Category Archives: TCU Blog

TCU, ASWC unions lobby Congress on Amtrak issues

Last week, officials and members from TCU/IAM, the Transport Workers Union (TWU) and Unite-HERE banded together to lobby Congress on issues facing our members at Amtrak. Each union focused their meetings on Members of Congress whose districts are near Amtrak onboard service crew bases. For TCU, however, our lobbying efforts ran the full gamut of

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CN Petitions FRA for Relief from Performing Single Car Air Brake Tests

Canadian National Railway Company (CN) has petitioned the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for a waiver of compliance from certain provisions of the Federal railroad safety regulations contained at 49 CFR 232.305, Single car air brake tests. Specifically, CN requests relief from part 232.305(b)(2), regarding the requirement to conduct a single car air brake test on a

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TTD President Larry Willis Testifies Before the National Mediation Board on Decertification of Representation

In the testimony of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), President Larry Willis, he stated TTD’s opposition to the proposed rule on decertification of representation. TTD represents 32 affiliated unions (including TCU) in all modes of transportation. This includes a number of unions whose members work in the aviation and rail sectors, are covered by

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NS Petitions FRA for Relief from Brake System Safety Standards

Norfolk Southern Railway (NS) has petitioned the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for a waiver of compliance from certain provisions of the Federal railroad safety regulations regarding refresher training for mechanical inspectors. Specifically, NS proposes to create a 3-D simulation using web-based software to satisfy the “hands-on” portion of the training required by 49 CFR 232.203(e),

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Litigation Update – Payment for Time Lost Due to an On-the-job Injury is Taxable “Compensation”

The U.S. Supreme Court has issued its decision in BNSF v. Loos. In a 7-2 decision written by Justice Ginsburg, the Court found that a railroad’s payment to an employee as pay for time lost due to an on-the-job injury is taxable “compensation” under the Railroad Retirement Tax Act (RRTA). Historically, these payments were always

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