News Archive
10th annual SMART Day at the Races to be held in honor of Joe Nigro
Transportation Division Local 367 (Omaha, Neb.) has announced that the 10th annual SMART Day at the Races will be at 3 p.m. on Friday, April 26 at the Fonner Park Racetrack, 700 E. Stolley Park Road, Grand Island, NE 68801. This year the race will be in honor of the late Gene [...]
Coach USA and Coach Canada acquisition completed by equity firm
A private equity firm has completed its acquisition of Coach USA and its subsidiaries, it was announced on April 15. Both the bus carrier’s U.S. and Canadian operations was purchased for $271.4 million by Variant Equity from prior owner Stagecoach Group plc. Coach USA o [...]
Two-person crew bills advance in Illinois and Nevada
Two-person crew legislation endorsed by our union progressed ahead in two state legislatures late last week. In Illinois, S.B. 24 was passed by the state Senate by a party-line 36-19 vote on Thursday. The state House of Representatives’ Rules Committee has received the [...]
LCA Secretary Barela injured; GoFundMe account opened for donations
Just after midnight on April 11, BNSF Railway LCA Secretary and Local Trustee Carlos Barela sustained life-threatening injuries while switching in the Belen Yard in New Mexico. Local 1168 Local Chairperson Tanner Griffitt and other local chairpersons have organized a GoFundMe [...]
FRA chief of safety Bob Lauby retires
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) will have some major shoes to fill with the April 13, 2019, retirement of Robert “Bob” Lauby, the agency’s chief safety officer. Lauby had served in that capacity for FRA since September 2013. He was a frequent presenter at SMART Tran [...]
Nevada SLD Doering makes the case for two-person crews
Nevada State Legislative Director Jason Doering and his BLET counterpart Matthew Parker explain why two-person crews are necessary in an op-ed on the website of The Nevada Independent. In the article, Doering and Parker refute some of the carriers’ most common arguments [...]
DOT ordered to make rule allowing natural gas transport by rail
An executive order signed by President Donald Trump on Wednesday, April 10, tasks the Federal Department of Transportation with creating a new rule in a little more than three months’ time that permits super-cooled liquid natural gas (LNG) to be transported by rail. [...]