Transportation Security Administration (TSA) [...]

Amtrak celebrating National Train Day May 11

WASHINGTON – On Saturday, May 11, 2013, Amtrak will join communities across America to celebrate the importance of trains to their town at the sixth annual National Train Day. More than 200 communities are expected to host events at local train stations, railroad museums and [...]

NS, CSX optimistic about 2013

A few weeks shy of their respective first quarter earnings announcements East Coast-based Class I railroads Norfolk Southern and CSX are feeling pretty good about their businesses. Norfolk Southern CEO Wick Moorman stated in the company’s 2012 annual report that the future is [...]

Tentative agreement reached on Kyle Railroad

The negotiating team representing SMART Transportation Division members on the Kyle Railroad has reached agreement with the carrier on a proposed contract for all crafts under its jurisdiction. The Transportation Division represents engineers, conductors, brakemen, maintenanc [...]

Former Maine, N.H. State Director Phillips dies

Former Maine-New Hampshire State Legislative Director Ernest “Ernie” A. Phillips, 77, died March 27. Phillips was born Jan. 4, 1936, in Milford, Maine. In February 1956, he went to work for Bangor and Aroostook Railroad as a trainman. In July 1962, he was employed by Maine Ce [...]

Amtrak haters: Bullies with no public purpose

The following article was written by Railway Age columnist and former UTU Director of Public Relations Frank N. Wilner. Conservative columnist and American Enterprise scholar Michael Barone, with degrees from Harvard and Yale, is a smart fellow. But a recent column about Amtr [...]

NARP rebuts CNN high speed rail report

The following rebuttal from the National Association of Railroad Passengers is in response to a CNN report by Anderson Cooper critical of Amtrak and high speed rail funding: “So is Anderson Cooper still a real journalist? He headlines a daily talk show, and was swimming with [...]

Appalachian and Ohio contract vote unanimous

SMART Transportation Division-represented train and engine workers employed by Appalachian and Ohio Railroad have ratified a new five-year agreement by a unanimous vote. SMART Transportation Division International Vice President Dave Wier said the agreement provides for subst [...]

Amtrak seeks $2.1B for improvements

Amtrak, the U.S. intercity passenger railroad supported by taxpayers, asked Congress to more than double its capital budget so it can buy more trains and improve infrastructure. Amtrak, in a letter today to Vice President Joe Biden and House Speaker John Boehner, asked for $2 [...]