News and Media

Rail unions want railroads to take some of the billions they’re using every year to buy back their stock and spend it to improve safety in the wake of several high-profile derailments and hire more workers.

The 12 unions that represent all of the more than 100,000 workers across the industry said Friday that collectively the six biggest freight railroads spent over $165 billion on buybacks — well above the $119 billion they spent on upgrading and maintaining their track and equipment between 2015 and last year. At the same time, their safety record worsened as they cut costs and eliminated nearly one-third of all rail jobs.

“I think it has become increasingly apparent that the priorities of the railroads are out of whack,” said Greg Regan, president of the AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department coalition that includes all the rail unions.

U.S. labor unions called on railroad operators to halt all stock buybacks until they improve safety and abandon their lean operating model, which regulators and shippers say has led to deterioration in the quality of service.

The unions have blamed Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR), a concept that encourages running longer trains on fixed schedule with lesser staffing, for worsening working conditions for employees, while shoring up profit for railroads.

Railroads, however, say PSR helps provide predictable and consistent service to customers.

WASHINGTON — Today, 14 U.S. rail labor organizations, representing more than 100,000 freight rail workers, launched a public safety campaign demanding that U.S. freight rail corporations halt all stock buybacks until safety improves across the industry. The No Stock Buybacks campaign, and the accompanying petition, is available at NoStockBuybacks.org. Since 2015, the six publicly-traded U.S. […]

WASHINGTON —  Today, U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), a Chief Deputy Whip and a senior member of the House Budget Committee, alongside Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) and Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Deb Fischer (R-NE), introduced the bipartisan, bicameral Railroad Employee Equity and Fairness (REEF) Act, which would remove sequestration constraints on the unemployment insurance program for […]

WASHINGTON —  Today, U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (IL-09), a Chief Deputy Whip and a senior member of the House Budget Committee, alongside Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01) and Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), and Deb Fischer (R-NE), introduced the bipartisan, bicameral Railroad Employee Equity and Fairness (REEF) Act, which would remove sequestration constraints on […]

WASHINGTON — Greg Regan and Shari Semelsberger, President and Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD), released this statement as the House Aviation Subcommittee holds a hearing on “FAA Reauthorization: Examining the Current and Future Challenges Facing the Aerospace Workforce“: “Today, the nation’s largest transportation labor federation, representing 37 unions and millions of workers […]

Amid reported difficulty recruiting employees who can pass drug tests, the American Waterways Operators (AWO) is one of the organizations hoping a new testing method gains approval for transportation workers.

Oral fluid testing was approved as scientifically valid by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Science in 2019 and is under consideration by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), which issued a proposed rulemaking last year. A final rulemaking, initially expected in December 2022, was never issued.

If approved by the DOT, the Coast Guard would also have to approve the testing for it to be valid on the nation’s waterways.

Reported by Ian Kullgren for Bloomberg Law.

Several large US unions saw double-digit growth in 2022 at the same time employers were weathering a tight labor market and a wave of worker dissatisfaction, according to a Bloomberg Law analysis of new federal filings from the previous calendar year.

Annual union disclosures to the US Department of Labor offer the most detailed look yet at how labor groups have flourished—and struggled—in the post-pandemic economy. More than 50 groups that filed membership and financial disclosures in the past month reported a collective net membership increase of 3%, slightly higher than what the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in January, though the results vary by industry.

WASHINGTON, DC – Nobody wants to experience a nightmare at 30,000 feet, trapped in close quarters aboard an aircraft with a violent passenger who is brawling their way into the ‘air rage passenger hall of shame.’ But sky-high levels of disgraceful violence directed at flight crews and fellow passengers has become rampant. Now, a bipartisan group of […]

WASHINGTON, DC – Nobody wants to experience a nightmare at 30,000 feet, trapped in close quarters aboard an aircraft with a violent passenger who is brawling their way into the ‘air rage passenger hall of shame.’  But sky-high levels of disgraceful violence directed at flight crews and fellow passengers has become rampant.  Now, a bipartisan group of […]