The annual rate renewal meeting for the Railroad Employees National Health and Welfare Plan (the “Plan”) was held in Washington, D.C., on October 27, 2009, at which time payment rates for 2010 were established. Rail Labor (the Cooperating Railway Labor Organizations (CRLO) as a Joint Policyholder participated in the annual rate-setting meeting on an equal
The National Mediation Board (NMB) is proposing to change representation election rules in both the railroad and airline industry. The proposed changes will allow workers to vote for union representation with a “yes” or “no” and determine the election by majority vote. This will remove the rule that votes not cast would be counted as
Thirty local Chairmen and Protective Committee members from several locals within units 86, 167 and 500 attended grievance handling classes recently in New York City. Both supervisors and clerks from Metro-North, Long Island, and Staten Island railroads as well as Amtrak participated in the 1 day training, set up by TCU International Representative Artie Maratea
Federal Railroad Administrator Joseph Szabo announced a $1,015,000 grant for Operation Lifesaver, to continue its wide-ranging public education outreach efforts to raise awareness about the potential hazards at grade crossings and the dangers of illegal trespassing on railroad property. “Despite decreases in the number of train-vehicle collisions, promoting railroad safety is as important as ever,”
In the latest innovation to its award-winning website the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) now features two new videos on the site www.nlrb.gov: “Introduction to the NLRB Public Website” and “How to Use CiteNet,” the Agency’s electronic legal research database. The “Introduction to the NLRB Public Website” video provides viewers with a brief guided tour
The FRA recently released a notice on the enforcement of harassment and intimidation provisions contained in the Rail Safety Bill. This would require railroads to establish policies to prevent harassment and intimidation of employees who report accidents or incidents on the job. Click here to read the FRA notice. Posted April 2, 2009
Last year’s Amtrak agreements covering Carmen and ARASA-MofE and ARASA-MofW employees stipulated that Amtrak’s back pay obligations would be split into two parts, with Amtrak having one year to make good on the second payment. Amtrak President Joe Boardman has just announced that the second Amtrak retroactive payment will be made on May 1, 2009.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, better known as the stimulus act, contains many provisions that affect railroad workers. Forefront of these is the additional 13 weeks of unemployment benefits to qualifying railroad workers who have exhausted the benefits normally provided under the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA). The stimulus package also will
February 12, 2009– The Terminal Railway Alabama State Docks members, represented by TCU Unit 3, have ratified an agreement by an overwhelming margin. This agreement will run through 2012 and settles TCU’s outstanding Section 6 notices concerning wages, rules and working conditions. This agreement will also provide the same level of health and welfare benefits
Amtrak President Joe Boardman sent a letter to the President of the Senate Joe Biden (D-DE) and the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) to ask congress to provide enough funding for Amtrak to pay its contractual obligations in 2009. The back pay, recommendations of the presidential emergency board, agreements Amtrak made in 2008
