Category: News
RRB advises rail workers impacted by Hurricane Harvey
The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is reminding rail employees out of work due to Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath that they may qualify for unemployment benefits. To determine eligibility or file claims for benefits, affected railroaders should call the RRB’s toll-fr [...]
Your Track to Health: August hot topics – anxiety and exercise
Your Track to Health has provided tips on handling social anxiety as well as the benefits of exercise. Click on the links below to read how you can overcome social anxiety and about the benefits of adding exercise to your daily routine. Tips for handling social anxiety: Every [...]Recovery tips for dealing with storms and flooding
Being prepared for emergencies is very important. Optum has provided pdfs on tips on being prepared and recovering from hurricanes, tropical storms and flooding. Preparing for and recovering from hurricanes and tropical storms Recovering from storms and flooding Visit liveand [...]NJT compliance officer says he was fired for bringing up safety concerns
BloombergPolitics reports that fired New Jersey Transit (NJT) Compliance Officer Todd Barretta is claiming that he was fired when he pointed out shortcomings in safety in NJT’s rail and bus operations. NJT disputes Barretta’s claim and states that he was a disgrun [...]
Class I’s continue to cut jobs despite profits
The Omaha-World Herald reports that Class I railroads continue to cut jobs, despite earning large profits. Altogether, the railroads have cut 25,000 jobs or 13 percent of their personnel in recent years. With companies cutting jobs left and right, and with freight volumes on [...]
Member seriously injured during eclipse
Brother Steven Barber of Local 1346 in Nashville, Tenn., lost his arm during last week’s solar eclipse while working as a foreman. Management was unavailable during the incident at Radnor yard because they were watching the eclipse, delaying emergency treatment to Barbe [...]
Ohio SLD Gardner continues the discussion on two-person crews with The Union Edge
SMART TD Ohio State Legislative Director Stu Gardner continued his discussion with The Union Edge: Labor’s Talk Radio on why we need two-person crews. The show aired Tuesday, Aug. 22. Click play below to listen. https://static.smart-union.org/worksite/Video/Aug_22_Stu_G [...]Risch Op-Ed: Bigger trucks destroy roads
SMART TD National Legislative Director John Risch recently wrote an opinion editorial, published by Inforum, about how larger trucks destroy roads and take away important railroad jobs. “Beyond destroying our roads, increasing the weight of trucks will shift freight tra [...]