General Information
BLET backs proposed Essential Workers Bill of Rights
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, April 20 — The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) is supporting an Essential Workers Bill of Rights that has been proposed in the United State Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives that is designed to help better protect the health and safety frontline workers and provide hazard pay during the…
Read MoreUnions: FRA denies request for employee safety order
(Source: Progressive Railroading 04/17/2020) The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) last week denied rail unions’ request that the agency declare an emergency order calling for safety protections for railroad employees during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) announced earlier this week. “Although FRA believes that many safety precautions included in [the unions’] petitions could constitute…
Read MoreApril 16 update from the Railroad Retirement Board Labor Member
(BLET Editor’s Note: The following is a message to Rail Labor from John Bragg, Labor Member of the Railroad Retirement Board.) CHICAGO, April 16 — It has been a couple of weeks since my last update, and while things are settling down somewhat, there are a couple of issues I wanted to bring to your attention. Since…
Read MoreNorfolk Southern disposes of 300 locomotives, holds 400 for sale
(Source: Freight Waves, April 16, 2020) CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Norfolk Southern has shed approximately 300 locomotives and intends to put up another 400 for sale, the Eastern U.S. railroad said in a Thursday filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The company attributes its decision to the introduction of precision scheduled railroading [PSR] in…
Read MoreRail traffic nosedives, but AAR remains optimistic
(Source: Railway Age, April 15, 2020) NEW YORK — The Association of American Railroads (AAR) reported U.S. rail traffic for the week ended April 11, 2020, and it’s clear that the coronavirus continues to wreak havoc: Total carloads for this week were 198,726 carloads, down 23.8% compared with the same week in 2019; U.S. weekly…
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