WASHINGTON – When the lame-duck Congress returns to the House and Senate floors Monday, Nov. 29, they will have until midnight Tuesday to prevent a lapse in federal long-term unemployment benefits. If lawmakers in the House and Senate do not extend those federal unemployment [...]
An agreement was reached with the carriers’ National Railway Labor Conference to extend until Dec. 31, 2010, the deadline for enrolling eligible dependent children for coverage under the National Railway Carriers and UTU Health and Welfare Plan (NRC/UTU) or the Railroad [...]
WASHINGTON — The outgoing chairman of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee – Jim Oberstar (D-Minn.), who was defeated in the Nov. 2 elections – fears increased polarization along party lines when the new Congress is seated in January. In an interview [...]
Toys for the holidays are helping to bring furloughed train and engine crews back to work. The Journal of Commerce reports that the number of containers (atop rail flat cars) carrying imported toys have increased by 20 percent this year compared to 2009. The busiest ports for [...]
We need your attention. Because your family needs you for the holidays. Because your family needs you for the new year. Because your family wants you home tomorrow and the next day, and the day after that — alive and with all four of your limbs, your two hands and two f [...]
An educational website focusing on sleep, sleep disorders and fatigue management is being created in a collaborative effort among the UTU, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, the Federal Railroad Administration, sleep medicine experts at Harvard Medical Scho [...]
UTU member Larry Daniel Talley (Local 1933, Washington), a conductor on Virginia Railway Express, died Nov. 21 when he lost control of his motorcycle in Montgomery County, Md., reports The Washington Post. Talley, age 33, began his railroad career in September 2006.
If you are concerned by demands of environmentalists to reduce American coal transportation and American coal use, which will have a negative impact on rail jobs, wages and benefits, you may wish to let your congressional representatives know. As demands are being made to shu [...]
Every SMART Transportation Division freight and passenger rail member needs to know that federal law protects them from employer retaliation — and threats of retaliation — when they report to the carrier or a government agency alleged violations of safety or secur [...]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says that while the standard monthly Part B premium will rise to $115.40 in 2011, most Medicare beneficiaries will not see an increase in their monthly Part B premiums. This is because of a hold-harmless provision in current la [...]
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