September 7, 2007 —Unit 320 International Representative Leonard Bauman of North Little Rock, Arkansas, has been elected Chairman of the Carmen Division Executive Board. In that capacity he also now serves as a Grand Lodge Trustee. The appointment was made to fill the vacancy left by the retirement of J. V. Waller at the end of August. Bauman started
August 15, 2007—Clerical Canadian Pacific Railroad (SOO Line) members, represented by TCU Unit 46, overwhelmingly ratified an agreement on August 15 with 91 percent of those voting. The contract contains the same pay increases as the national agreement (which was ratified not long after), but more importantly, it brings these members into the TCU National
May 2007 —Bernie Reading, supervisor for Amtrak in Lancaster, PA, announced to members of the track crew that they had reached—and soon would pass—a safety milestone of 470 days on the job without injury. He is seen in the photo at right thanking the crew members for their diligence and continuing efforts to stay safe while Assistant Supervisor
April 11, 2007 — International Representative Joe Derillo joined Lodge 5056 General Chairman Clarence Spurlock in Hamlet, North Carolina, to meet with Supervisors Division members there and have a walk around the CSX shop there. “It was impressive,” said Derillo, to see how well the shop and repair tracks were maintained. The shop was going on
March 22, 2007 — Members of Lodge 5058 at Amtrak’s Hialeah, Florida yards met this day with Supervisors International Representative Joe Derillo. Discussion at the meeting focused on their concerns about ongoing negotiations of their contract. Also up for review were corporate computer practices. Derillo reports that members “did not hold back” in expressing their thoughts
The Union Plus program has an online retirement center to help plan for the future. One caution: the site works with an assumption of Social Security benefits and does not consider Railroad Retirement benefits. To adjust for this, get estimates of your retirement benefits from the RRB’s website here.
June 19, 2007—TCU’s Dennis O’Malley has been appointed to the Department of Labor’s new 16-member Advisory Committee on Job Corps. O’Malley is director of TCU’s Manpower Training Department which administers the Job Corps Advanced Transportation program at eight facilities nationwide. (Overseeing the work of the TCU department is International Vice President David Steele.) In her announcement, DoL
WRSA System Board 555 held its semi-annual convention in El Paso April 30-May 2, 2007. In elections held May 2, Brian O’Reilly (District 5517) was voted General Chairman and Carla Henderson-Bradley (District 5504) as General Secretary/Vice General Chairperson. Chosen to serve on the Board of Trustees are Chairman Allen Brunson (District 5513) and Members Lloyd Gibson (District
Court Backs Labor on FMLA Leave February 28, 2007—In what TCU legal experts call a “major victory,” the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld the position of rail labor that where a collective bargaining agreement grants employees the right to determine when or how they use paid vacations or personal leave, those provisions prevent
