News Archive
New federal $ to fund Amtrak N.E. Corridor upgrades
WASHINGTON – Some $745 million of the $2 billion in federal stimulus money Florida Gov. Rick Scott rejected for a high-speed rail line linking Tampa and Orlando is now headed to Amtrak for improvements along the 456-mile-long Amtrak-owned Northeast Corridor connecting Washing [...]Register for treasurers’ workshop, Oct. 18-20
The UTU International will conduct a workshop for treasurers Oct. 18-20 at the UTU headquarters in North Olmsted, Ohio. Attendance is limited to 24 registrants and the deadline to register is Oct. 7. If you are interested in attending the workshop, telephone Executive Assista [...]Conductor, engineer killed in Mont. crew-van accident
FRAZER, Mont. — A BNSF conductor and UTU member, along with a BNSF engineer, were killed late Friday night, Aug. 19, when the crew van in which they were riding was involved in a two-vehicle collision on Highway 2 just east of here in eastern Montana. This was the eight [...]
National Rail Contract: Facts to consider
Here are facts to consider when voting on the National Rail Contract: * The UTU negotiated a 17 percent general wage increase – 18.24 percent compounded — or more than 3 percent annually. * Compare this more than 3 percent annual wage increase (with no work rules giveba [...]9 years in prison; but UTU victims left holding bag
LOS ANGELES — For 15 years, Thomas L. Mitchell worked a Ponzi scheme targeting and draining the retirement funds of retired LACMTA bus workers, many of whom were UTU members. The con artist will now spend his next nine years in federal prison – having pleaded guilty to [...]
OSHA putting teeth in rail whistle-blower law
For too many years, many railroads have tied managerial bonuses to low reportable injury rates among employees, creating a culture of fear through harassment and intimidation – a culture that discourages the reporting by workers of on-duty injuries and allows railroads to cla [...]BNSF UTU member killed in yard accident
KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A BNSF Railway yard worker, Thomas F. Bleyenberg, a member of UTU Local 5, Kansas City, Mo., was killed Mon., Aug. 15, when he became trapped between two rail cars at the carrier’s Argentine Yard here. Bleyenberg was working a two-person remote [...]