Come May 1, Social Security and Railroad Retirement checks for new recipients no longer will be mailed. The Social Security Administration and the Railroad Retirement Board are going paperless — sending payment electronically (direct deposit) to those receiving retirement, disability and survivor benefits. Those already receiving Social Security and Railroad Retirement benefits will have until March [...]
KCS engineer, conductor shot in Louisiana
December 21, 2010
DESOTO PARISH, La. – Two KCS workers, including UTU member Timothy Council, were wounded when a gunshot came through their locomotive window here Dec. 20, according to the Shreveport Times. The engineer, Paul Griffin, 44, was inside the cab of his locomotive when a bullet struck him in the face. The bullet then struck the hand [...]
Former McCain operative nominated to STB
December 21, 2010
WASHINGTON — A former John McCain operative has been nominated by President Obama to fill a Republican seat on the Surface Transportation Board. The nomination requires Senate confirmation. It is not clear whether there is sufficient time for the lame-duck Congress to act on the nomination. If not, the nomination is likely to be remade [...]
High-speed rail: ‘Our generation’s legacy’
December 20, 2010
By Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood It is difficult to imagine what America would be like without its Interstate highway system. For decades, our state-of-the-art roadways have been the world’s envy — and rightfully so. They deliver products of agriculture and industry to market. They link people with schools, jobs, family and health care. America’s highways [...]
Train & engine worker jobs climb 10%
December 20, 2010
Almost 10,000 train and engine workers returned to work on Class I railroads through the first 11 months of 2010, with T&E jobs up almost 10 percent compared with November 2009, says the Surface Transportation Board, which tracks the data. The STB says 61,819 train & engine workers are now on the job with Class [...]
Federal cellphone ban for bus drivers
December 20, 2010
WASHINGTON – A national ban on cell-phone use by bus drivers has been proposed by the U.S. DOT. It is expected to be put in place before March. Bus drivers already are banned by federal regulation from texting while working. “Every time a commercial truck or bus driver takes his or her eyes off the road to [...]
Duck. It’s another track fastener
December 20, 2010
Rails know them as Pandrol clips — the bent three-quarter-inch steel clips that fasten rail to concrete ties along Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor and some other locations. In North Kingstown, R.I., reports the Providence Journal, some of the clips — each weighing about two pounds — have been breaking off, as Amtrak’s Acela passes over the [...]
How tax cut & jobless bill affects YOU
December 17, 2010
Now that Congress has approved, and sent to President Obama for signing, the compromise tax cut and jobless benefits legislation, the question UTU members have, is, “What does it mean for me?” For the jobless — and there are currently some five applicants for every available job in the nation — long-term federal unemployment jobless [...]
OSHA puts its own ‘hickory stick’ to BNSF
December 17, 2010
A UTU member will be collecting more than $95,000 in penalties assessed against BNSF by the Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) for the railroad’s violation of the Federal Rail Safety Act. OSHA found BNSF guilty of intimidating and harassing an injured UTU member who reported his workplace injury to the Federal Railroad Administration. The [...]
Mexico to Chicago by rail: 22 tons of pot
December 17, 2010
When Union Pacific took possession of six freight cars interchanged from a Mexican railroad at Eagle Pass, Texas, the manifest showed titanium ore as the contents, and a Chicago warehouse as the destination. Customs agents were suspicious, and discovered, instead, almost 22,000 pounds of marijuana, reports the Chicago Tribune. The agents resealed the pot and [...]
