| Serving the California members of the United Transportation Union |
1005 12th Street, Suite 4
Sacramento CA 95814-3920
916-441-2051
916-441-2054 Fax
information@utucslb.org
|
| Death Rides The Rails | “It’s as if 9/11 never occurred and public safety and national security must take a back seat to increased profits and bigger executive bonuses," said UTU International President Paul Thompson, reflecting on Union Pacific Railroad’s attempt to run trains non-stop and without safety inspections from within Mexico deep into the United States.
The Federal Railroad Administration on Feb. 7 will hear just such a request from Union Pacific -- the railroad whose monumental operational snafus and high number of train accidents have made it a poster child for failed railroad merger policy.
The FRA hearing will be held in Laredo, Texas, the busiest of U.S. rail border crossings from Mexico.
Already at war with many of its customers over poor service and escalating prices for that service, Union Pacific now is seeking authority to avoid safety inspections on U.S. soil and run trains from Mexico as far as 1,500 miles through and into major U.S. metropolitan areas.
Those cities include Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Little Rock, New Orleans, St. Louis, and San Antonio -- the latter already no stranger to Union Pacific mayhem.
In June 2004, two residents of rural Bexar County, Texas (on the outskirts of San Antonio), died along with a Union Pacific train-crew member following a two-train collision and spewing of deadly chlorine gas from a ruptured tank car. The deadly cloud of chlorine gas drifted as far as San Antonio’s Sea World Amuse... More |
| |
| | | What's In The NEWS
| WHAT THE DEMOCRATIC WIN MEANS | | “Yes, Democratic control of Congress benefits the United Transportation Union and others in rail labor; but it is not an assurance of improved wages, benefits and working conditions our members have earned and deserve,” said UTU International President Paul Thompson.More | | NTSB TOP-20 INCLUDES FATIGUE | | Operator fatigue, positive train control, motor coach passenger safety and school bus occupant safety are among the National Transportation Safety Board’s 20 most-wanted safety improvements. An updated listing was released in mid-November.More | | UP Adds High-Profile Democrat | | OMAHA – Union Pacific, which prides itself on its political connections, has added a high-profile Democrat to its board of directors just two weeks after Democrats took control of Congress.More | | Court Won't 'Cripple' Unions | | A federal district court, in a decision released Nov. 10, told the nation's railroads it would not "cripple unions with judicial opinions" simply because the railroads find strikes to be inconvenient events that have an adverse impact on profits.More |
Click here for More News
| |
|
