The SMART Transportation Division organized rallies in multiple locations Dec. 13 to bring attention to rail-related issues, including maintaining the current safe level of a minimum two-person crew in the cabs of locomotives, paid sick leave for workers and an end to the carriers’ Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) scheme.
SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson and Adam West, secretary and treasurer of SMART-TD Local 744 in Lafayette, Ind., served as speakers during a press conference Feb. 9 demanding that rail companies provide seven days of paid sick leave to workers organize [...]
Prior to the lifting of an evacuation order for residents of East Palestine, Ohio, SMART officers and members pitched in to assist the displaced residents with supplies and other support. Due to the massive Norfolk Southern derailment there on Friday, February 3, and the haza [...]
WASHINGTON, Feb. 7 – SMART Transportation Division leadership as well as officers from the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes and the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department [...]
Those wishing to contribute donations to the community of East Palestine, Ohio, due to the major Norfolk Southern derailment Friday are urged to pitch in to assist evacuees of the village near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border. The NTSB will be the lead agency for providing update [...]
Bus operators of SMART Local 1715 in Charlotte, N.C., on Saturday, Feb. 4, 2023, ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with a vote margin of 20 to 1. The new contract for the operators for the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) calls for a significant wage increase [...]
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has been launched to investigate a 50-car Norfolk Southern derailment that caused an inferno in East Palestine, Ohio, the night of Feb. 3. According to WKBN, a state of emergency was declared by the mayor of the village with a p [...]
It’s difficult to imagine trying to pass off reducing the braking power of a freight train as a safety precaution, but that is exactly what BNSF attempted to do recently in a request to the FRA for a variance to increase the allowable amount of flow from 90 CFM to 120 CFM. In [...]
Labor had a lone representative Feb. 1 at the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee discussion of transportation infrastructure and supply chain challenges as it convened under new chairman U.S. Rep. Sam Graves of Missouri. Greg Regan, of the Transportation Trad [...]
On February 2, Railway Age magazine released its annual list of young people creating waves within the rail industry known as “Fast Trackers, 25 Under 40.” SMART Transportation Division is proud to say that one of our own has made the list! Member Phil Martin of Local 1470 (E [...]
