Daily Headlines
Railroads resist joining confidential safety program because they want to be able to discipline workers
(Source: Associated Press, August 24, 2023) The major freight railroads say a disagreement over whether they will be allowed to discipline some workers who use a government hotline to report safety concerns has kept them from following through on the promise they made...
Unions urge Class Is to enroll in close call safety reporting system
(Source: Progressive Railroading, August 18, 2023) The Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the AFL-CIO has urged the CEOs of six major freight railroads operating in the United States to formally join the federal Confidential Close Call Reporting System. The...
Union Pacific furloughs shop and intermodal terminal workers
(Source: Trains.com, August 24, 2023) Union Pacific furloughed 94 mechanical employees at shops across the system this week. Nearly two-thirds of the furloughs came from four locations: Kansas City, Mo.; Dolores, Calif.; North Platte, Neb.; and Pocatello, Idaho. The...
Teamsters Canada accuses CN of secretly tracking employee’s location
(Source: CTV News, August 23, 2023) The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, which is the union that represents 5,500 Canadian National railway employees, alleges CN has been monitoring the whereabouts of a train operator outside of work hours through a company-issued...
CPKC says Union Pacific aims to stifle competition for Gulf Coast grain
(Source: Trains.com, August 21, 2023) Union Pacific’s contention that Kansas City Southern can’t haul grain from the Upper Midwest to the Gulf Coast using trackage rights south of Beaumont, Texas, is “revisionist history,” Canadian Pacific Kansas City has told federal...
Tropical storm hits UP line in Texas; repair work continues in California
(Source: Trains.com, August 23, 2023) Union Pacific is now dealing with flooding along Texas’ Gulf Coast as a result of Tropical Storm Harold, adding to the issues it continues to address in Southern California from Tropical Storm Hilary. Full story: Trains.com
Appeals court returns construction plan for Utah oil train route back to STB
(Source: Freight Waves, August 21, 2023) A three-person panel of judges determined that the Surface Transportation Board’s review of a planned project to construct an 85-mile-long rail line in the Uinta Basin in Utah that would carry crude oil was insufficient and...
BLET News
Registration open for upcoming rail hazmat training classes
BLET, TCU call for safety examination of remote control operations after death of CSX carman
BLET backs new rail safety bill introduced in Congress
Iowa: Working hard to grow the BLET PAC Fund
Gallup poll: More in U.S. see unions strengthening and want it that way
Obituary: Retired BLET General Chairman Dennis Penning
New England Central: New BLET contract provides general wage increases of 22%
Education & Training: Secretary-Treasurers complete workshop
Locomotive engineers at NJ Transit take contract battle to passengers and to New Jersey’s voters
Daily Headlines
Railroads resist joining confidential safety program because they want to be able to discipline workers
(Source: Associated Press, August 24, 2023) The major freight railroads say a disagreement over whether they will be allowed to discipline some workers who use a government hotline to report safety concerns has kept them from following through on the promise they made...
Unions urge Class Is to enroll in close call safety reporting system
(Source: Progressive Railroading, August 18, 2023) The Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the AFL-CIO has urged the CEOs of six major freight railroads operating in the United States to formally join the federal Confidential Close Call Reporting System. The...
Union Pacific furloughs shop and intermodal terminal workers
(Source: Trains.com, August 24, 2023) Union Pacific furloughed 94 mechanical employees at shops across the system this week. Nearly two-thirds of the furloughs came from four locations: Kansas City, Mo.; Dolores, Calif.; North Platte, Neb.; and Pocatello, Idaho. The...
Teamsters Canada accuses CN of secretly tracking employee’s location
(Source: CTV News, August 23, 2023) The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference, which is the union that represents 5,500 Canadian National railway employees, alleges CN has been monitoring the whereabouts of a train operator outside of work hours through a company-issued...
CPKC says Union Pacific aims to stifle competition for Gulf Coast grain
(Source: Trains.com, August 21, 2023) Union Pacific’s contention that Kansas City Southern can’t haul grain from the Upper Midwest to the Gulf Coast using trackage rights south of Beaumont, Texas, is “revisionist history,” Canadian Pacific Kansas City has told federal...
Tropical storm hits UP line in Texas; repair work continues in California
(Source: Trains.com, August 23, 2023) Union Pacific is now dealing with flooding along Texas’ Gulf Coast as a result of Tropical Storm Harold, adding to the issues it continues to address in Southern California from Tropical Storm Hilary. Full story: Trains.com
Appeals court returns construction plan for Utah oil train route back to STB
(Source: Freight Waves, August 21, 2023) A three-person panel of judges determined that the Surface Transportation Board’s review of a planned project to construct an 85-mile-long rail line in the Uinta Basin in Utah that would carry crude oil was insufficient and...
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