TTD in the news

Railroad workers have been sounding the alarm for years over railway safety concerns, and a string of recent train derailments have brought these issues into the spotlight.

Greg Regan, the president of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department, said he has raised safety concerns in front of Congress multiple times in the past, saying it’s not that train accidents are up in the last few months, but they’ve been up over the last 10 years.

Reported by Timothy Noah for The New Republic.

On February 3, a Norfolk Southern freight train derailed near East Palestine, Ohio, a small town (pop. 4,800) situated on the Pennsylvania border 20 miles south of Youngstown. The derailment spewed vinyl chloride and other toxic chemicals into the air, killing fish in nearby streams and prompting an evacuation. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican, warned that anyone who lingered in the immediate area would face “grave danger of death.” Five days later, DeWine said it was safe to return home, but local residents continued to report headaches and nausea.

If all this sounds reminiscent of Don DeLillo’s 1985 novel White Noise and Noah Baumbach’s 2022 film adaptation of same, just imagine how it felt to Ben Ratner, an East Palestine resident who, along with various family members, worked as an extra on the movie when Baumbach was shooting nearby. “The first half … is all almost exactly what’s going on here,” Ratner told CNN.

Reported by Christopher Wilson and Caitlin Dickson for Yahoo News.

The fallout continues from the derailment of a train carrying toxic chemicals near the Ohio-Pennsylvania border earlier this month, as local residents file lawsuits and some cast doubt on official assurances about air and water quality.

The derailment and evacuation

On Feb. 3, 50 train cars operated by Norfolk Southern derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, a town of about 5,000 people located 50 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. That derailment resulted in a massive fire and Gov. Mike DeWine ordering an evacuation on Sunday, Feb. 5.

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 the air they’re breathing and the water they’re drinking.

On Sunday, a local news channel reported three chemicals—ethylene glycol monobutyl ether, ethylhexyl acrylate, and isobutylene—on the train in addition to the vinyl chloride and butyl acrylate previously reported. “There’s a lot of what-ifs, and we’re going to be looking at this thing 5, 10, 15, 20 years down the line and wondering, ‘Gee, cancer clusters could pop up, you know, well water could go bad,” Sil Caggiano, a former Youngtown Fire Department battalion chief and hazmat expert told First News.

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 days.

At the Feb. 9 press conference, Sanders and Braun were joined by representatives from SMART-TD, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS), the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes (BMWED), the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department, and the National Association of Chemical Distributors.

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 Thursday to FRA Administration Amit Bose, TTD President Greg Regan writes that freight rail operations require greater federal oversight and that “dangerous cost-cutting practices … pose real threats to workers and public safety.”

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 […]

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 is generally regarded as the safest option for most goods and federal data show accidents involving hazardous materials are exceedingly rare. But with rails crossing through the heart of nearly every city and town nationwide, even one hazardous materials accident could be disastrous, especially in a populated area.

Rail unions believe the industry has gotten riskier in recent years after widespread job cuts left workers spread thin.

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 time for their union workers or they will find themselves testifying before the Senate.

In a joint press conference, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee, and Senator Mike Braun (R-Ind.) a member of the committee, demanded railroad carriers offer workers at least seven paid sick days. Sanders mentioned the record profits of the railroad carriers and urged the companies to “do the right thing.”

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 and enact similar provisions. He added that he would be holding a hearing on the matter “in the near future” and is hosting a Feb. 9 rally described as a “press conference” with rail labor leaders in Washington, D.C.

“As you know, a few months ago, a majority in the United States Senate and the House of Representatives voted for legislation to guarantee seven paid sick days to every rail worker in America,” Sanders, the erstwhile populist Presidential candidate well known for his signature positions on free health care and college educations “for all,” wrote. “While this legislation was filibustered in the Senate by a minority of Senators, this issue has not been forgotten by Members of Congress or the committee of jurisdiction over this matter—the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee.”