Category: News

IC yardmasters have tentative pact

August 19, 2012 UTU-represented yardmasters employed by Canadian National Railway’s Illinois Central Railroad have reached a new tentative agreement following mediation assistance from the National Mediation Board. A March tentative agreement was rejected by the membership, which will now vo [...]

Tags Canadian National, Doyle Turner, Illinois Central, Paul Tibbit, yardmasters

Railroad health plan enrollment changes

August 16, 2012 This year’s annual open enrollment for active railroad employees covered by the National Railroad Health & Welfare plans (NRC-UTU and GA 23000) may be completed online during September and October. You start the open enrollment process by going to the “Alerts and Importan [...]

Tags enrollment, online, open enrollment, Railroad Information Depot

High-tech chicken soup to ease fatigue

August 12, 2012 Sleep, fatigue, workplace safety and quality of life are stitched together tighter than the seams on a major league baseball – and unpredictable work schedules can undo those stitches faster than a Stephen Strasburg 100-mph heater. A new website, created by sleep scientists a [...]

Tags fatigue, Railroaders' Guide to Health Sleep, sleep, Sleep Apnea

NS: More than a hat trick or golden sombrero

August 10, 2012 In ice hockey, the scoring by one player of three goals is called a “hat trick.” In baseball, a player striking out four times in a single game is said to have earned a “golden sombrero.” Norfolk Southern’s feat is to have earned from OSHA a still unnamed fifth signific [...]

Tags BNSF, harassment, Harriman Safety Awards, intimidation, Norfolk Southern, OSHA

Staten Island Railway members have new contract

August 9, 2012 Strunk UTU members employed by New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) and working in numerous crafts on Staten Island Railway have a new agreement retroactive to January 2007, following an award by a state arbitrator. Negotiations had dragged for nearly six ye [...]

Tags Delbert Strunk, Local 1440, Staten Island Railway, Tommy Wilson

UTU offering treasurers’ workshop in October

August 8, 2012 The UTU International is conducting a Treasurers’ Workshop at its headquarters in North Olmsted, Ohio, Oct. 29-31, 2012. Attendance will be limited to 24 registrants. Those interested in attending the workshop should contact the office of the general secretary & treasurer [...]

Tags treasurers' workshops, workshops

Western Rail Road members ratify new pact

August 8, 2012 Turner Train, engine and mechanical forces represented by the UTU on shortline Western Rail Road in Texas have ratified a new agreement reached with mediation assistance from the National Mediation Board. Negotiations were led by UTU Vice President Paul Tibbit and UTU General [...]

Tags Doyle Turner, Paul Tibbit, Western Rail Road

Register for hazmat training programs

August 3, 2012 Rail worker training in hazardous materials and chemical emergency response will be offered in Portland, Ore., Sept. 24-28, and in Houston, Texas, Dec. 3-7. Sponsored by the National Labor College, the training focuses on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and [...]

Tags hazmat training, National Labor College

UTU member dead in Iowa switching accident

August 1, 2012 MASON CITY, Iowa – Trainman Georgiy Soloviyov, 35, became the fifth UTU member killed on duty in 2012 following a Union Pacific yard accident here early July 31. Mason City is some 130 miles north of Des Moines, near the Minnesota border. Soloviyov, of Stanhope, Iowa, and a m [...]

Tags Georgiy Soloviyov, killed, Mason City, Union Pacific

BNSF intimidation alleged to extend to witnesses

July 31, 2012 The UTU and the Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMWIA), along with two other rail labor organizations, have filed a complaint with the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), alleging BNSF has expanded its harassment and inti [...]

Tags BNSF, harassment, intimidation, OSHA, retaliation, SMART, SMWIA, whistleblower