News

The International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers’ Transportation Division (SMART-TD) is standing with its fellow rail labor union, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWED), in its lawsuit against BNSF Railway. The lawsuit alleges that BNSF has violated the Railway Labor Act by reducing its Maintenance of Way workforce…

Five General Committees ratify tentative agreement securing up to eight sick days The oldest railroad in the nation has finally realized that people get sick. About 6,000 SMART Transportation Division conductors and trainmen have secured paid sick leave from Union Pacific after voting to ratify a tentative agreement. The agreement was reached July 10 by…

This letter was co-signed by Greg Regan, the president of the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, of which the SMART Transportation Division and SMART Mechanical Divisions are members. July 31, 2023 The Honorable Patty MurrayChairCommittee on AppropriationsUnited States SenateWashington DC 20510 The Honorable Susan CollinsVice ChairCommittee on AppropriationsUnited States SenateWashington DC 20510 The Honorable…

Vice President John D. “J.D.” Whitaker III, whose vital and key roles in negotiating numerous contracts on the general committee and national levels that improved the lives of many SMART-TD rail members, passed away July 27, 2023, of cancer. VP Whitaker was 50 years old. “It is a tremendous loss for John’s family — his…

Charles “Al” Nowlin, a stalwart supporter of the union through and through and a multiple-term general chairperson for GO-569, passed away unexpectedly April 24. He was 68 years old. “Al was a true brother to all of us. He was steadfastly dedicated to our cause and that of the labor movement in general,” SMART Transportation…