The Voice of Transportation Labor
WASHINGTON – Passenger and commuter train conductors and engineers face new hours-of-service rules effective Oct. 15 under a final rule published Aug. 12 by the Federal Railroad Administration. The new rules differ in certain areas from hours-of-service regulations imposed on freight railroad employees. Among the differences is that passenger and commuter train hours-of-service regulations are more [...]
TULSA, Okla. — A BNSF employee and UTU member was killed in a yard accident here Aug. 4 when a vehicle in which she was riding was struck by a flatcar during a hump operation, according to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol and reported by the Tulsa World newspaper. Deborah Ann Beeler, 39, of Claremore, was pronounced [...]
CHICAGO — A Belt Railway of Chicago switchman and UTU member with three years’ service was crushed to death between two rail cars in a hump yard here just after midnight July 25. Andres Tapia, 34, a member of UTU Local 1597 (Chicago), and working a two-person remote control assignment, reportedly was found between the two [...]
WASHINGTON — America learned a tragic lesson a decade ago when armed terrorists gained entry to the flight decks of multiple commercial airliners. The results of 9/11 will live in infamy. Inexplicably, neither railroads nor the federal government has moved to require the securing of locomotive cab doors and windows to prevent terrorists – whether foreign or [...]
WASHINGTON — The Federal Railroad Administration will soon publish final rules instituting conductor certification and imposing new hours-of-service limitations on intercity passenger-train and commuter employees in safety sensitive positions. FRA Associate Administrator for Safety Jo Strang made the announcement at the UTU’s regional meeting June 21 in San Antonio, Texas. She observed that since former [...]
By FRA Associate Administrator for Safety Jo Strang The Federal Railroad Administration’s Risk Reduction Program is a voluntary industry-wide initiative to reduce accidents and injuries and build a strong safety culture by expanding the toolkit to analyze and manage risk. Eventually, these assessments will complement other programs such as safety inspections of railcars and injury [...]
Last week was not a good one for two Midwest bus drivers. In Urbana, Ill., a transit driver who chose to run smack dab over a snowman lost her job, reports the Chicago Tribune. The snowman had been built in the middle of a University of Illinois campus street. A YouTube-posted video showed the transit [...]
Notified you are under investigation? Wish to file a grievance? Membership rights question? Click on the “Membership Toolbox” for your answer. … (Read more)
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
The Federal Railroad Administration has issued a new report on the status of fatigue among railroad industry employees. In 2001, the FRA began examining the fatigue status of safety-critical railroad employees by using logbooks to collect work and … (Read More)
The dates and locations of the 2013 UTU regional meetings are: July 1-3: Boston, at the Westin Boston Waterfront July 29-31: Anaheim, Calif., at the Hilton Anaheim Members and attendees can now register online for a UTU regional meeting, as well … (Read More)
