SEPTA rail members ratify agreement

SMART Transportation Division Local 61 members working at Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority recently ratified a new agreement governing the rates of pay and working conditions of conductors and assistant conductors on the regional commuter railroad. With near [...]

AFL-CIO convention addressed issues that affect us

By Bonnie Morr, Vice President, Bus –  The AFL-CIO held its convention from Sept. 8-11, 2013. The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers had a large delegation in attendance from both the Transportation Division and the Sheet Metal Divi [...]

Commonality of interests will lead to safer workplaces

By John Previsich, SMART Transportation Division President –  Employment for our members in the transportation industry is distinguished in many respects. Regardless of mode – air, bus or rail – it is primarily an industry that operates 24 hours per day, seven days per week, [...]

Crew members hurt jumping from UP train

The Union Pacific Railroad is investigating after two employees were injured while jumping from a moving locomotive. According to Mark Davis, UPRR director of corporate relations and media, the incident occurred at 2 p.m. Saturday near Kennard. The village is just west of Bla [...]

Local Chairperson Justin Van Houdt dies

SMART Transportation Division Local 313 Chairperson Justin Van Houdt, 34, died unexpectedly Oct. 21 at his home in Hudsonville, Mich., Michigan State Legislative Director Jerry Gibson reports. The cause of death is unknown and the family is awaiting a report from the county m [...]

Antennae on tribal lands further delays PTC

Two years probably wasn’t going to be enough time for railroads to install crash-avoidance technology on 23,000 locomotives and 60,000 miles of tracks, in the biggest rail-safety project in U.S. history. Then they encountered the Choctaw Nation, Muscogee and Navajo. In May, t [...]

SMART rejects arbitration offer on LIRR

The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers Oct. 21 rejected a proffer of arbitration from the National Mediation Board to SMART Transportation Division’s General Committee of Adjustment GO 505, which represents a variety of crafts on th [...]

Online open enrollment ends Nov. 2

Railroad employees covered under National Railway Carriers/UTU Health and Welfare Plan or the Railroad Employees’ National Health and Welfare Plan will begin receiving notification of the online open enrollment period that began Oct. 1, 2013, and ends Nov. 2, 2013. The inform [...]