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Rail safety legislation championed by the SMART Transportation Division’s Virginia State Legislative Board is on the cusp of landing on Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s desk.

The Virginia House on Wednesday followed the lead of the state’s Senate earlier passage of the two-person crew bill this week. Once it has gone through parliamentary procedures, it’ll be off to the governor’s desk.

“Members showed up, and the groundwork we did with legislators in both chambers worked wonders in making this crew-size bill a success in the Legislature,” Virginia State Legislative Director Ronnie Hobbs said. “We’re just one signature away from maintaining current safe operating procedures on our state’s rails.”

Amendments made through the legislative review process reduced the scope of the bill. It had been initiated with provisions regarding train length and other safety matters.

The bill was supported by state Delegate Shelly Simonds in the House and state Sen. Jennifer Carroll Foy in the Senate.

Joint safety initiative provides employees confidential forum to report safety issues  

ATLANTA and INDEPENDENCE, OH (January 29, 2024) —  Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC), the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers – Transportation Division (SMART-TD), and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), in partnership with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), announced Monday their joint participation in an FRA Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS) pilot program designed to enhance railroad safety. 

“NS is proud to partner with our labor leaders and FRA to make another industry-leading advancement in safety,” said Alan H. Shaw, Norfolk Southern President and CEO.  “We are committed to setting the gold standard for rail safety, and we are proud to be the first Class I railroad to deliver on our promise to co-develop and launch a C3RS program.” 

Under the one-year C3RS pilot, covered NS employees can report safety concerns with the certainty that such reports will not result in discipline. NASA will deidentify data and provide it for review by a joint committee of NS and labor representatives, who, with FRA’s guidance, will identify and implement corrective actions to improve safety. 

“This is huge step forward for the safety of our brothers and sisters at Norfolk Southern,” said SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson. “SMART-TD has been a long-time champion of C3RS, and this new program will allow our members to speak up when they see unsafe conditions without fear of negative repercussions. I would like to thank General Chairpersons James Ball, Joe Borders, Tommy Gholson, David Phillips, and Dan Weir for their unwavering commitment to bringing C3RS to their members.” 

“It should be the goal of everyone who works in the railroad industry to continually improve safety,” said BLET National President Eddie Hall. “Providing a confidential platform to report unsafe practices allows us to harness the power of every worker’s voice. NS and its CEO, Alan Shaw, should be applauded for taking this step. I hope that this will become a model for other Class I freight railroads.” Added Hall, “I also would like to commend the leadership shown by General Chairmen Scott Bunten, Dewayne Dehart, and Jerry Sturdivant who helped make this happen by negotiating on behalf of our NS members.” 

Participation in this C3RS pilot underscores NS, SMART-TD and BLET’s shared belief that collaboration and transparency are foundational pillars of an effective safety program. Key goals of the C3RS pilot program include: 

  • Collecting currently unreported unsafe practices, behaviors, or situations; 
  • Identifying and implementing corrective actions; and 
  • Sharing general trends and statistics to enhance railroad safety. 

Throughout the program, FRA will provide oversight, guidance, and support to the parties as they analyze safety data and work to effect positive change. 

“FRA’s C3RS program provides a useful industry-wide platform to gather valuable insights from frontline railroad workers when they experience close calls – helping to uncover risks and providing opportunities for railroads and their workers to take actions to prevent serious safety incidents,” said Amit Bose, FRA Administrator. “We appreciate BLET, NS, and SMART-TD’s collaboration on this important partnership, and FRA remains committed to further expanding participation in the C3RS program to advance safety.”

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About Norfolk Southern 

Since 1827, Norfolk Southern Corporation (NYSE: NSC) and its predecessor companies have safely moved the goods and materials that drive the U.S. economy. Today, it operates a customer-centric and operations-driven freight transportation network. Committed to furthering sustainability, Norfolk Southern helps its customers avoid approximately 15 million tons of yearly carbon emissions by shipping via rail. Its dedicated team members deliver more than 7 million carloads annually, from agriculture to consumer goods, and is the largest rail shipper of auto products and metals in North America. Norfolk Southern also has the most extensive intermodal network in the eastern U.S., serving a majority of the country’s population and manufacturing base, with connections to every major container port on the Atlantic coast as well as the Gulf of Mexico and Great Lakes. Learn more by visiting www.NorfolkSouthern.com. 

NS Media Inquiries: Media Relations; NS Investor Inquiries: Luke Nichols 

About the BLET 

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen represents nearly 57,000 professional locomotive engineers and trainmen throughout the United States employed in both freight and passenger rail.  Founded in 1863, BLET is the oldest union in the United States. The BLET also is the founding member of the Rail Conference, International Brotherhood of Teamsters. For more information visit the union’s website at www.BLET.org. 

BLET Media Inquiries: Jamie Horwitz 

About SMART-TD 

SMART Transportation Division is comprised of approximately 125,000 active and retired members who work in a variety of different crafts in the transportation industry. These crafts include employees on every Class I railroad, Amtrak, many shortline railroads, bus and mass transit employees and airport personnel. More information about the union is available at www.smart-union.org. 

SMART-TD Media Inquiries: Ben Nagy 

WASHINGTON – The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) today announced a final rule to improve employee safety on freight trains transporting hazardous materials. The rule requires railroads to provide emergency escape breathing apparatuses (EEBAs) for train crew members and other employees who could be exposed to an inhalation hazard in the event of a hazardous material, or hazmat, release. Railroads must also ensure that the equipment is maintained and in proper working condition and train their employees in its use. This rule was advanced after the Norfolk Southern derailment in East Palestine.
 
“As FRA continues to advance rail safety and address concerns related to the transportation of hazardous materials, this new rule will implement needed protections for the workers who transport these products around the country,” said FRA Administrator Amit Bose. “The safety needs and benefits of EEBAs have long been established by past tragedies and research, and this rule will provide rail employees with the knowledge and tools to minimize potential dangers.” 
 
Although casualties and fatalities caused by inhalation of hazmat are rare, train crew fatalities in 2004 and 2005 resulting from chlorine gas inhalation demonstrated that employee protections are necessary. The final rule fulfills the mandate in the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 that FRA issue regulations requiring railroads to provide EEBAs and training in their use. The rule also addresses similar recommendations made by the National Transportation Safety Board. 
 
As part of this final rule, FRA conducted a Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA), which presents estimates of the costs likely to occur over the first 10 years of industry’s compliance with the final rule. The RIA will help facilitate railroads’ implementation of the rule’s requirements for EEBAs. As part of the benefits of the new rule, the analysis finds that in addition to heightened safety and the prevention of injuries for covered employees, it will allow for earlier public notification in the event of hazmat releases.
 
The final rule on Emergency Escape Breathing Apparatus Standards is on public inspection in the Federal Register here and will be published tomorrow.

Given a second chance to act, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has chosen to side with safety.

In late 2022, a bill requiring two-person crews on freight trains in the state reached her desk and she vetoed it.

But something changed this year — perhaps it was seeing legislatures and governors in both Ohio and Minnesota to the west take the steps to pass legislation or the catastrophic derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, that happened in February.

On Dec. 8, Hochul signed S.5775 into law, capping a superlative effort from SMART-TD’s New York State Legislative Board led by State Legislative Director Sam Nasca.

A mere three years ago, a bill establishing a minimum freight crew size did not even make it out of a state Senate committee. Now, New York is the third state this year to pass and have the governor sign 2PC legislation, bringing the total number of states to have implemented legislation or regulations regarding a minimum two-person crew to a dozen.

“Another state has come to the conclusion that a two-person crew is appropriate and necessary for safe railroad operations,” National Legislative Director Greg Hynes said. “We thank all of the legislators, especially state Sen. Timothy Kennedy, who introduced the bill in his chamber, and Assemblyman Bill Magnarelli for their leadership.”

“Congratulations to all on the TD New York State Legislative Board for pulling together and achieving another victory.”

The bill was introduced in March and establishes an escalating structure of fines for violations by Class I and II rail carriers that run freight trains without two on the crew in the state. It takes effect in January 2024.

A national regulation on crew size remains pending before the Federal Railroad Administration.

The lifetime maximum benefit for the Railroad Employees National Early Retirement Major Medical Benefit (ERMA or GA-46000) Plan will increase from $188,000 to $195,100 beginning Jan. 1, 2024.

At the end of 2001, labor and management had agreed on various procedures to administer the annual changes in the amount of the lifetime maximum benefit under the ERMA Plan.

In conjunction with the formula established in 2001, a new lifetime maximum was calculated by utilizing the October 2022 consumer price index (CPI) data for Hospital and Related Services and Physician Services. The result is a lifetime maximum for 2024 of $195,100.

For individuals who have reached the lifetime maximum, the incremental maximum available is applied to eligible expenses submitted for dates of service on or after the effective date of the new maximum. For 2024, this amount will be $7,100.

This change will apply to all railroads and crafts participating in ERMA.

CALIFORNIA – Today, the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CAHSRA), which oversees the largest high-speed rail project under construction in North America, announced a ground-breaking agreement with 13 rail unions to utilize rail workers covered by federal railroad labor laws in critical jobs once trains begin to operate. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) ensures that highly skilled rail workers will perform all traditional railroad work such as operating trains, engineering work, maintenance of equipment, dispatching, on-board service and clerical work.

“We are proud that this agreement guarantees our right to organize workers, including reasonable access to the jobsite for union organizing, and establishes a pathway to voluntary employer recognition of the union. Further, the agreement ensures that workers will be covered by bedrock federal rail labor laws, including the Railway Labor Act, the Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act,” said the High-Speed Rail Labor Coalition, which consists of 13 rail unions representing more than 160,000 freight, regional, commuter, and passenger railroad workers. “California is the birthplace of high-speed rail in America. Despite the robust support of the citizens of California, CAHSRA has faced many obstacles since the project’s initial launch. We commend CAHSRA for overcoming these challenges and achieving substantial progress, including today’s momentous agreement, and we look forward to our continued partnership.”

This agreement follows an existing Project Labor Agreement between CAHSRA and building trades unions to utilize union workers on the construction side, furthering the project’s commitment to employing highly skilled union workers and maintaining fair labor standards. The project is already responsible for the creation of over 11,000 jobs, including high-skilled construction jobs and other industry-related work, and this agreement brings hundreds of additional good union jobs to the California Central Valley.

“The Authority is proud to continue its tradition of working with labor unions and we are pleased to have reached this important agreement that ensures we have the highest quality working conditions for our highly trained and qualified workers,” said Authority CEO Brian Kelly. “This is essential to ensuring that California’s high-speed rail system will be operated with the safest and highest quality of service for our passengers,” said Brian Kelly, CEO of the CAHSRA.

Phase 1 of the project will cover 500 miles and run service from San Francisco to the Los Angeles Basin in under three hours. Upon full completion, the project will stretch 800 miles, extending to Sacramento and San Diego. The zero-emission trains will be 100% powered by renewable energy, reaching speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour.

“As the nation’s largest transportation labor union federation, we are proud to support monumental projects like the California High-Speed Rail Project, which will deliver a modern, efficient, and green transit system while putting skilled union members to work,” said Greg Regan, president of the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO.

In the midst of the largest expansion of transportation and infrastructure in our country’s history, including a record level of federal investment in passenger rail transportation, today’s agreement establishes a precedent for future high-speed rail agreements between public entities and rail unions. As it works to deliver high-speed rail to the American public, CAHSRA simultaneously will set the standard for high-quality work and labor practices.

The High-Speed Rail Labor Coalition includes the following 13 rail labor unions: the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWED), Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS), International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Mechanical and Engineering Department (SMART-MD), National Conference of Firemen and Oilers 32BJ/SEIU (NCFO), Transportation Communications Union (TCU), International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), Brotherhood of Railway Carmen (BRC), International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB), Transport Workers Union of America (TWU), American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA), International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division (SMART-TD), Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW).

The railroad industry has a handful of trade magazines that do a very thorough job of covering what is going on in the world of government regulations as well as technology and industry trends. One thing that these magazines do with regularity is to put out lists they bill as “Railroader of the Year” or “Rising Stars” in railroading.

The only problem with this practice is that there is a disconnect between their concept of “railroaders” and the reality we all live in on the ballast. We all are both entertained and sickened when CEOs are handed the title of Railroader of the Year, and those 40 people under 40 featured in Rising Star lists often collectively have thrown zero switches and have set out the same number of bad-ordered cars.

As an example, in October, with a stock photo across the top, Railway Age magazine published its announcement of its “2023 Women in Rail Honorees.” Looking at this collection of carrier departmental vice presidents and other executives, it made us think that maybe the SMART Transportation Division should help these magazines out going forward. We know they like to put these lists together and regularly overlook the accomplishments of very worthy and more authentic candidates. So we are asking for your help.

SMART-TD Wyoming State Legislative Director April Ford

SMART is going to put together our own list of candidates for “Women in Rail” honorees, and we will be more than happy to send them in a press release in the future to the trade magazines so that they can see what kind of women leaders this industry has — the ones who make the railroads run and work outside of the board rooms and air-conditioned offices.

For example, in Wyoming, SMART-TD’s own State Legislative Director April Ford is our top official there. She addresses our members’ safety issues as well as being rail labor’s eyes, ears and spokesperson in Wyoming. Sister Ford did not only come from the craft, but she is also still in the craft. The job of Wyoming SLD is not full time. Ford can be found pulling a coal train out of Wyoming’s Powder River Basin or in Cheyenne at the Capitol giving testimony to the transportation committee on any given day.

A second example of exemplary women in railroading and in SMART-TD, is Jessica Martin. Conductor Martin has been a member for 10 years out of Local 594 in Mineola, Texas.

Engineer Lisa Watson-Knuckols, left, and Jessica Martin, both of Local 594 in Mineola, Texas, pose together for a photo.

She currently serves 594 as their legislative representative (LR) and has been in leadership positions in her local since 2016, in addition to working for Union Pacific. When Sister Martin isn’t switching boxcars and hauling freight, she is looking out for the best interest of members. As an active LR, her head is on a swivel, looking to improve safety conditions for her crew base as well as keeping her eye on local, state and federal policy makers.

In 2022, Martin’s first year as LR for 594, she went above and beyond the call of duty as a local officer. While the corporate executives of UP (where she works) were in Washington D.C. formally pitching their ground-based expeditor/conductor plan in the Federal Railroad Administration’s two-person crew hearings, Martin was hauling freight and providing for her son in Texas while the UP executives were trying to sell the livelihoods of her SMART-TD brothers and sisters down the river.

Though she didn’t have the luxury of being there to defend her people in person, Martin testified remotely at the FRA hearing and provided a compelling demonstration of the value of having two certified professional railroaders in the cab of a locomotive. Her testimony was well received and went a long way to emphasizing the important job each and every conductor in this country performs.

SMART TD GO-953 General Chairperson Luke Edington, Nebraska State Legislative Director Andy Foust and Local 200 Chairperson Manda Snide have their picture taken at the Midwest Nebraska Central Labor Council's Solidarity Day.
From left, SMART TD GO-953 General Chairperson Luke Edington, Nebraska State Legislative Director Andy Foust and Local 200 Chairperson Manda Snide have their picture taken at the Midwest Nebraska Central Labor Council’s Solidarity Day.

Yet another example that comes straight out of SMART-TD’s recent news articles is Amanda Snide out of Local 200 in North Platte, Nebraska. Manda also is a full-time conductor running the rails for Union Pacific. She is not only local chairperson and legislative rep for a very large and active local out of UP’s largest yard, but she is also the assistant state legislative director for the state of Nebraska. Just recently, her ingenuity is being credited with preserving the railroad careers of dozens of Mechanical employees recently cut by UP.

These women are shining examples of who should be recognized as true Women in Rail honorees.

We are asking all of you to let us know whom you would nominate for this list. Please email dbanks@smart-union.org with names of the women you would like to see nominated. We would like for you to include a short description of the SMART-TD sister you are nominating for this list. Let us know why she would be a good representative of SMART-TD and REAL railroaders in general.

SMART-TD is going to put together an in-house version of the trade publications’ list, publish it and then send it to all the trade magazines in a press release in time for next year’s nominations. It is very likely that our list of “Women Actually in Rail” honorees will only be published on our website and print publications, but we are tired of our members not getting the acknowledgement they deserve for the jobs they do.

The following letter was submitted by the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, of which the SMART Transportation Division and Mechanical Division are members, on behalf of SMART and a number of other labor unions to President Joe Biden earlier this week.

November 12, 2023

Dear President Biden:

On behalf of the undersigned national rail labor unions, we write to unanimously recommend and support Johnathan D. Bragg to be re-nominated to serve as the Labor Member on the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB). He has demonstrated excellent service on the Board for the last four years since his confirmation in early 2019, and we request that he be nominated for another term to serve on the Board.

John Bragg, labor’s member on the Railroad Retirement Board, addresses the Transportation Division session at the SMART Leadership Conference on July 31, 2023.

As you know, employees in the railroad industry are covered under a separate retirement system which is administered by the RRB. This unique system, funded solely by the industry and its employees, provides retirement, unemployment, disability and survivor benefits for millions of rail workers. These benefits and services are essential to the lives of all employees and their families. To help ensure that the system protects the interest of rail workers, Section 7(A) of the Railroad Retirement Act of 1974 dictates that the President must nominate one candidate to the Board based on the “recommendations made by representatives of the employees.” We strongly endorse Johnathan D. Bragg to continue serving as the Labor member for the RRB.

Mr. Bragg has shown great leadership on the Board and successfully represented and advocated for rail workers during one of the most trying times in the rail industry. Like many industries, the COVID-19 pandemic caused many hardships for rail workers, including layoffs, illness and even unfortunately death. Congress included provisions in the COVID-19 relief packages to provide temporary additional benefits, such as enhanced rail worker unemployment benefits, that were administered through the RRB; Mr. Bragg and his staff were instrumental in successfully rolling out and implementing those benefits in record time. During his tenure, Mr. Bragg has also advocated for and provided oversight of the long overdue modernization of the RRB’s IT systems that will bring RRB’s 1960’s IT systems into the 21st century and facilitate much-needed improvements, such as allowing workers to file benefit claims online.

In addition to his leadership and service on the Board, Mr. Bragg hails from a long line of railroaders in his family. He began his own rail career 23 years ago as a freight conductor, and later a signalman, and knows the rail worker’s perspective firsthand. As a dedicated rail worker and union member, he climbed the union leadership ranks as a Local Chairman, Grand Lodge Representative, and National Vice-President. He also represented the BRS as a permanent Board Member of the National Railroad Adjustment Board. Mr. Bragg’s long and accomplished career has allowed him to excel in his current role. If granted a second term as the RRB’s Labor Member, Mr. Bragg will continue bringing an invaluable level of experience, knowledge, and understanding of the needs of rail workers, retirees, and their families who rely on the system.

For these reasons, we strongly recommend you re-nominate Johnathan D. Bragg to serve as the Labor member of the RRB as you work to ensure the agency’s full board member capacity.

Sincerely,

American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA)
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET)-IBT
Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division (BMWED)-IBT
Brotherhood of Railway Carmen (BRC)
Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS)
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM)
International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers, and Helpers (IBB)
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers–Mechanical Division (SMART-MD)
International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers–Transportation Division (SMART-TD)
National Conference of Firemen & Oilers, SEIU (NCFO)
Transportation Communications International Union (TCU)
Transport Workers Union of America (TWU)

The SMART Transportation Division has been asking for help and advocacy from our members this week to reach out to Congress and let them know that it is not OK to gut the federal spending for Amtrak. Late Thursday, it appears that your voices have been heard loud and clear and have had an impact!

The House of Representatives prepared its budget bill for the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD), and it called for an apocalyptic cut to AMTRAK’s budget. The version of the budget that came out of committee and was slated for a floor vote Nov. 2 featured a 64% cut to Amtrak.

This proposed funding cut would have been devastating to thousands of SMART-TD members who work in passenger rail. Fallout from the job cuts that would inevitably come from this short-sighted effort to slash and burn Amtrak would have also impacted the solvency of the Railroad Retirement Board, which would be a significant problem for everyone in railroad industry on both the freight and passenger sides.

Through the hard work of rail labor and the advocacy of our members and passenger railroad advocates reaching out to their members of Congress, the vote on this budget bill has been halted this week. Several Republican reps have expressed that this “halting” of the vote is directly related to concerns raised about Amtrak cuts.

In short, YOUR VOICE IS BEING HEARD!

While this is very welcome news, the threat is not over. This THUD budget bill is scheduled to come back to the House floor next week. We need all our members to contact their congressional representatives and express in no uncertain terms that cuts to Amtrak funding and subsequently the Railroad Retirement Board is not a responsible way to patch the holes in this nation’s budget.

Please follow this link to SMART-TD’s Legislative Action Center to send a pre-written message today! Together we can protect our brothers and sisters and maintain the pension plan that we all worked for!

Since 1998, trains coming across the Mexican border to the United States in Laredo, Texas, have been run by non-FRA-certified foreign national crews from Mexico. These foreign crews have been taking trains into Port Laredo, where they receive an initial Class I inspection and brake test on U.S. soil.  

This practice was established back in 1998 when Union Pacific requested a variance from FRA. The variance was reconfirmed in 2003, 2008, 2013, 2018 and was reapplied for in 2022.  

Multiple times this variance has come up for renewal, and the question has been asked of FRA whether it would be permissible for crews over whom they have no oversight to take trains 10 miles deep into our country without an inspection and without a thorough brake test. For years, the agency’s leaders answered, “Yes — If the railroad asked for it, it must be OK.”  

In 2023, UP put in its standard request seeking a rubber stamp to continue the practice, using the same tired justifications the carrier has used for a quarter-century. All unions know crews are paid by the mile, and UP had somehow found a way to trade the border security of this country and the safety of our rails so the carrier wouldn’t have to pay U.S.-based crews for those 10 extra miles a day.  

But unlike the four prior requests, SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson, National Legislative Director Greg Hynes, Alternate National Legislative Director Jared Cassity and Kamron Saunders, Texas’s state legislative director, officially requested FRA put an end to this practice. Along with our allies in the AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department and other rail labor organizations, SMART-TD submitted strong public comments that pointed out many holes in the logic.  

This week, FRA released its ruling on UP’s variance request. The carrier will continue to be allowed to perform Class I brake tests 10 miles into the U.S. in its yard in Port Laredo, Texas.  

HOWEVER, in a clear victory for labor, a new rule was added.  

“13. All trains crossing the international bridge at Laredo and destined for UP’s Port Laredo Yard must be operated from the bridge to that Yard by a properly qualified and certified UP locomotive engineer and conductor.” 

Local Chairperson Eddy Castaneda of Local 1670 (Laredo, Texas) is also vice general chairperson of the San Antonio Hub and highly excited about the news out of the FRA this week.  

“It has been a long fight to get this work back, and this is a big win for us. It wouldn’t have been possible without everyone working together,” he said. “All the local chairs in the Laredo Hub, Scott Chelette, our general committee chair, and Kamron Saunders, our Texas state legislative director, as well as the International, have been relentless — working on congressmen and the FRA to get these jobs back in the hands of FRA-certified crews. 

“We are grateful for those of us here in Laredo, but we have a long fight still to go. There are many other border crossings and a lot more crew bases we need to fight for.” 

President Ferguson was in Texas at a Houston rail labor rally shortly after the FRA released its ruling. When he got word of this win for common sense and public safety, he had this to say: 

“The carriers involved gave our work to non-FRA-certified foreign national crews a long time ago to save a buck for their shareholders. Today, our members got back some work that is rightfully ours and this country is safer and better off for it. I’m proud of the work SMART-TD has done to make this happen. This ruling helps shore up a national security concern. This is a good day for our members and this country’s safety.” 

Alternate National Legislative Director Jared Cassity said FRA’s action is a step forward to normalizing cross-border regulation. 

“It is great that we got this work back for our crews and were able to add security to our borders, but the big-picture win is that FRA listened to SMART-TD,” Cassity said. “They listened to the views of Kamron Saunders and didn’t blindly swallow whatever the railroads tried to sell them. This FRA isn’t afraid to deny the railroad what they want if it isn’t the safest policy for our workers and the country itself.”  

For more information, read FRA’s ruling embedded below. 

2023.05.12-FRA-UP-Laredo-requestDownload