170 Furloughed NS employees called back to work

ROANOKE, Va. – According to Robin Chapman, a spokesperson for Norfolk Southern (NS), 170 furloughed NS employees are headed back to work. Of those hired back, 60 were hired back permanently to train services and 70 were transferred to temporary positions that are guaranteed u [...]

Two-man crews limited damage in 1996 train wreck

MONTREAL — Nearly two decades ago, the fiery derailment of a Wisconsin train became a rallying point in a union fight to make the state the first in the United States to require two-person crews on locomotives. The 1996 wreckage of the train, which sent fireballs exploding 90 [...]

Member pinned, loses legs in accident

In an early morning accident Tuesday, July 9, Local 794 member Kevin Beggs was trapped under a BNSF boxcar, causing him to lose his legs. Currently, Beggs is listed in critical condition at Via Christi on St. Francis Hospital in Wichita, Kan., where he was flown via helicopte [...]

Win trip to Washington through UTU PAC contest

The SMART Transportation Division’s Legislative Office in Washington has announced a contest for SMART TD members, with a three-day, two-night, all-expenses-paid trip to our nation’s capital as the grand prize. The SMART TD member who raises and returns the largest amount of [...]

Amtrak foe Mica meets his match

I just sat through a pretty boring hearing on rail financing. But I’m glad I stuck it out, because the fireworks came at the end, when Rep. John Mica picked a fight with the wrong man. John Robert Smith is familiar face in transportation reform circles. The former Republican [...]

FMCSA posts transportation training grants for vets

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) July 3 announced almost $1 million in new grants to help train veterans and military families for jobs in the transportation industry. The grants were awarded to six [...]

Quebec oil train derailment sparks criminal probe

LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec – Quebec police are pursuing a painstaking, wide-ranging criminal investigation of the inferno ignited by the derailment of a runaway oil train that killed at least 15 people and left dozens missing in the burned-out ruins of a downtown district. Quebec p [...]