News Archive
What are these conservative lawmakers thinking?
By Calvin StudivantAlternate Vice President, Bus Department When reading about the conservatives’ attack on mass transit in the House of Representatives, all I can ask is, “What are they thinking?” With gas prices rising to record levels, even low-wage workers who own an auto [...]
Vote as if your job, family depend on it
By UTU International President Mike Futhey – It has been said that the comfort of the rich depends upon an abundant supply of the poor. Working families today feel the pain of that comment. Most are struggling to keep their heads above water as the gap between the middle-cla [...]Feds to probe bus safety defect
WASHINGTON – Buses manufactured over the past two decades by Motor Coach Industries (MCI) are the object of a federal investigation by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration into whether drives shafts can dislodge during operation and cause bus operators to lose c [...]Radioactive material safety course offered
A training course in safe handling of radioactive material transported by rail is offered April 26-28 at the National Labor College in Silver Spring, Md. The course is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy. The college says that with the number of rail shipments of radio [...]
UTU, SMWIA ask EEOC to probe BNSF medical policy
On behalf of members employed by BNSF, the UTU and the Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMWIA) have asked the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to investigate the railroad’s new medical reporting policy, which the organizations say is discriminatory [...]
What part of ‘no’ can’t railroads understand?
Sadly, there is a part of “no” that railroads just can’t understand. So, once again, the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has hit a railroad in the wallet for violating an employee’s rights as protected under the Federal Railroad Safe [...]Senate transport bill only a first step
WASHINGTON – A two-year blueprint for transportation spending has emerged from the Senate, but House action still is required before a bill is ready for President Obama’s signature into law. Notwithstanding the headlines, the Senate’s passage of the two-year S. 1813, “Moving [...]Job briefings save limbs and lives
Job briefings can prevent serious injuries and fatalities, says the Federal Railroad Administration in a switching fatalities and severe injury update. The FRA cites 23 fatalities that have occurred as a result of what it terms “inadequate job briefings.” The FRA offers the f [...]