SMART-TD

BNSF photo

BNSF, SMART-TD Reach Tentative Agreement

The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, Transportation Division (SMART-TD) and BNSF Railway have reached a system-wide agreement, following up on the mandatory local bargaining items from last year’s Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) that the Class I says will “significantly benefit ground service employees.”

Jorge Moralez, a conductor and local trustee out of Local 933 in Jefferson City, Missouri, is shown on the job. Brother Moralez and other members of his local are leading efforts to restore an old Missouri Pacific caboose in Pleasant Hill, Missouri.
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Missouri Local 933 Helps Lead Caboose Restoration 

The city of Pleasant Hill, Missouri, requested help from their community to restore a historic Missouri Pacific caboose on display in the town square. In response to this need for civic involvement, SMART-TD Local 933 out of Jefferson City answered the call and has partnered with local Boy Scout and Cub Scout troops to do the heavy lifting on the project.

​​Figure 1. Aerial view of the accident scene. (Source: CSX.)

NTSB Issues Preliminary Report on CSX Conductor Trainee Fatality

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its preliminary report for the investigation of the Aug. 6 accident involving a CSX conductor trainee fatally injured during a shoving movement at the CSX railroad yard in Cumberland, Md. The agency said future activity will focus on CSX employee training and close clearance identification practices of the standing locomotives.

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People News: STB, NS

The Surface Transportation Board (STB) appoints a labor representative to the Railroad-Shipper Transportation Advisory Council (RSTAC). Also, a Norfolk Southern (NS) employee has been chosen to Chair the Southern Economic Development Council.

NTSB-provided photographs from the July 6, 2023, Norfolk Southern derailment in Virginia: Derailed gondola cars (left) and a wheelset with a burned-off bearing (right) from unit coal train 814V404. (Sources: NS, left; Federal Railroad Administration, right.)

NTSB Issues Preliminary Report on NS Coal Train Derailment

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has released its preliminary report for the investigation of Norfolk Southern’s (NS) July 6, 2023, coal train derailment near Elliston, Va. The agency said future activity will focus on the wheelset and reconditioned bearings of the 71st railcar of the 105-car train; NS’s use of hot bearing detectors (HBD); and NS’s operating rules for defective equipment detectors.

(Photograph Courtesy of CSX)

CSX, SMART-TD Team to Extend Conductor Training Program

CSX and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers–Transportation Division (SMART-TD) on July 31 reported partnering to extend the Class I railroad’s conductor training program and “provide new

NS, SMART-TD Launch New Initiatives Aimed at Conductor Training

Norfolk Southern (NS) and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers—Transportation Division (SMART-TD) announced July 26 that they are partnering to launch several new initiatives to “further enhance the training program for conductor trainees and increase compensation for conductors who helped provide this important training.”

“We thank the unions for their partnership on improving safety and quality of life for every employee,” Norfolk Southern President and CEO Alan H. Shaw said during his railroad’s June 1 town hall meeting, which included labor leader speakers. “We said we wanted to partner more effectively with union leadership—and today you see management and labor keeping that promise.” (Norfolk Southern Photograph)

NS Hosts Inaugural Safety-Focused Town Hall

Safety, union collaboration and “creating long-term value” were the three main topics of Norfolk Southern’s (NS) first company-wide town hall meeting. Held June 1 in Bellevue, Ohio, 20,000 railroaders from across the