News - Page 518 of 581

House bill would slash Amtrak, transit funding

July 8, 2011 WASHINGTON – The Republican leadership of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee will introduce legislation July 8 to slash Amtrak’s federal subsidy by 25 percent, prevent federal funds from being used to create additional rail passenger services unless they [...]

Tags AFL-CIO, Amtrak, bus safety, Chamber of Commerce, high-speed rail, Mica, Shuster, transit

Rail CEO sentenced on campaign contribution charges

July 8, 2011 MILWAUKEE – The president of regional railroad Wisconsin & Southern, William Gardner, was sentenced to 24 months’ probation by a state court here after pleading guilty to improperly donating some $53,000 to the election campaign of Wisconsin’s Republican Gov. Scott Walker [...]

Tags William Gardner, Wisconsin & Southern

Arty Martin; Martin, Arty; Assistant President

‘At the polls, the job you save may be your own’

July 6, 2011 Arty Martin NEW YORK — If we don’t vote our paychecks and help to elect labor-friendly candidates, then lawmakers seeking to reduce union-member wages and benefits and weaken workplace safety laws and regulations will be the ones controlling state and federal legislativ [...]

Tags Arty Martin, collective bargaining defense fund, UTU PAC

Wife of former International VP Hicks dies

July 6, 2011 NORTONVILLE, KY. — Ruth Virginia Byrum Hicks, 85, wife of former four-term UTU International Vice President James M. “Jim” Hicks, died July 2 at their home here. They were married 68 years. Jim Hicks was local chairperson of Local 904, Evansville, Ind., for [...]

Tags James Hicks, Local 904, Ruth Hicks

STB chairman: T&E workers ‘unsung heroes’

July 5, 2011 Elliott NEW YORK – Former UTU Associate General Counsel Dan Elliott, now chairman of the U.S. Surface Transportation Board — the federal agency regulating rail mergers, line sales, abandonments and labor protection — returned to his roots July 4, speaking to more [...]

Tags Dan Elliott, revenue adequacy, Staggers Rail Act, STB, Surface Transportation Board

Are labor unions irrelevant and ineffective?

July 1, 2011 It is said by some opinion leaders and decision makers that labor unions are on the decline — that labor unions have become irrelevant in our society and ineffective in influencing public policy. Recent events in Ohio and Wisconsin properly send such notions to the rubb [...]

Tags anti-labor, collective bargaining defense fund, Deneen, Newsome, Ohio, union busting, Wisconsin

Update on UTU-SMWIA arbitration

June 30, 2011 A decision by an arbitrator to determine whether the merger agreement between the UTU and the Sheet Metal Workers International Association is an enforceable agreement is not expected before September. The UTU and the SMWIA made presentations before arbitrator Michael H. Gott [...]

Tags Gottesman, merger, Sheet Metal Workers, SMART, SMWIA

2 Amtrak conductors: A story of selfless bravery

June 29, 2011 This is a story about heroes. It is a story about two UTU conductor heroes in Fallon, Nev., June 24. In utter disregard of their own safety, these UTU conductor heroes braved intense flames and choking smoke, repeatedly returning inside two burning Amtrak passenger cars to sa [...]

Tags Amtrak, Boardman; d'Alessandro, bravery, conductors, Fallon, heroes, Laurette Lee, Reno, Sanders

Trucker in Amtrak crash: 9 traffic tickets since 2007

June 28, 2011 FALLON, Nev. – The truck driver who died when his tractor-trailer slammed into Amtrak’s westbound California Zephyr here June 24, had accumulated nine traffic tickets since 2007 – five for speeding in a commercial vehicle, twice for speeding in his personal automobile, once f [...]

Tags Amtrak, Fallon, Laurette Lee, National Transportation Safety Board, NTSB, richard d'alessandro, Valli, Weener

NTSB: Latest safety recommendations

June 28, 2011 WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board has updated its “Most Wanted” transportation safety improvements. Included are recommendations for improved bus, rail and aviation safety. Following are the NTSB’s comments of interest to UTU members: Fatigue Airplanes, bu [...]

Tags fatigue, NTSB, safety