WASHINGTON — Greg Regan and Shari Semelsberger, President and Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD), issued this statement after the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released a preliminary report on the East Palestine derailment:
“Rail unions and their workers are dedicated to ensuring that when railroads adopt technologies, such as wayside defect detectors, they do so under the strongest possible safety parameters. The details of the NTSB’s initial report and Chair Homendy’s remarks in today’s media briefing lead us to believe that there is room for improvement surrounding Norfolk Southern’s use of these detectors.
As NTSB Chair Homendy said in today’s briefing, all accidents are preventable. Rail labor unions and workers have been sounding the alarm about preventable rail accidents for years and are exploring all solutions to create a safer rail system for all.”
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