General Information
UP blames COVID-19 for latest round of layoffs at Bailey Yard
(Source: North Platte Telegraph, May 19, 2020) NORTH PLATTE, Neb. — The Union Pacific Railroad Tuesday laid off an unspecified number of workers in Bailey Yard’s mechanical department. Raquel Espinoza, U.P.’s senior director for corporate communications and media relations, confirmed the first job reductions related to the COVID-19 outbreak at the North Platte classification yard,…
Read MoreTeamsters Local 200 secures arbitration victory to immediately rescind unilateral program
(Source: International Brotherhood of Teamsters press release, May 18, 2020) MILWAUKEE, Wisc. — Teamsters Local 200 announced today that the union prevailed in an arbitration with Roundy’s Supermarkets. In the opinion, issued on May 14, the arbitrator found that the company, owned and operated by The Kroger Co., violated the collective bargaining agreement by unilaterally implementing…
Read MoreSome CEOs are keeping massive bonuses, even after cutting thousands of jobs
(Source: Fortune, May 18, 2020) NEW YORK — So far, top executives of many major U.S. corporations—including some at the very epicenter of the crisis—have mostly held on to their outsize pay packages after giving up some of their salaries. And even as rank-and-file jobs vanish, some still have a distant shot at collecting bonuses…
Read MoreBrake defects plague Canada’s aging grain cars
(Source: Railway Age, May 15, 2020) NEW YORK — Hard-to-detect braking system defects have rendered Canada’s aging fleet of grain hoppers a safety hazard, says a former director of derailment investigations for the country’s Transportation Safety Board (TSB), the Canadian equivalent of the U.S. NTSB. Ian Naish, who retired from the TSB in 2009, in…
Read MoreTeamsters denounce new trucker Hours of Service rules for threatening safety
(Source: International Brotherhood of Teamsters press release, May 14, 2020) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Teamsters are taking aim at new truck driving hours-of-service rules released today by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), saying they would lead to reduced roadway safety for drivers and the traveling public at large. Effective 120 days from now, the…
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