Category: Washington
Input from hybrid rail workers/volunteer firefighters needed
At the scene of a derailment, there is no substitute for the knowledge and experience of conductors as well as firefighters. In our current national climate, government and media attention are on the topic of derailments and the emergency response to them. SMART Transportatio [...]
SMART-TD takes action to defend transit worker safety
June 26, 2023, was the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) deadline for the public to respond to their Notice of Public Rule Making (NPRM) on forming new Public Transportation Agency Safety Plans (PTASPs.) FTA requested public comments on how to keep bus operators safe on [...]
FRA deems NS’s new hire training program ‘unacceptable,’ mandates fix in 45 days
Norfolk Southern is and has been hiring new freight conductors at a noteworthy rate in 2023. As the labor organization that represents newly hired conductors, that is great news to the SMART Transportation Division. But like most pieces of good news that come from the railroa [...]
AFL-CIO TTD unions reaffirm rail labor’s support for STB chair
On June 13, Greg Regan, president of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD), of which the SMART Transportation Division is a member, sent a letter to President Joe Biden regarding recent attacks on Surface Transportation Board Chairman Martin Oberman. The text of [...]
Input needed for union’s FTA bus operator safety comment
On April 26, the Federal Transportation Agency (FTA) posted a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) regarding public transportation agency safety plans. The agency is seeking feedback and suggestions from bus employees and other interested parties on what changes federal over [...]
SMART-TD takes lead during ‘Railroad Safety Day’ on Capitol Hill
With daily headlines nationwide about railroad safety legislation, it has come to feel like every day is “Railroad Day on the Hill.” However, the event is formally held once a year on the legislative calendar for representatives from rail unions and rail carriers alike to des [...]
REEF Act to prevent rail jobless benefit cuts reintroduced
Under the Budget Control Act of 2011, and a subsequent sequestration order to implement mandated cuts, Railroad Retirement Board-administered unemployment and sickness insurance benefits were reduced by a set percentage that is subject to revision at the beginning of each fis [...]
Ohio SLD Whitaker, senators state case for Railway Safety Act before commerce committee
In the aftermath of February’s rail disaster in Ohio, the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee held a key hearing March 22 on “Improving Rail Safety in Response to the East Palestine Derailment” to get to the bottom of what went wrong in the accident and to discuss the bipart [...]