Reported by Lillianna Byington and Andrew Small for Bloomberg Government.
Today marks six months since a train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio drew national attention to rail safety — and workers want the anniversary to jump-start action.
“On this somber occasion, rail labor unions once again renew our calls for safety reforms,” the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO said in a statement Thursday. “To the people of East Palestine: we have not forgotten you.”
Despite the initial inertia behind a legislative push for reforms to the industry, progress on moving changes forward in Congress is stalled. Unions are using the half-year mark to urge Congress to pass a comprehensive rail safety bill, pointing to more than 60 high-profile derailments since the Norfolk Southern chemical train derailed in Ohio, Lillianna Byington reports.
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