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Amtrak layoffs, service cuts would dismantle rail system, protesting workers say
(Source: www.amny.com, October 9, 2018) NEW YORK — Amtrak workers rallied outside of Penn Station against what they fear will be a systematic dismantling of service quality and loss of thousands of middle-class jobs at the railroad. Amtrak president and CEO Richard Anderson is planning roughly 1,700 layoffs for the railroad’s onboard service workers, according…
Read MoreAAR: U.S. intermodal traffic set record in September
(Source: Progressive Railroading 10/05/2018) U.S. rail traffic grew 4.4 percent to 2,194,211 carloads and intermodal units in September compared with the same month a year ago, according to Association of American Railroads (AAR) data. Railroads reported 1,066,826 carloads last month, up 2.6 percent, and 1,127,385 containers and trailers, up 6.2 percent, compared with traffic logged in…
Read MoreCleanup efforts continue from Sunday’s derailment of UP train near Alton, Iowa
(Source: Sioux City Journal, September 24, 2018) ALTON, Iowa — Cleanup efforts are continuing following a Sunday train derailment around Third and River streets in this Sioux County town. A bridge beneath a 95-car Union Pacific train collapsed, derailing 37 cars at 4:30 a.m. Sunday. Twenty of those cars carrying soybean oil and sand went…
Read MoreTTD: Freight rail safety, jobs must not be jeopardized in pursuit of profits
(Source: Column by AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD) President Larry I Willis, September 20, 2018) WASHINGTON, D.C. — There is little disagreement among lawmakers, frontline workers, government agencies, and even rail carriers themselves that freight rail in this country must be held to the highest safety standards and oversight rules. Yet, as we speak, the Federal Railroad…
Read MoreAFL-CIO TTD: Building pro-worker momentum
(Source: AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD) press release, September 12, 2018) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Executive Committee of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), gathered today to set an aggressive agenda focused on creating and sustaining the kind of good jobs working families want and need by strengthening America’s transportation network and improving workplace safety. This…
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