TTD in the news

Reported by Laura Clawson for Daily Kos. Residents of East Palestine, Ohio, have been told it’s safe to go back to their homes after a train derailment forced the controlled release and burn of toxic chemicals—but they’re not all so sure about that. Some complain about lingering chemical odors and wonder what that means for…

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Reported my Mary Kennedy for Progressive Farmer. Shortly after the announcement by CSX Transportation that approximately 5,000 CSX engineering and maintenance workers from two unions would receive paid sick leave, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Mike Braun, R-Ind., held a press conference demanding all the railroads provide workers with at least seven paid sick…

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Reported by Train. The Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, a coalition of 37 transportation-related unions including several related to railroading, is calling on the Federal Railroad Administration to require Class I railroads to participate in the Confidential Close Call Reporting System, a currently voluntary method of tracking and addressing near-accident situations. In a letter…

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Reported by Railfan & Railroad Staff for Railfan & Railroad Magazine. CSX Transportation announced this week that it had agreed to provide paid sick leave to approximately 5,000 engineering and mechanical employees represented by Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way and Brotherhood of Railway Carmen. The move is a first for frontline railroaders at a Class…

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Reported by Josh Funk for AP News. The fiery derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals — sending a huge plume of smoke in the air and forcing residents of a small Ohio town to evacuate — has highlighted the potentially disastrous consequences of train accidents and raised questions about railroad safety. The railroad industry…

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Reported by Lori Ann LaRocco for CNBC. Railroad carriers were able to avoid the issue of paid sick leave in the deal Congress struck to avert a nationwide rail strike late last year, but the pressure is back on in Washington, D.C. Freight rail companies were put on notice this week to offer comprehensive sick…

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Reported by William C. Vantuono for Railway Age. Following CSX’s deal with two of its labor unions to enact paid sick leave, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Feb. 8 sent a letter to the CEOs of BNSF, Canadian Pacific, CN, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific urging that they all take CSX’s lead…

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Reported by Mark Gruenberg for People’s World. A fiery freight train wreck in East Palestine, Ohio, involving hazardous materials in tank cars, was a direct result of Norfolk Southern cost-cutting which led to little maintenance and an undiscovered safety problem, the top organization for rank-and-file railroaders says. And corporate greed to satisfy Wall Street led…

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Reported by Bob Hennelly for Work-Bites.Com. Throughout the recent hazardous chemical freight train derailment in Ohio and the four-day ordeal that followed while the flaming wreck was stabilized, the one perspective that was consistently missing from the reporting was that of the union railroad workers. It didn’t matter if it was the New York Times,…

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Reported by Jake Johnson for Common Dreams. Sen. Bernie Sanders announced Tuesday that he will join rail workers later this week to launch a fresh push for at least seven days of paid sick leave, an effort that comes months after Congress and the Biden White House forced workers to accept a contract without a…

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