News Archive
Railroad Retirement benefits to see rise in 2023
Most Railroad Retirement annuities, like Social Security benefits, will increase in January 2023 due to a rise in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from the third quarter of 2021 to the corresponding period of the current year. Cost-of-living increases are calculated in both the [...]
TD Tacoma RTS gets final extension; one-day registration added
The deadline for the booking discount for the SMART Transportation Division Tacoma Regional Training Seminar (RTS) has been extended one final time to 5 p.m. Pacific, Wednesday Oct. 19. For SMART-TD members and officers planning to attend the event Oct. 24 to 27 at the Murano [...]
From President Ferguson: Please stay vigilant as carriers cut corners on training
Brothers and Sisters, It’s no secret that Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) has devastated this industry. And it’s no secret that safety and service have suffered, but now the most vulnerable among us are being threatened. In the carriers’ pursuit to remove themselves fro [...]
Social Security Administration announces benefit increase for 2023
Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits for approximately 70 million Americans will increase 8.7% in 2023, the Social Security Administration announced. On average, Social Security benefits will increase by more than $140 per month starting in January. [...]
SMART MD membership votes to ratify contract with freight rail carriers
October 12, 2022 — The membership of the SMART Railroad, Mechanical and Engineering Department (SMART MD) has voted to ratify a tentative agreement with the carriers, after almost three years of negotiations between the union and the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (N [...]
Medicare Part B premium and deductible for 2023
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the Part B premium and deductible costs for 2023. Railroad Medicare processes claims for Part B services. This year saw a modest decrease in both costs. The 2023 annual Part B deductible decreased from $233 t [...]
N.Y. Post reports Amtrak execs net big post-pandemic bonuses
The New York Post reported that Amtrak paid out over $2.3 million in annual bonuses to 10 executives in 2021, despite the carrier seeing its lowest revenues in a decade. In the article published by the Post on Oct. 5, the bonuses were reported by Amtrak to be “earned incentiv [...]
President Ferguson presents facts on Tentative Agreement
SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson appeared in a joint video with Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen President Dennis Pierce on Oct. 7 with both presenting facts regarding the Tentative Agreement (TA) being considered by rail labor. Presiden [...]