TTD in the news

WASHINGTON, May 17 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), along with 42 of their colleagues in the Senate and 80 in the House of Representatives, today introduced legislation that would ensure the United States finally joins virtually every other major country […]

Rail union representatives are poised to adopt a policy statement that urges Congress to pass a rail safety bill — one that mandates a minimum of two-person crew sizes on all passenger and freight trains, regulates train lengths exceeding 7,500 feet and ensures adequate inspections of rail cars, locomotives and brakes.

The latest policy statement of the Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the AFL-CIO cites at least 18 areas where regulations and guidance via the Federal Railroad Administration can bolster existing rail safety practices. TTD expects to formally adopt the statement at its spring summit on Wednesday, when 37 unions, including all U.S. rail labor unions, are convening at AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington.

Reported by Marybeth Luczak for Railway Age.

The rail industry’s role in overcoming supply chain challenges was the theme of a May 11 hearing of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials. It was part of what the T&I Committee called its continued “focus on ongoing supply chain challenges throughout the transportation sector, with the goal of identifying potential legislative solutions.” Among the five witnesses was American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) President Chuck Baker, who urged Congress members “to wield their pen with precision.”

Reported by Progressive Railroading.

Rail, shipper and labor representatives yesterday testified on rail industry supply-chain “resilience and challenges” at a hearing called by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Rail, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials.

Chaired by U.S. Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas), the subcommittee members heard testimony from and asked questions of Association of American Railroads President and CEO Ian Jefferies, American Short Line Regional Railroad Association President Chuck Baker, American Chemistry Council President and CEO Chris Jahn and Transportation Trades Department (TTD) AFL-CIO President Greg Regan.

Reported by Joanna Marsh for Freightwaves.

Longer trains, employee morale and the role of technology in freight rail operations came under at times withering scrutiny at a U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing.

The hearing, convened to discuss supply chain challenges in the freight rail industry, became a forum for discussion of hot-button topics. Five witnesses at the Thursday hearing spelled out ongoing concerns of stakeholders.

Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, President Greg Regan joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and spoke about the current battle between the TTD and railroad carriers, as the unions demand a stop to stock buybacks until improved safety measures are in place.

Recently, the TTD began a campaign that demands railroad companies not buy back their stock until the industry’s safety improves. Since 2015, the six publicly-traded U.S. freight rail companies spent over $165 billion on stock buybacks. That amount is at least $46 billion more than they invested in safety, as the ratio for derailments to every million miles traveled increased from 1.71 derailments in 2013 to nearly 2 in 2022, he added.

Fourteen unions representing more than 100,000 freight-rail workers have launched a campaign demanding that U.S. freight-rail corporations stop all stock buybacks until rail safety improves.

On the nostockbuybacks.org website, unions ask railroad executives to stop using the precision scheduled railroading business model and decrease the rate of safety accidents across the industry so that workers feel safe.

“Since 2015, the big six publicly traded U.S. freight rail companies spent more than $165 billion in stock buybacks, which is at least $46 billion more than they invested in safety,” the unions claimed in a press release.

Negotiations between U.S. Class I railroads and unions representing operating craft employees, such as locomotive engineers and train conductors, regarding sick leave and scheduling will likely last through summer, according to Jeremy Ferguson, president for the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers – Transportation Division (SMART-TD).

The unions and the railroads have been charged to hash out scheduling issues at the local level or the property level, as opposed to the national level. The Presidential Emergency Board, a three-person committee that had been appointed by President Joe Biden to help the railroads and the unions push through an impasse in national contract negotiations last summer, affirmed this course of action last year.

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.