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Middle class shrinks further as more fall out

The middle class that President Obama identified in his State of the Union speech last week as the foundation of the American economy has been shrinking for almost half a century. In the late 1960s, more than half of the households in the United States were squarely in the mi [...]

Koch brothers budget $889M for 2016 elections

The political network overseen by the conservative billionaires Charles G. and David H. Koch plans to spend close to $900 million on the 2016 campaign, an unparalleled effort by coordinated outside groups to shape a presidential election that is already on track to be the mos [...]

Secretary of Labor’s Statement on Union Membership

WASHINGTON – U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez issued the following statement on the department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics report released today on union membership in 2014: “Today’s report confirms what we’ve always known: that belonging to a union makes a powerful d [...]

Oil train spills hit record level in 2014

American oil trains spilled crude oil more often in 2014 than in any year since the federal government began collecting data on such incidents in 1975, an NBC News analysis shows. The record number of spills sparked a fireball in Virginia, polluted groundwater in Colorado, an [...]

Port labor dispute is big concern for UP, BNSF

With rail network congestion improving in some of the nation’s grain belt, Union Pacific Railroad and BNSF Railway are facing another prospective headache: a shutdown of the port complex of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the country’s largest. Omaha-based Union Pacific Railroad [...]

GC Beebe reaches 60-year membership milestone

To be described as a “classic” means that one is considered to be of the highest quality with lasting value; an authoritative standard; fashionable, with simplicity and restraint in style; one of a kind. Like the classic ‘57 Chevy or the fashionable Elvis Presley, SMART Gener [...]

Winter is here, so let’s be safe out there

By Alvy Hughes, Alternate Vice President –  Although winter hasn’t arrived yet, many states have already seen winter conditions and record snowfall. It’s that time of the year that U.S. roads and highways can be hazardous for transportation. According to the Federal Highway A [...]

We are thankful, but we must build for the future

By Joe Nigro, SMART General President –  By In the spirit of the holiday season, I want to focus on what we have to be thankful for as we leave 2014 behind. For one, our First SMART General Convention will go down as the seminal moment when our two former organizations merged [...]