The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) has awarded the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak) up to $8,800,000 in Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvement (CRISI) grant money for a Engineering Track Foremen Workforce Development Apprenticeship Training Program in Pennsylvania.
U.S. Representatives Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) and Jamaal Bowman, Ed.D. (D-N.Y.) introduced the Rail Worker and Community Safety Act. This bill will make much needed improvements to federal rail safety regulations, including mandates for a two-person crew, changes to ways hazardous materials can be transported, increases funding for rail safety inspectors, and codifies mandatory sick leave for all rail workers.
An appropriations bill advanced out of the U.S. House Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee calls for crippling spending cuts to Amtrak that would threaten extinction of the network and the loss of thousands of jobs, including those of hardworking BMWED members.
The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters congratulates Ms. Deirdre Hamilton as the newest chairperson of the National Mediation Board.
Please find the letter sent on behalf of BMWED American System Rail Federation General Chairman Jonathan Long to Ohio Gov. Michael DeWine regarding the situation in East Palestine, Ohio at the site of the Norfolk Southern derailment and our Brotherhood’s concerns about their original proposal for paid sick leave for NS MOW workers and proper PPE on the ground for workers on the scene.
The office of the Director of Government Affairs in Washington, D.C., will mail the 2023 Legislative Convention election credential forms (along with instructions) to all BMWED Local Lodges on January 1, 2023.
The push for paid sick time off could potentially lead to Congressional action. While we hope the carriers will acknowledge the concerns of their employees and negotiate with us, it is important that we are prepared for their unwillingness to address quality of life concerns.
The U.S. Senate confirmed Amit Bose as the 15th Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration Jan. 12.