Transportation News

Visit the digital archive of the SMART-TD News (PDFs)

OSHA follows through on whistle-blower complaints

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. — A Union Pacific machinist here was ordered rehired with back pay in a ruling by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) that found Union Pacific violated the worker’s rights under the Federal Rail Safety Act of 2007. OSHA rule [...]

Rail Retirement, Social Security benefits go electronic

Effective May 1, Social Security and Railroad Retirement checks for new recipients no longer will be mailed. Instead, all benefits payments — retirement, survivor and disability — will go electronically to the recipients’ bank accounts via electronic direct [...]

FRA issues switching safety advisory

WASHINGTON — A new safety advisory applying to switching operation hazards has been issued by the Federal Railroad Administration. The advisory focuses on federal federal regulations and railroad operating rules governing procedures for leaving rolling equipment in the [...]

UTU to Congress: Eliminate fatigue, boost safety

WASHINGTON — The single most important action Congress and the Federal Railroad Administration can take to improve rail safety — especially in the movement of hazardous materials — is to eliminate train-crew fatigue and provide predictable start times for tr [...]

Labor rallies produce the votes we want

MADISON, Wisc. — Are labor rallies in support of collective bargaining rights effective? Can the UTU Collective Bargaining Defense Fund make a difference? Do trains run on tracks? Do buses operate on highways? As for Wisconsin, the proof of the value of labor rallies wa [...]

If your physician withdraws from Medicare…

Many physicians and medical practitioners are choosing to withdraw from participation in Medicare. This has a direct financial impact on all UTU members who are retired or intend to retire in the near future. If you are eligible for Medicare, and your physician or medical pra [...]

Don’t let them fool you about Railroad Retirement

An opinion article recently published by the Financial Times and Fox News, written by conservative financial columnist Liz Peek, takes a nasty and incorrect swipe at Railroad Retirement, saying Railroad Retirement should be eliminated and folded into Social Security. The argu [...]

Collective-bargaining defense goes nationwide

Throughout America Monday, UTU members joined with brothers and sisters across craft and industrial lines in We Are One rallies reinforcing labor solidarity and raising public awareness of mean-spirited attacks on collective bargaining rights by right-wing extremists. The wor [...]

York Railway agreement gains 100% ratification

YORK, Pa. — UTU-represented trainmen, engineers and carmen employed by York Railway have ratified new collective bargaining agreements, with 100 percent of the membership voting in favor of contracts retroactive to Jan. 1, 2010 and extending through Dec. 31, 2014. The a [...]

Mother of UTU International president dies

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Coy Marie Bradshaw Futhey, age 89, mother of UTU International President Mike Futhey, died April 3 in a nursing home here. She was active in the Auxiliary of the UTU and its predecessor, Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, and served as president and legi [...]