Join Amtrak in celebration of 'Why Trains Matter'

WASHINGTON – Amtrak invites America to celebrate the many benefits trains bring to the nation at the seventh annual National Train Day on May 10, 2014. Trains are an integral part of daily American life and connect communities, provide jobs and economic development, support l [...]

LIRR president Helena Williams fired

The head of the MTA Wednesday abruptly fired Long Island Rail Road president Helena Williams and named her successor in the midst of intense labor negotiations. Williams, the first woman to run the nation’s busiest commuter railroad, said that after a board meeting, she [...]

Conductor’s CPR effort saves passenger in distress

Swift and crucial response offered by a SMART Transportation Division member to a woman in distress on a passenger platform in South Florida Feb. 15 likely resulted in life-saving action by the Tri-Rail conductor. Thomas E. Baker, a member of Local 30 at Jacksonville, Fla., a [...]

Our union will only be as strong as we make it

By Joe Nigro, SMART General President –  The SMART General Executive Council met in Maryland the week of March 31 to April 4 to identify opportunities and challenges in developing a five-year plan to move SMART forward. Representatives from the Sheet Metal and Transportation [...]

N.M. Rail Runner Employees Dart to SMART

Non-union employees at a commuter rail operation in the state of New Mexico expressed interest in union representation and now they have it. Engineers, conductors and ticket agents working for New Mexico Rail Runner Express voted April 28-29 for representation by the SMART Tr [...]

Happy May Day

Today is May Day, International Workers’ Day and the equivalent of Labor Day for the rest of the world.  You can read more about its origins here.

Stop the House from weakening labor agreements

Next week, the U.S. House of Representatives will consider H.R. 4486, the Military Construction-Veterans Affairs Appropriations Act. Amendments may be offered to this bill that seek to either weaken or repeal the Davis-Bacon Act, as well as to prohibit Project Labor Agreement [...]