The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) has announced that during the lapse in Federal funding for certain Government operations which began October 1, ongoing benefit payments will continue and all RRB offices are expected to remain open. RRB field offices, operating with reduced staffs, may also accept new claims for unemployment and sickness benefits, but
In a letter to Kenneth Gradia, Chairman of the National Carriers Conference Committee (NCCC), the Cooperating Railway Labor Organizations (CRLO) Chairman Bob Scardelletti asked for the matter of spousal benefits for same-sex married couples to be immediately addressed. In the letter Scardelletti states, “On behalf of the Cooperating Railway Labor Organizations (“CRLO”), I am writing
Beginning October 1, 2013, the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) will reduce railroad unemployment and sickness insurance benefits by 7.2 percent due to Federal budget cuts first implemented in March 2013. Since that time, these benefits had been reduced by 9.2 percent. The adjusted reduction amount is based on revised projections of benefit claims and
TCU/IAM President Bob Scardelletti defended negotiated health care plans that are under attack by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) also known as Obamacare. At the recent AFL-CIO Convention, President Scardelletti called for the elimination of the ACA’s 40 percent excise tax. “I support President Obama. And we all want health care for all,” said Scardelletti.
Stated in a recent Bloomberg release – Growth in union-represented workers’ wages and salaries and total benefits far outpaced that of nonunion workers over the 12 months ended in June, according to Bloomberg BNA’s analysis of private sector figures released Sept. 11 2013 by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. Average wages and salaries
The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) has ordered Pan Am Railways Inc. to pay $50,000 in compensatory and punitive damages, as well as take corrective action, on behalf of an injured worker. The North Billerica-based commercial railroad adversely charged the worker with lying when he filed a Federal Railroad Safety Act complaint with the department’s
The Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), of which TCU is a member, recently endorsed the changes by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to Buy America policy that will lead to job creation and stronger transportation and manufacturing sectors. “TTD and our affiliated unions have long advocated for strong transportation Buy America policies,” said TTD President
Thomas F. Tarchak, Jr., 39, of Simpson, PA., died Monday morning, August 26, 2013 from injuries sustained in a work related accident in Harpursville, NY. His fiance’ is Anne Peterka. They were to be married August 2014. Born May 6, 1974 in Carbondale, PA., he was the son of Thomas F., Sr. and Judy Williamson
In a recent release by Canadian National, the CN Spotlight highlighted TCU members in the CN Car Shop in Geismar, Louisiana for 9,000 days without an injury and counting. “We’ve worked hard to establish a real safety culture here and it definitely has paid off,” says General Mechanical Supervisor Dan Hendrix. Dan attributes the team’s
Railroad retirement benefits are subject to reduction if an employee with less than 30 years of service retires before attaining full retirement age. While employees with less than 30 years of service may still retire at age 62, the age at which full retirement benefits are payable has been gradually increasing since the year 2000,
