Category: Transportation
STB grants exemption for G&W acquisition
Disregarding comments by the SMART TD New York Legislative Board to the contrary, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) has granted an exemption to Brookfield Asset Management and DJP XX LLC that clears the way for their acquisition of short-line/regional railroad operator G [...]RRB announces cost-of-living increase for retirees in 2020
Most Railroad Retirement annuities, like Social Security benefits, will increase in January 2020 due to a rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the third quarter of 2018 to the corresponding period of the current year. Cost-of-living increases are calculated in both the [...]
RRB: Earnings limit for rail retirees is scheduled to increase in 2020
Railroad Retirement annuitants subject to earnings restrictions can earn more in 2020 without having their benefits reduced as a result of increases in earnings limits indexed to average national wage increases. Like Social Security benefits, some Railroad Retirement benefit [...]
New Jersey Transit expanding its de-escalation training for rail and bus workers
New Jersey Transit (NJT) is expanding its de-escalation training for front-line employees to include curriculum from Rutgers’ National Transit Institute (NTI), the carrier said in a press release on Monday. NTI presented a “Train the Trainers” program on conflict de-escalatio [...]Federal lawsuit may cost NS millions
A jury found Norfolk Southern liable last month for a 2010 breach in contract with Drummond Coal Co., meaning that the carrier could end up paying back the Alabama-based coal company millions in penalties. The contract between the coal supplier and NS required that Drummond&# [...]
SMART TD, TTD ask nation’s trade representative to protect U.S. rail jobs
A letter co-signed by SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy R. Ferguson and AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD) President Larry Willis asked the United States’ chief trade representative to re-examine policies that leave American rail workers at a di [...]When technology impedes your ability to do your job, we want to hear about it
For months now, your union has been collecting hundreds of reports from members of our and other rail unions that document instances when railroad technology doesn’t work as intended. While carriers might see technology as a stepping-stone to more money and the eventual repla [...]TTD, SMART TD file complaint over National Mediation Board rules change
The AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD), in conjunction with SMART Transportation Division and 13 other unions associated with the railroad and aviation industries, filed suit in federal court in the District of Columbia against the National Mediation Board (NMB) r [...]