#Sheet Metal Air Rail and Transportation Union

[iww-gnv]

OMAHA, Neb. -- United Pacific railroad has reached a tentative deal with a major union regarding paid sick leave. The railroad and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers said that the deal reached over the weekend provides up to eight paid sick leave days to around 5,900 railroad employees. While all Union Pacific employees receive some form of paid leave, the proposed agreement will provide the union members an additional five paid sick days annually, prorated for 2023. Starting next year, they also will have the ability to convert up to three paid leave days for use as paid sick time. If ratified by workers, Union Pacific, which is based in Omaha, Nebraska, will have paid sick leave agreements in place with all 13 of its labor unions, making it the second railroad in the industry to to do so.

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

As a train derailment and fire forced evacuations in Minnesota on Thursday, a trio of Democratic U.S. Senators introduced another piece of legislation inspired by the ongoing public health and environmental disaster in and around East Palestine, Ohio.

The Railway Accountability Act—led by Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Bob Casey (D-Pa.), and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio)—would build on the bipartisan Railway Safety Act introduced at the beginning of March by Brown and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) after a Norfolk Southern train carrying hazardous materials including vinyl chloride derailed in the small Ohio community on February 3.

While welcoming "greater federal oversight and a crackdown on railroads that seem all too willing to trade safety for higher profits," Eddie Hall, national president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), also warned just after the earlier bill was unveiled that "you can run a freight train through the loopholes."

The new bill is backed by unions including the Transport Workers of America (TWU), the National Conference of Firemen & Oilers (NCFO), and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers-Mechanical Division (SMART-MD).

"It is an honor and a privilege to introduce my first piece of legislation, the Railway Accountability Act, following the derailment affecting East Palestine, Ohio, and Darlington Township, Pennsylvania," Fetterman said in a statement. "This bill will implement commonsense safety reforms, hold the big railway companies accountable, protect the workers who make these trains run, and help prevent future catastrophes that endanger communities near railway infrastructure."

Fetterman, who is expected to return to the Senate in mid-April after checking himself into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center last month to be treated for clinical depression, asserted that "working Pennsylvanians have more than enough to think about already—they should never have been put in this horrible situation."

"Communities like Darlington Township and East Palestine are too often forgotten and overlooked by leaders in Washington and executives at big companies like Norfolk Southern who only care about making their millions," he added. "That's why I'm proud to be working with my colleagues to stand up for these communities and make clear that we're doing everything we can to prevent a disaster like this from happening again."

As Fetterman's office summarized, the Railway Accountability Act would:

• Direct the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to examine the causes of and potential mitigation strategies for wheel-related derailments and mechanical defects, and publish potential regulations that would improve avoidance of these defects;

• Ensure that employees can safely inspect trains by prohibiting trains from being moved during brake inspections;

• Require that the mechanic that actually inspects a locomotive or rail car attests to its safety;

• Direct the FRA to review regulations relating to the operation of trains in switchyards, and direct railroads to update their plans submitted under the FRA's existing Risk Reduction Program (RRP) to incorporate considerations regarding switchyard practices;

• Require the FRA to make Class 1 railroad safety waivers public in one online location;

• Require railroads to ensure that communication checks between the front and end of a train do not fail, and that emergency brake signals reach the end of a train;

• Ensure Class 1 railroad participation in the confidential Close Call Reporting System by requiring all railroads that have paid the maximum civil penalty for a safety violation to join; and

• Ensure that railroads provide warning equipment (such as white disks, red flags, or whistles) to railroad watchmen and lookouts.

A preliminary report released in late February by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) suggests an overheated wheel bearing may have caused the disastrous derailment in Ohio. The initial findings added fuel to demands that federal lawmakers enact new rules for the rail industry.

"Rail lobbyists have fought for years to protect their profits at the expense of communities like East Palestine," Brown noted Thursday.

Casey stressed that "along with the Railway Safety Act, this bill will make freight rail safer and protect communities from preventable tragedies."

In addition to pushing those two bills, Brown, Casey, and Fetterman have responded to the East Palestine disaster by introducing the Assistance for Local Heroes During Train Crises Act and—along with other colleagues—writing to Norfolk Southern president and CEO Alan Shaw, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy, and U.S. Environmental Protection Administrator Michael Regan with various concerns and demands.

[reasonsforhope]

Source:

"More than 60% of U.S. unionized railroad workers at major railroads are now are covered by new sick leave agreements, a trade group said Monday [June 5th].

Last year railroads came under fire for not agreeing to paid sick leave during labor negotiations.

In December, President Joe Biden signed legislation to block a national U.S. railroad strike that could have devastated the American economy after some unions voted against the deal over a lack of paid sick leave.

“For months, railroads have been at the table individually with their unions to find a path forward on the quality-of-life matters that came into the spotlight during the round’s final days," Association of American Railroads CEO Ian Jefferies said.

“Not all of these agreements are the same. However, they are the result of good faith bargaining and a shared desire to demonstrate the value rail employees provide to their companies, their families and the overall economy."

Norfolk Southern (NSC.N) and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers -Transportation Division (SMART-TD) said Monday they reached an agreement that immediately provides nearly 300 yardmasters with four new days of paid sick leave per year while also offering flexibility to use up to three additional days of existing paid time off as sick leave.

Norfolk Southern said all of its unionized workers are now covered by sick leave agreements.

Also on Monday, Union Pacific (UNP.N) reached an agreement with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) to provide paid sick leave to for its 5,600 locomotive engineers.

Under the agreement effective Aug. 1, members will have up to seven paid days of sick leave. Five days will be considered paid sick days with the ability to convert two additional paid leave days for use as paid sick time."

-via Reuters, June 5, 2023

biden 2024 - making things work

[metamoonshots]

[ad_1] CSX Corp. has reached an settlement for paid sick depart with the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, the railroad firm introduced Thursday. The settlement was ratified with the Seaboard Coast Line department of the union, CSX CSX, -0.11% mentioned in a press release, including that the settlement covers practically 400 staff. CSX shares rose 0.8% Thursday, in contrast with the S&P 500’s SPX decline of 0.2%. Associated: Derailments, paid sick leave loom over railroad earnings reports “We worth the onerous work and dedication of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen and all our staff who hold our operations operating easily,” CSX CEO Joe Hinrichs mentioned in a press release. “This settlement displays our ongoing dedication to enhancing the worker expertise, making certain our group members have the assist they want.” Within the assertion, Gus Dermott, common chair of the Seaboard Coast Line union department, mentioned: “Our union labored lengthy and onerous throughout the collective bargaining course of to safe paid sick depart for our members and to make sure that the advantages are tailor-made to the wants of signalmen and their explicit working circumstances.” Paid-sick-leave agreements with rail unions have been within the spotlight because the situation pushed the trade to the brink of a strike final 12 months. Earlier this 12 months, CSX reached agreements with the Brotherhood of Upkeep of Method Employes Division, the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen, the Worldwide Affiliation of Machinists and Aerospace Employees, the Nationwide Convention of Firemen & Oilers, the Worldwide Brotherhood of Electrical Employees and the Sheet Metallic, Air, Rail and Transportation Employees-Transportation Division unions, protecting 1000's of railroad staff, in keeping with the Jacksonville-based firm. Associated: CSX set to boost rail network performance, say analysts In whole, CSX has executed 10 agreements offering for paid sick depart, together with the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen settlement. The railroad firm companions with 12 main nationwide rail labor unions. CSX instructed MarketWatch that greater than 70% of the corporate’s union-represented workforce has some type of paid sick depart underneath the collective agreements. “The agreements and different current modifications in insurance policies show CSX’s dedication to persevering with to work with its staff and their representatives to enhance the work expertise throughout the group,” a spokesperson mentioned. Additionally on Thursday Norfolk Southern Corp. NSC, -1.35% and the Brotherhood of Railway Signalmen introduced a partnership to create new program known as the Sign Security Collaboration. The one-year pilot program establishes a collaborative course of for joint inspections, info sharing and coaching  to boost sign security. Norfolk Southern’s inventory fell 0.3% Thursday. CSX shares have fallen 0.2% in 2023, and Norfolk Southern’s inventory is down 17.7%, in contrast with the S&P 500’s acquire of 12.2%. [ad_2]

[4dshadow]

“When you think of a two person crew, you have a conductor and an engineer, [and] they have separate responsibilities,” [Greg Hynes, legislative director of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail Transportation union [SMART-TD], the nation’s largest rail union representing about 28,000 conductors at the major railroads,] said. “There’s a check and balance very much like what takes place in the cockpit of an airliner with a pilot and a co-pilot. I would not feel safe flying in a commercial airline with one pilot. I would not feel safe with a three-mile long freight train carrying the most dangerous hazardous material on the planet through my community with only one set of eyes.”

[partisan-by-default]

Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation union, who work for the BNSF Railway, initiated steps to go on strike following the railroad’s announcement of its so-called “Hi-Viz” attendance policy. Collectively, the unions represent more than 17,000 active members at the BNSF.

The unions argue that the pending policy, which BNSF plans to implement Feb. 1, repudiates numerous collectively bargained agreements currently in place throughout the BNSF system. “This unprecedented BNSF policy repudiates direct and clear contract language, and in application, will attempt to force our members to report for duty without regard for their medical condition as we struggle to come out of a pandemic,” BLET National President Dennis Pierce and SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson said in a news release.

BNSF’s new Hi-Viz policy is a points-based system which, according to the unions, penalizes employees — who in many cases have no assigned days off — any time they take time off work for practically any reason. In an FAQ that BNSF sent to its employees, the railroad said it “must improve crew availability to remain competitive in the industry” and that their revised Hi-Viz program helps with this issue “by incentivizing consistent and reliable attendance.” BNSF claims that a reduction in absenteeism will improve predictability of work assignments. The unions counter that if the BNSF instead focused efforts on predictable scheduling of assignments and management of its furloughed employees, there would be no need to impose attendance policies.

[berniesrevolution]

IN THESE TIMES

After being called out by labor activists and progressive politicians like Bernie Sanders for paying poverty wages despite receiving tax breaks and raking in billions of dollars, Amazon has caved to the pressure and announced it will offer all its workers a $15-per-hour minimum wage starting next month. Now, a new coalition of workers and community leaders is taking aim at another major player in the logistics industry: the railroads.

Class I railroads like CSX, Norfolk Southern and BNSF benefit from billions in taxpayer subsidies and are reporting high profits. Yet the people who transport their rail crews between trains, cities, hotels and homes are paid low wages and receive few benefits. To keep costs down and evade liability, the railroads use subcontractors like Hallcon and Professional Transportation Inc. (PTI) to hire their crew drivers.

On September 27, several dozen rail crew drivers with the United Electrical Workers (UE), United Steelworkers (USW), Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART) and United Public Services Employees Union (UPSEU) protested outside a conference of railroad executives in downtown Chicago. The drivers and community allies are calling on the Class I railroads to implement responsible contractor policies to make companies like Hallcon and PTI pay a $15-an-hour minimum wage and offer decent benefits.

“We’re dedicated drivers out here,” said Devin Ragland, a PTI driver with USW District 7. “It’s not fair that we’re out here from sundown to sunup, running these crews back and forth where they need to go, and then we get mistreated when it comes time for pay.”

Ragland and the other drivers were joined by Cook County Commissioner and congressional candidate Jesús “Chuy” Garcia, who called for an “end to the poverty wages in the rail yards.”

“I join your voices in saying to these railroad companies that they should adopt responsible contractor policies to ensure that the prosperity that they are experiencing is shared with all of the workers in the industry,” Garcia told the drivers.

UE, USW, SMART and UPSEU represent crew drivers from coast to coast. UE has been organizing Hallcon drivers nationwide for the past several years, recently winning a union election at the company that added 650 more drivers from 8 states into the union’s ranks, bringing the total number of UE-represented drivers at the company to nearly 1,700.

“Everywhere we go at Hallcon, people are at minimum wage or just above,” UE International Representative J Burger told In These Times.  Drivers say they earn so little that many are forced to rely on public assistance.

UE is currently negotiating a new master contract at Hallcon. Burger said the company is resisting demands for living wages, instead arguing that drivers should only get a one-time bonus or miniscule raises of between 15 to 20 cents per year.

“I’ve been told we were offered 21 cents. I can’t make a phone call with 21 cents,” driver and UE member Vickie Bogovich said on September 27. “Is that all I’m worth? I don’t think so.”

“They’re offering us pennies and we need dollars,” added Clarence Hill, a Hallcon driver who serves as Chief Steward of UE Local 1177. Hill said he is paid only $12 an hour after 8 years on the job.

(Continue Reading)

[yasbxxgie]

Get to Know Your Local Unions During National Apprenticeship Week

Monroe County and UNiCON Rochester have teamed up to support local workforce development in honor of National Apprenticeship Week.

In the Greater Rochester area, there are 15 local building and construction trade unions that provide apprenticeships where people receive classroom and on-the-job experience.

It’s something that Dave Young, the head of the Rochester Building and Construction Trades Council, says helped lift him and his family out of poverty.

“I remember when I was a younger person, before I was in an apprenticeship program. I had no health care, no idea how I’d retire. I’d have to go beg the boss for a ten or fifteen cent raise,” Young said. “I finally had an opportunity to get into an apprenticeship program and it was amazing.”

The Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers’ Local Union 48 will host an open house on Tuesday, November 13, 2018 at its location at 244 Paul Road in Rochester. It starts at 5 p.m.

There will also be an open house for educators to learn what construction trades can offer students. It’s at the United Brotherhood of Carpenters Rochester Training Center on Jetview Drive. That goes from 7:30 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. on Friday, November 16, 2018.

[rated-a-for-awesome]

Here's a link talking about it. The article is down below as well.

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/bnsf-unions-threaten-strike-over-attendance-policy/

Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation union, who work for the BNSF Railway, initiated steps to go on strike following the railroad’s announcement of its so-called “Hi-Viz” attendance policy. Collectively, the unions represent more than 17,000 active members at the BNSF.

The unions argue that the pending policy, which BNSF plans to implement Feb. 1, repudiates numerous collectively bargained agreements currently in place throughout the BNSF system. “This unprecedented BNSF policy repudiates direct and clear contract language, and in application, will attempt to force our members to report for duty without regard for their medical condition as we struggle to come out of a pandemic,” BLET National President Dennis Pierce and SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson said in a news release.

BNSF’s new Hi-Viz policy is a points-based system which, according to the unions, penalizes employees — who in many cases have no assigned days off — any time they take time off work for practically any reason. In an FAQ that BNSF sent to its employees, the railroad said it “must improve crew availability to remain competitive in the industry” and that their revised Hi-Viz program helps with this issue “by incentivizing consistent and reliable attendance.” BNSF claims that a reduction in absenteeism will improve predictability of work assignments. The unions counter that if the BNSF instead focused efforts on predictable scheduling of assignments and management of its furloughed employees, there would be no need to impose attendance policies.

“It also stands to take away any ability by our members to avoid working fatigued when they are routinely called without warning due to the complete lack of reliable train lineups, thus creating the potential for an even more unsafe railroad operation. So-called ‘forced overtime’ in an industry where safety is so critical not only repudiates our agreements, it stands to enact irreparable harm on hundreds of full-time employees whose nonworkplace obligations prevent them from being at work every day of their life,” the union leaders said.

On Jan. 12, President Pierce and President Ferguson gave permission to their organizations’ respective BNSF General Committees of Adjustment to begin polling their membership regarding a withdrawal from service over the dispute. Under BLET internal law, a majority of the membership at any given railroad, or their Local Chairmen, must vote in favor of a strike and the national president and the general chairmen must approve the date for any withdrawal from service. Under the SMART Constitution, the union’s leadership may authorize a strike after the affected general chairpersons obtain two-thirds majority approval from the local chairpersons under their jurisdiction.

[innocentamit]

Union Pacific Railroad Files Public Prosecutions on Charges Against Joe Biden Institutions

Union Pacific Railroad Files Public Prosecutions on Charges Against Joe Biden Institutions

GOOD, International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers, is one of the most powerful and diverse partnerships in North America 203,000 members. The union is made up of metalworkers, technicians, bus drivers, engineers, directors, signatories, welders, manufacturing workers and many more. SMART is the largest railway network in North America, with more than 500…

[deblala]

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/10/boom-sheet-metal-air-rail-transportation-union-smart-203000-members-announces-stand-forced-vaccines/

[donporterbeatcancer]

Vile communist dems in Wash DC

[thechristiancrusader]

STAND STRONG! https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2021/10/boom-sheet-metal-air-rail-transportation-union-smart-203000-members-announces-stand-forced-vaccines/

[blogloverluminary]

Don’t QUIT ! UNITE and POOL your MONEY - SUE SUE SUE !