News and Media

America’s Work Force Union Podcast.

AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department President Greg Regan joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and provided an update on the impasse reached by major railroads and their unions that had been turned over for moderation by President Biden’s Presidential Emergency Board.

The board released its recommendations, which the unions are currently reviewing, Regan said. He stressed that neither side is getting what they wanted, but compromises have been suggested. He also talked about how the freight railroad industry is massively underperforming and failing to meet the needs of the nation and how the low number of railway workers has contributed to the problem.

Reported by Sarah Zimmerman for Supply Chain Dive.

A labor dispute board appointed by the Biden administration proposed railroads raise wages by 24% over the course of a five-year contract, a major step toward resolving a negotiation stalemate that carriers say has made it harder to retain workers and address service declines.

The Presidential Emergency Board released its recommendations Wednesday for a proposed contract that would address issues related to wages, healthcare and other benefits. Workers have gone without a raise since 2019 as negotiations have dragged on, and the Board noted that railroads and unions were more than $9 billion apart in their proposals.

WASHINGTON – Greg Regan and Shari Semelsberger, President and Secretary-Treasurer of the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, issued this statement in response to the Federal Transit Administration’s announcement of $1.6 billion in Bipartisan Infrastructure Law transit funding, including $43.4 million for transit worker training on zero-emission buses:  “The Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) announcement of […]

Reported by Kari Hamanaka for Sourcing Journal.

Surface Transportation Board (STB) chair Marty Oberman didn’t sound optimistic Friday about the state of rail , but vowed the STB is doing what it can to right mounting railroad congestion issues.

“We’re using every tool that we have available at the board to oversee this and to hold the railroads accountable,” Oberman said Friday during a rail-focused roundtable organized by the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO union that also included several port and rail labor leaders.

The STB is the federal agency that regulates mostly freight rail , but ultimately has reach across all modes of surface transportation.

“Despite the hard work of our nation’s dedicated rail and port workers, there is a looming cargo logjam just as retailers are gearing up for a busy holiday season,” Transportation Trades Department president Greg Regan said during the roundtable.

Reported by Donna Littlejohn for Los Angeles Daily News, reposted in Transport Topics.

In January, a record 109 ships awaited entry into the combined ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, often stretching to south Orange County.

It marked a peak in the supply chain congestion that has bedeviled the nation’s two busiest ports during much of the pandemic.

On Aug. 11, that number stood at nine ships.

“Just amazing,” Port of L.A. Executive Director Gene Seroka said about the decline.

Reported by Joanna Marsh for Freightwaves.

Surface Transportation Board Chairman Marty Oberman expressed doubt that the four major U.S. Class I railroads could ramp up rail service and reach the service targets they laid out by December.

In response to deteriorating service metrics, the STB in June required Union Pacific (NYSE: UNP), BNSF (NYSE: BRK.B), CSX (NASDAQ: CSX) and Norfolk Southern (NYSE: NSC) to resubmit plans detailing how they expect to improve rail service through the end of the year.

“I have to say that if you look at the regular reporting metrics we’re getting, they are a long way from their six-month targets and we’re about halfway through that six-month period. So I’m not optimistic about the pace at which rail service can recover,” Oberman said at a Friday virtual roundtable moderated by the head of Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO.

WASHINGTON – Greg Regan and Shari Semelsberger, President and Secretary-Treasurer of the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, issued this statement in response to congressional passage of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA): “The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) is a historic win for working people. “The IRA’s landmark investments in our clean energy economy and quality […]

Reported on Newsy YouTube.

TTD President Greg Regan joined Newsy’s Morning Rush to discuss the latest on the national labor fight between freight railroad workers and their employers. August 12, 2022

Reported by William Padmore for Nebraska Public Media.

Freight rail workers are threatening to strike pending ongoing contract negotiations with the carriers they work for. If a strike does happen, roughly 116,000 workers will bring freight rail in the country to a halt, bringing difficulties to an already suffering supply chain.

Railroads are a critical part of the nation’s supply chain. Every year tons of resources like petroleum, lumber, food, and even packages from Amazon are moved across the country to ports and rail yards.

Reported by Julie Sneider for Progressive Railroading.

As anticipated by many in the rail industry, the Federal Railroad Administration last month announced a proposed rulemaking that would require railroads to use a minimum of two-person train crews for all operations, with only a few exceptions.

If adopted, the new regulation would also establish minimum requirements for the location of crew members on a moving train.