WASHINGTON – The National Transportation Safety Board has updated its “Most Wanted” transportation safety improvements. Included are recommendations for improved bus, rail and aviation safety. Following are the NTSB’s comments of interest to UTU members: Fatigue Airplanes, buses and trains are complex machines that require the full attention of the operator, maintenance person and other [...]
Fourth tour-bus crash since March kills driver
June 28, 2011
PITTSBURGH – In another high-profile bus crash, a tour-bus driver died and 23 passengers were injured June 27 when the bus struck the rear of a tractor-trailer near here on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, reports Reuters. The bus, owned by New Oriental Tours and carrying Asian tourists, was enroute to New Jersey from Kentucky. In May, [...]
State of the union: ‘Stronger than ever’
June 23, 2011
International President Mike Futhey SAN ANTONIO — Stronger protections for members, improved finances, successful organizing drives and superior wage and benefits agreements characterize the United Transportation Union in 2011, International President Mike Futhey told some 600 attendees in his state-of-the-union report at the first of two 2011 regional meetings here June 22. “Before this administration [...]
NLRB seeks to speed rep-votes; increase transparency
June 22, 2011
WASHINGTON – In a move organized labor has long pushed for, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) June 21 proposed new representation-vote rules that will speed-up the voting process and give more transparency to employer actions intended to discourage a “union, yes” vote. NLRB rulings impact UTU Bus Department members. Rail and airline labor relations [...]
FMCSA names UTU bus officer to advisory panel
June 17, 2011
WASHINGTON – Bus Department Alternate Vice President Calvin Studivant has been named by Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Administrator Anne Ferro to a 20-member congressionally created Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee. The committee will provide advice and recommendations to Ferro on safety programs and regulations affecting bus and truck drivers, their equipment and employers. Studivant [...]
Have you experienced unruly passengers?
June 15, 2011
The UTU, Amtrak and other labor organizations have designed a survey to aid in the development of training and awareness programs to assist Amtrak employees deal with unruly, disorderly or aggressive passengers. While development of this program is intended for Amtrak, all UTU members employed in passenger transportation – air, bus, rail and transit – [...]
Bus safety crackdown meets House opposition
June 14, 2011
WASHINGTON – Increased authority for random safety inspections of tour buses and money for more safety inspectors received a lukewarm reception by the Republican leadership of the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee June 14 following the request by Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) Administrator Anne Ferro. The committee hearing was called in the wake of [...]
Bus rep victory is UTU’s 23rd in 41 months
June 13, 2011
PERRIS, Calif. – Bus drivers and mechanics of Southland Transit here have voted “UTU, yes” by an almost four-to-one margin. This is the 23rd organizing victory – air, bus and rail — for the UTU since January 2008, an average of almost one new property organized every seven weeks. “In these difficult economic times, it [...]
Preserving Medicare: We have a role to play
June 9, 2011
Would you accept a job paying $1 million to count out $2 billion in $1 bills? Think again, because working a 40-hour week and counting out $1 per second, you would require 266 years to count out the $2 billion total. Now that you have an idea how much $2 billion is, consider that in [...]
