(The International Brotherhood of Teamsters issued the following on June 29, 2010.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has announced the appointment of Rick Inclima, Director of Safety for the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWED), to a two-year term on the Transit Rail Advisory Committee for Safety (TRACS).
“I congratulate Brother Inclima on his appointment to a committee that will undoubtedly have an impact on the safety of our rail members and transit systems nationwide,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. “Our rail members face hazardous working conditions every day, and having a strong advocate for their safety will benefit them.”
The committee is a result of President Obama’s Public Transportation Safety Program Act of 2009, which authorized the U.S. Transportation Department to establish federal safety standards for rail transit systems, reversing a prohibition that had been in effect since 1965.
Inclima has been a member of the BMWED since 1975 and the Director of Safety since 1998. Inclima originally hired out as a trackman with the Penn Central Railroad and spent most of his railroad career as a Welder Foreman in Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. He earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree from the National Labor College/Antioch in 1998 and currently serves as BMWED’s representative on the Federal Railroad Administration’s Rail Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC).
The 20 new members of TRACS represent state and local transit agencies, state safety oversight organizations, transit employee unions, industry associations and other stakeholders.
The BMWED is a division of the Teamsters Rail Conference and represents more than 35,000 men and women engaged in the construction, repair and maintenance of railroad tracks, bridges, structures and equipment on our nation’s railroads. Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.