WASHINGTON– Greg Regan, President of the Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the AFL-CIO, issued the following statement after the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) issued final rules that require railroads to establish formal programs for the certification and training of dispatchers and signalmen:
“As the nation’s largest transportation labor federation, representing the entirety of freight rail labor, we applaud these long-awaited rules from the Biden Administration on train dispatcher and signal employee certification. Mandated by the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008, these are major steps toward progress for rail worker and industry safety. Prior to these rulings, signal employees and dispatchers have been subjected to unsafe practices by railroads, including inadequate training and assigned tasks outside of their expertise and craft.
“Specialized programs, standardized training and certification requirements will better protect and prepare signal employees and dispatchers on the job. Rail labor looks forward to our continued collaboration with the FRA in pursuit of enhanced railroad safety, and we thank Administrator Amit Bose and Secretary Pete Buttigieg for their consideration of rail labor’s perspective in the rulemaking process.”
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