Operating employees of Chicago Terminal Railroad May 20 were successful in their efforts to bring union representation to their property. The National Mediation Board has certified that 70 percent of eligible employees voted for representation by the SMART Transportation Division. CTR operates three segments of track in the city and its suburbs, serving a variety [...]
Firefighters use ladder to rescue CP workers
May 22, 2013
CHARLES CITY, Iowa — Faced with dark and muddy conditions, firefighters used a long ladder to rescue three railroad workers from a train derailment caused by a washed-out rail line near Charles City early Tuesday. No one was injured. Tuesday night, Ed Greenberg, a spokesman for the Canadian Pacific Railroad, confirmed that the partially submerged [...]
Do programs produce safety, or manipulate reality?
May 21, 2013
By Mike Futhey, SMART Transportation Division President – Throughout my career as a union officer, I have experienced every type of carrier safety program imaginable: from official company “snitches” to complex, overly burdensome and intrusive research, to innovative, cooperative, joint ventures. Employees need a program to know the program du jour. When programs fall by the [...]
RRB payments adjusted for spouse, widow annuitants
May 21, 2013
Railroad Retirement Act spouse and widow(er)s’ annuities (including divorced spouse, surviving divorced spouse and remarried widow(er)s’ annuities) are subject to reduction when Social Security benefits or dual Railroad Retirement annuities are also payable. Such Railroad Retirement benefits may also be reduced when a spouse or widow(er) is entitled to a public service pension unless certain [...]
Scores injured in Metro-North Railroad crash
May 20, 2013
More than 60 people were injured after two Metro-North Railroad commuter trains collided during rush hour Friday evening near New York City. An estimated 700 passengers were on board the two trains that collided just outside Bridgeport, Connecticut, according to New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority. According to MTA, the crash occurred after a train that [...]
Former International President Little dies
May 17, 2013
Former UTU International President Charles L. Little, 77, died May 15 following a brief illness. Little was the fifth president of the UTU, elected at the union’s seventh quadrennial convention in 1995 and re-elected in 1999. He served from Jan. 1, 1996, until his retirement in 2001. Little began his railroading career with Houston Belt [...]
Retired member conducts, but with baton in hand
May 17, 2013
Retired BNSF conductor and UTU member of Local 311 Art Ingalls, 69, is conducting again. This time, instead of trains, he’s conducting music. Every year the La Crosse Symphony Orchestra of La Crosse, Wis., chooses five people to represent them and go out to the public and collect donations for them in their “Conductor Wannabe” [...]
Your union needs you!
May 16, 2013
The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers is conducting a survey to better understand your experience as a member of this union. Your participation in this survey would be greatly appreciated. As a member of the Transportation Division of SMART, your feedback and insight are critical to discovering how we can [...]
Opinion: The camera never blinks
May 16, 2013
The following was written by former UTU Director of Public Relations Frank N. Wilner. “Here’s looking at you, kid,” is a cherished line from the movie Casablanca, but when the looking is through a hidden camera lens in the locker room or even visibly trained on crewmembers inside a locomotive cab, well, you won’t hear [...]
Around the UTU, May 2013
May 15, 2013
Local 14, Cincinnati, Ohio CSX conductor Vincent “Vinny” Kelly, 38, died Jan. 24, GO 049 General Committee Secretary Erik R. Belew reports. He is survived by his wife of 17 years, Melissa; daughter, Brittany; and sons Joshua and Vincent. Local 239, Oakland, Calif. This Union Pacific local held a retirement barbecue March 15 at the [...]
