The UTU and the Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMWIA), along with two other rail labor organizations, have filed a complaint with the Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), alleging BNSF has expanded its harassment and intimidation of injured workers to include the targeting of witnesses. In recent months, OSHA has imposed [...]
Calif. bus line 29th organizing win in 53 months
May 10, 2012
More than 170 bus operators, mechanics, service employees and store keepers employed by the Los Angeles area Montebello (Calif.) Bus Lines are now UTU members after overwhelmingly voting, “UTU, yes.” In the Los Angeles area, the UTU also represents employees of Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) and Santa Monica Municipal (Big Blue) Bus Lines. [...]
BNSF rescinds rule following UTU, SMWIA complaint
March 31, 2012
After BNSF announced it would demand highly personal information from employees relating to off-duty medical procedures and issues, the UTU and the Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMWIA) asked the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to investigate. The proposed new carrier rule, said the UTU and SMWIA, is discriminatory and violates federal law by requiring [...]
Conservatives pressing attack on working families
March 30, 2012
Public transportation funding, transportation jobs, workplace safety, Railroad Retirement and Medicare are under a mean-spirited and sustained attack by congressional conservatives who are trying to muscle their agenda through Congress prior to the November elections. The UTU and Sheet Metal Workers International Association – now combined into the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) – [...]
UTU, SMWIA ask EEOC to probe BNSF medical policy
March 23, 2012
On behalf of members employed by BNSF, the UTU and the Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMWIA) have asked the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to investigate the railroad’s new medical reporting policy, which the organizations say is discriminatory and violates federal law by requiring workers to provide highly personal medical information. BNSF is demanding [...]
Merger update: Moving forward constructively
November 10, 2011
By UTU International President Mike Futhey “Stay calm and carry on” has always been the best advice during challenging times. It is appropriate advice for UTU members and employees as we move forward following the October 10 merger arbitration award. That arbitration ruling makes the merger look very similar to the merger we were initially promised [...]
Arbitrator rules in favor of SMART merger
October 11, 2011
An arbitrator has ruled that a merger between the UTU and the Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMWIA) be implemented and that the presidents of the two unions – or their designees — meet to decide how the implementation is to proceed. Arbitrator Michael H. Gottesman said the merger agreement to create the Sheet Metal, Air, [...]
UTU, SMWIA arbitration set for June
April 21, 2011
Arbitrator Michael H. Gottesman will hear presentations by the UTU and the Sheet Metal Workers International Association during five days of arbitration in June to determine whether the merger agreement between the UTU and the SMIWA is an enforceable agreement. Gottesman, a law professor at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., was named to arbitrate the [...]
