Archive for July 2017
General Chairman Update 07/28/2017
Longshore workers’ approval of West Coast port contract appears likely
(source: Progressive Railroading 07/31/2017) Early voting reports from local unions indicate that West Coast longshore workers at 29 ports in California, Oregon and Washington will approve a new bargaining agreement with the Pacific Maritime Association (PMA), union officials announced late last week. Tallies of the vote totals so far indicated that the contract extension will pass by…
Read MoreSenate Appropriations OKs transportation funding bill
(source: Progressive Railroading 07/31/2017) The U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee late last week unanimously approved the $60 billion fiscal-year 2018 funding bill for transportation, housing and urban development, and related agencies. The proposal would continue providing federal funding for Amtrak’s long-distance routes, as well as for the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program. In particular, the bill slots…
Read MoreChlorine-carrying train car derailed in St. Paul, but officials there weren’t told
(Source: Pioneer Press, July 28, 2017) ST. PAUL, Minn. — Mark Nichols, a retired occupational safety expert, almost couldn’t believe what he was hearing, though he trusted his confidential source. In late June, a car from a Union Pacific railroad train had partially derailed overnight near the Mississippi River in St. Paul, and it was…
Read MoreRRB announces dates of fall informational conferences, pre-retirement seminars
CLEVELAND, July 31 — The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) has announced a schedule of dates for the agency’s fall 2017 informational conferences and pre-retirement seminars. Attendance at the informational conferences is limited to elected union officers only while the pre-retirement seminars are designed for railroad employees and spouses planning to retire within five years…
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