News Archive
RRB releases spring meeting, seminar schedule
The United State Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) has issued its spring schedule of informational conferences and pre-retirement seminars for union officers and for rail workers respectively. Registration for both of these types of programs is required and available at the RRB [...]
Medicare introduces new claim review process
Medicare is always working to fight fraud and abuse. With that, a new type of claim review has recently begun: a process called Targeted Probe and Educate, or ‘TPE’ for short. How TPE works: Palmetto GBA/Railroad Medicare will conduct data analysis and find providers whose bi [...]
2018 Partners In Progress Conference Starts Tomorrow
SMART General President Joseph Sellers, Jr. will be joined by SMACNA President Jack Knox as they kick off the 2018 Partners In Progress Conference. This is an exceptional opportunity for labor and management in the sheet metal industry to build on their relationship, share in [...]Bipartisan Budget Act provides transport, rail benefits
The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 passed early this morning by both houses of Congress and signed by President Donald Trump provides some benefits to transportation workers and the industry. “Discretionary spending for domestic infrastructure will see a $20 billion incr [...]
Funeral services announced for Michael Cella
Services have been announced for Brother Michael Cella, the SMART Transportation Division conductor, who was killed in the Amtrak Train 91 collision Feb. 4 in Cayce, S.C. A gathering of Cella’s friends and family will be 10 a.m. to noon immediately followed by a celebra [...]
Local 1626 members receive Gold Spike Award from Alaska RR
SMART Transportation Division members out of Local 1626 were among the recipients of the Gold Spike award from Alaska Railroad in late January. Members Benjamin Bowen, Ryan Diehl, Caitlin Elison, Joshua Robinson, Bryan Sooter and Steven Tennison were among those who received [...]
Member needs our help with son’s medical bills
SMART Transportation Division Local 278 member Kyle Jones and his wife Samantha received devastating news Jan. 14, when their seven-year-old son Ayden was diagnosed with Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia (APML). This is an extremely rare cancer for someone as young as Ayden [...]
NTSB finds nearly identical cause of two commuter rail accidents
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that two commuter railroad terminal accidents in the New York area were caused by engineer fatigue resulting from undiagnosed severe obstructive sleep apnea. The Sept. 29, 2016, accident on the New Jersey Transit rail [...]