News Archive
Metra adopts Confidential Close Call Reporting system
Representatives of Metra management and transportation unions joined officials from the Federal Railroad Administration April 16 to announce the creation of a “Confidential Close Call Reporting System,” which is designed to proactively address safety issues and create a more [...]
Lipinski: Train crashes prompt railroad safety action
As the most senior member from Illinois on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and the representative of a district that is home to more miles of train tracks than any other – in addition to the fact that I live less than a mile from a line that carries abou [...]House bill would regulate crude oil by rail
A second group of federal lawmakers has introduced legislation to regulate the transport of crude oil by rail. U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) April 15 introduced the Crude-By-Rail Safety Act (H.R. 1804), which the congressman said would set new safety and security standar [...]
UP retaliates against another injured worker
An investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration has determined that management of the Union Pacific Railroad added insult to injury when it blamed a worker in Roseville who was hurt on-the-job and then retaliated against [...]
Sheet Metal Local 17 Signs Boston Service Contractor
For several years, the SMART subsidized organizer in Eastern Massachusetts has been in contact with Phil Frappier at Phil’s HVAC in Braintree, MA, about signing a contract with Sheet Metal Local 17 in Boston. After seeing the real world training and experience of SMART member [...]
FTA Lists Alcohol, Drug-Testing Rates for 2015
Acting Federal Transit Administrator Therese McMillan has determined that the random drug-testing rate will remain at 25 percent for 2015 and the random alcohol-testing rate for 2015 will remain at 10 percent for transit employees performing safety-sensitive functions, accord [...]
NLRB Considers New Rules to Limit Non-Member Grievance Representation
According to Politico, The National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) newest focus might be on limiting the right-to-work movement’s pitch of required representation of non-union workers. In a call for briefs yesterday, the agency said it may allow a union to collect [...]