Two members lost in accidents

Our union is in mourning after losing two of its active members this week: one in a work-related fatality and one in a traffic accident.

Ryan Sandy, 37, a member of Local 662 (Richmond, Va.) and a former local chairperson of LCA-201C, was killed in an on-the-job accident at 2:45 a.m., Monday, Oct. 12 in the Acca Yard in Henrico County, Va.

Sandy had been a member of SMART Transportation Division since February 2009 and worked as a conductor for CSX.

An online fundraiser has been established for his family at www.GoFundMe.com. Brother Sandy leaves behind a wife and five children.

“We are all shocked and saddened by his passing,” fundraiser organizer Michael Carter posted. “It’s now our turn to give back and help his wife and their children as they deal with the loss of their loving husband and father.”

The National Transportation Safety Board has launched an investigation into Brother Sandy’s death, marking a change brought about by the insistence of SMART-TD safety leaders.

A number of worker fatalities over the past two years involving union workers went without an NTSB-led investigation, a situation that SMART-TD leadership made clear needed to be changed.

Across the country, Local 556 (Tacoma, Wash.) is mourning the loss of one of its officers.

Clayton Hoffman III, general chairperson of GCA-TMB (Tacoma Municipal Beltline) and local chairperson of LCA-TMB1, died in a fatal traffic accident in Vancouver, Wash. He was 43 years old.

The circumstances of GC Hoffman’s death are being investigated. He had been a member of the union since April 2004.

This article will be updated as additional information is received.