The Senate Budget Committee on March 6 voted unanimously to advance the bipartisan Railroad Employee Equity and Fairness (REEF) Act, which aims to protect railroad employees from cuts to unemployment and sickness insurance and eliminate mandated cuts to the Railroad Retirement Board’s Unemployment Insurance Account.
The Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO has written letters to all six Class I railroads (download below) urging them to join the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) voluntary Confidential Close Call Reporting
Six months after the Norfolk Southern (NS) train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, NS President and CEO Alan Shaw wrote an open letter reflecting on the Class I’s “ongoing progress, support and
Two rail industry associations and two unions teamed recently to encourage Congressional support of the Railroad Employee Equity and Fairness Act (REEF Act; H.R.2785/S.1274), which they said would “eliminate cuts to railroad unemployment and sickness benefits.”
Removing Surface Transportation Board (STB) Chair Martin J. Oberman or failing to reappoint him “would undermine the significant progress the Board has made during his tenure,” Transportation Trades Department (TTD), AFL-CIO President
The rail industry’s role in overcoming supply chain challenges was the theme of a May 11 hearing of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials. It was part of what the T&I Committee called its continued “focus on ongoing supply chain challenges throughout the transportation sector, with the goal of identifying potential legislative solutions.” Among the five witnesses was American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) President Chuck Baker, who urged Congress members “to wield their pen with precision.”
Transportation Trades Department (TTD), AFL-CIO President Greg Regan is urging a bipartisan group of lawmakers to support legislation reauthorizing the Surface Transportation Board (STB). His agenda: to clarify the railroads’ common carrier obligation and to provide “more effective mechanisms” for the STB to enforce it. Railway Age Capitol Hill Contributing Editor Frank N. Wilner weighs in.
Larry Willis, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), died Nov. 29 due to injuries sustained from a Nov. 22 biking accident. He was 53.
Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued this statement following the announcement in Wilmington, Del., by Vice President Joe Biden on Alstom’s winning bid in Amtrak’s high speed train purchase:
