Rail & Labor News from RWU
| | Weekly Digest Number 37 - September 9, 2025 | | Welcome to the RWU Rail & Labor News! This news bulletin is produced and emailed out each Tuesday morning. We hope you find each week's news and information useful. If so, please share with co-workers, friends, and colleagues. If you like, you can sign them up to get all the news from RWU HERE. Or forward them the link. Got a hot tip? Please forward the article and a link to raillabornews@gmail.com. Note: If you read over this news bulletin each week, you will be sure to never miss the important news of what is going on in the railroad world from a worker's perspective! | | THIS WEEK'S RAIL AND LABOR NEWS | | Editor's Note: Railroads were built to serve the public, not just the balance sheets of Wall Street. Yet once again, mergers and “efficiency” are sold as progress while workers, passengers, and communities are pushed aside. The gains flow upward, the risks roll downhill. Labor can’t afford to simply say no; we must demand railroads that are accountable, safe, and genuinely useful to the nation. The question isn’t whether railroads can be profitable.. it’s whether they can still belong to the people who make them run. | |
Medium / September 3rd
The status quo of American railroading has been shattered. Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern, two of the largest railroads in the country, have announced that they are seeking to merge into one transcontinental railroad. While it is unknown how this deal will play out, the fact that we have reached this point means that we have already crossed a sort of corporate Rubicon. The potential deal now heads to the Surface Transportation Board (STB), which will choose whether or not to approve the merger and on what conditions.
But how the STB will choose to rule is anyone’s guess. Board Member Karen Hedlund said in July regarding the possibility of a transcontinental merger, “You’re talking about a potential reorganization of almost the entire rail system of the United States. Well, bring it.” Adding to the tension, the five-member board currently has two vacancies, which, when filled, could change the current balance of two Republicans to one Democrat on the board.
| | Editor's Note: Ironic that after this worker raised the issue of chronic fatigue among train drivers, that he was fired for dozing off at the throttle. What is significant for railroaders here is the fact that his fellow workers, his union and now the entire UK labor movement is coming to his defense with direct action. All too often, workers are left to fight these battles alone, with union reps and arbitrators. This is an example of "old style" trade unionism at its finest, and something we need to dust off and make use of going forward. "An injury to one is an injury to all!" | |
Morning Star / August 29th
Hundreds are expected to rally today at a mass-picket for a train driver “sacked without reason,” after no less than 30 trade union general secretaries wrote to Hull Trains backing his union Aslef’s seven-month fight for justice.
The leaders of Unite, the National Education Union and Public and Commercial Services unions were among those warning the company of “escalating levels of action and wider campaigning from our whole movement” if the unnamed driver is not reinstated.
Aslef general secretary Mick Whelan told the Morning Star that a “barefaced liar” was behind media reports that the driver fell asleep at the wheel after confirmation he had “driven perfectly and correctly throughout his journeys.”
| | Editor's Note: The group known as WE OWN IT has taken a position to completely re-nationalize the rail system in the UK, not too different from what had been known as British Rail up until it was dismembered and privatized three decades ago. North American rail workers might learn a lot from this struggle. | |
We Own It
You don't get a choice about which train you take. As you're waiting on the railway platform, there's only one route and you can't choose which train company to use. So the idea that you're a 'customer' really doesn't help you as your fares increase, carriages get more crowded and the train companies rake in the profits at your expense.
Our railway was privatised from 1994-1997, following the passing of The Railways Bill in 1993. Margaret Thatcher herself didn’t want to privatise British Rail, but her successor John Major decided to go ahead.
On 18th July 2024, the Labour government tabled the Passenger Railway Services (Public Ownership) Bill to bring all of Britain's railway lines into public ownership when their current private contracts expire. The bill does not include ownership of rolling stock.
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| Editor's Note: While railroads in the U.S. remain stagnant, lose freight market share to highways, rarely introduce new passenger routes/frequencies, and cannot even complete a half-finished new line in California, China, Europe and much of the rest of the world forges ahead with new, advanced, modern railways. Could it be that the rails in the U.S. - differently than most places globally - are crippled by private ownership and the whims of Wall Street hedge funds? | |
International Railway Journal / August 26th
China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has approved the project to build a new 222.8km high-speed line from Shanghai to Hangzhou, serving a new station at Shanghai East now under construction close to Pudong Airport and the surrounding development zone.
Including Shanghai East, the new line will serve a total of nine stations. New stations will be built at Fengxian, Shanghai Jinshan, Pinghu City and Linping, while capacity will be increased at the existing stations of Situan, Jiaxing South, Tongxiang and Hangzhou West.
The new high-speed line will cost Yuan 67bn ($US 9.35bn) to build. The end-to-end journey time will be 40 minutes, boosting the attractiveness of Pudong Airport for travelers to and from Zhejiang province.
| | Editor's Note: Congress has proposed $126 million for the Railroad Retirement Board.. short of the $170 million needed, but better than the deep cuts threatened last year. Workers and retirees know what’s at stake: underfunding means longer waits, weaker service, and another reminder that Wall Street never waits in line, but labor always does. $126 million keeps the lights on; $170 million keeps faith with the people who built the railroads. The fight is not about numbers on a page.. it’s about whether dignity in retirement is treated as a promise or a cost to be trimmed. | |
BLET
Members of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee on July 31 considered their Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) legislation, which funds the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB), National Mediation Board (NMB), and Department of Labor (DOL). That bill sets the Limit on Administrative Expenses (LOA) for the RRB for this upcoming federal fiscal year at $126 million. That mirrors President Trump’s request of $126 million but is far less than the RRB’s request of $170.615 million. All of rail labor, including BLET, and the Association of American Railroads (AAR), which represents the Class I railroads, are supportive of the RRB’s request of $170.615 million.
The House Appropriations Committee has not yet released its LHHS appropriations legislation or its proposed limit on Administrative Expenses for the RRB. However, last year, the House Appropriations proposed a $25 million cut, which would have been devastating to the RRB and jeopardized its ability to serve BLET’s members and other rail workers. We unfortunately are expecting a similar cut from the House Appropriations Committee this year, and BLET members are urged to act now to stop this from happening.
| | Editor's Note: The National Transportation Safety Board has now urged railroads to install collision-avoidance systems on roadway maintenance machines.. because, tragically, a wide-angle mirror was all that stood between a worker and death in Great Barrington, Massachusetts in August 2023. The investigation blamed faulty communication and weak oversight just as much as the lack of tech. The message is simple: if a basic safety device can save lives, anything less is a disgrace. Workers shouldn’t beg for protection, they should expect it as their right, not as an optional convenience. | |
Progressive Railroading / September 5th
The National Transportation Safety Board this week called on railroads to equip roadway maintenance machines with collision avoidance technology that can detect people or objects before a crash.
The recommendation stems from the NTSB’s investigation of the Aug. 4, 2023, accident in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, where a Middlesex Corp. maintenance machine struck and killed a worker. Investigators found that the machine operator had no safety devices beyond a wide-angle mirror to look for hazards, according to an NTSB press release.
Investigators also found communication and oversight failures in the investigation. The Housatonic Railroad Co. roadway worker-in-charge was unaware of the full scope of work, leading to an inadequate safety briefing and the absence of a second qualified supervisor.
| | Editor's Note: They’ve decided to train 163 new inspectors for the 70,000+ railroad bridges across America.. but don’t be fooled. This isn’t the result of carriers suddenly caring about safety; it’s a recognition that there have never been enough people watching over these iron lifelines, which railroads mostly inspect themselves. The FRA still relies on rail companies to report problems, and inspectors mostly audit paperwork, not actually walk the bridges. If a network built by public investment can’t even be independently checked, then whose safety is truly the priority: Wall Street’s bottom line, or the lives of working-class railroaders and their communities? | |
AP News / September 3rd
The Transportation Department is going to train 163 track inspectors to dramatically increase the number of people who know how to spot critical problems with railroad bridges, but the railroads themselves will still be responsible for inspecting their own bridges and the results will still be kept confidential.
Currently, there are only seven Federal Railroad Administration employees trained to assess bridges, although their primary responsibility is to review each railroad’s inspection plan to make sure they have a good plan in place and that won’t change. But this move will train significantly more people to spot structural problems on railroad bridges while they are out inspecting the tracks. Both federal and state track inspectors will be trained.
“The Trump Administration is delivering on its promises to make government more efficient and keep travelers safe,” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said. “Leveraging our existing, dedicated workforce to improve oversight of railroad bridge safety is another common-sense win for Americans.”
| | Editor's Note: Nearly 600 locomotive engineers at the Long Island Rail Road are voting now on whether to authorize a strike.. a clear rebuke after more than three years of no raises, pittance-contract offers, and being dragged through mediation since February 2024. This isn’t a threat; it’s workers finally wielding the only power left in a system built to favor management. Over half of unionized LIRR staff stand ready to act. If carriers won’t pay fair wages, they shouldn’t be surprised when labor considers its own terms instead of waiting for mercy. | |
Progressive Railroading / September 2nd
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) has issued a strike authorization vote for the nearly 600 BLET locomotive engineers employed by the MTA Long Island Rail Road.
BLET locomotive engineers at LIRR are currently receiving their ballots to authorize a strike, BLET officials said in an Aug. 29 newsletter. Ballots are due back to BLET on Sept. 15.
The engineers have not received a raise since April 16, 2022, BLET officials said. A contract dispute has been in National Mediation Board (NMB)-sponsored mediation since February 2024.
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The Vindicator / August 21st
Instead of looking out for the residents impacted by the 2023 train derailment, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) used resources to look into the social media movements of those residents, a government watchdog group claims.
According to the Government Accountability Project (GAP), the group obtained records through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request that show EPA surveillance of East Palestine residents. The GAP alleges that “records of communication between EPA personnel show a pattern of tracking and monitoring private citizens for the purpose of public relations” and zeroed in on the residents who made the most noise about public health concerns.
Lesley Pacey, senior environmental officer for Government Accountability Project, said the resources used to monitor those residents should have been used to better protect them from the chemicals released during the rail disaster.
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Trains Magazine / September 2nd
An incorrectly lined switch led to an Aug. 5 collision between a BNSF Railway train and standing railcars at Denver’s Globeville Yard, a collision that seriously injured the train’s conductor, according to a preliminary investigation report from the National Transportation Safety Board.
The incident occurred about 12:11 a.m., when BNSF Train H-LINDEN1-02A, which had originated in Lincoln, Neb., on Aug. 2 with two locomotives and 103 cars, was depositing its cars on two tracks of the yard. After dropping 54 cars on the yard’s track 104, the train pulled past the switch to track 103, then initiated a shoving move with the conductor riding a hopper that was the lead car. As the train reversed, it passed through a crossover switch between tracks 103 and 102 that was lined to take the train into track 102, rather than its intended route. The shoving train collided with standing railcars, derailing three standing cars and five from the train; the conductor was thrown from the shoving move, and the hopper car he had been riding derailed and toppled onto him.
Denver firefighters responded and freed the conductor from the wreckage; a representative of the conductor’s union, SMART-TD, told a Denver TV station his injuries led to amputation of his right leg.
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The Guardian / September 5th
Strikes by tube staff are due to start on Friday, in a series of walkouts that are expected to close the London Underground entirely for four days from Monday.
Londoners have been urged to check before travel next week, with almost no tube services expected to run and other transport in the capital likely to be affected by crowding and congestion.
The RMT union has called out all its tube members, just over 10,000 of London Underground’s 15,000 staff, to strike in the dispute about working hours and conditions in pay talks.
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High Speed Rail Alliance / Event on October 10th
As the Chicago region faces a looming transit fiscal cliff, we are bringing together members, elected officials, and transportation leaders to rally support for passenger rail before the upcoming veto session in Springfield. This gathering will spark vital conversations shaping the future of transportation locally and nationally.
From the urgent fiscal crisis threatening Chicago-area transit, to the future of Metra and high-speed rail in the Midwest, you will hear directly from leaders addressing today's most pressing transportation challenges.
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Springfield Standard / September 5th
Congressman Eric Burlison, who represents Missouri’s 7th district in the U.S. Congress, has introduced new legislation aimed at reversing a recent Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) rule. The rule requires all freight trains to have at least two crew members on board at all times.
Burlison stated, “This bill is about stopping union bosses from using Washington to get what they can’t win at the bargaining table.” He referenced a 2019 FRA conclusion that “accident/incident data does not support a train crew staffing regulation.” Burlison argued that the current mandate increases costs for small railroads without improving safety and primarily serves to increase union membership.
The proposed Train Crew Choice Act would repeal the FRA’s two-person crew requirement. It would also allow railroads more flexibility in making staffing decisions based on factors such as safety, technology, and efficiency.
| | NEWS FROM AROUND THE LABOR MOVEMENT | | Each week, RWU includes a few articles about advances and developments in the larger labor movement that are of interest to railroad workers. Got an artcile to submit for possible inclusion next week? Email it along to raillabornews@gmail.com. Thank you! | |
Common Dreams / September 1st
Americans turned out across the United States on Monday for more than 1,000 demonstrations against President Donald Trump and other oligarchs "to reclaim worker power against billionaires who hoard unprecedented wealth and power."
The "Workers Over Billionaires" protests are being led by the May Day Strong Coalition, which is made up of dozens of organizations including the AFL-CIO, American Federation of Teachers, National Union of Healthcare Workers, and advocacy groups like Americans for Tax Fairness, Indivisible, Our Revolution, and Public Citizen.
Demonstrations took place or are set to happen in big cities, small towns, and communities in between all across the nation. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) spoke at a rally in Concord, New Hampshire, where Sanders—whose "Fight Oligarchy Tour" has been drawing huge crowds across the country—vowed that "together, we will create an economy and government that work for all, not just the 1%."
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The Association for Union Democracy (AUD) is seeking stories for upcoming editions of Union Democracy Review. We want to hear from YOU about your experiences asserting your rights within your union and fighting for union democracy.
Call for Submissions
Fighting to reform your union and build a more democratic organization can be very difficult. AUD hopes to share your story in order to educate others so that we can learn from each other. We welcome submissions of around 500 to a 1000 words.
Email your stories to info@uniondemocracy.org or directly to jsoffler@uniondemocracy.org with the subject line [UDR Submission].
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In These Times / September 1st
This week’s Air Canada flight attendants’ strike brought the country’s largest airline to a halt with picket lines set up at airports across the country.
After the federal government attempted to send the attendants, represented by Canadian Union of Public Employees’ (CUPE) Air Canada Component, back to their jobs, the workers refused, becoming the first union to resist this kind of order from the federal government, which has issued a spate of them in the past year.
The union’s refusal to back down led to new negotiations with Air Canada, and a tentative agreement was announced the following day.
| | WEEKLY DERAILMENT DEPARTMENT | | Each Tuesday in this news bulletin, RWU does our best to present a picture of what has been happening over the course of the previous week in terms of derailments in North America, and investigation determinations of previous accidents. NOTE: This list is by no means comprehensive. Smaller and less consequential mishaps are generally not reported here. If the wreck results in injury or fatality, or is especially damaging/extreme, a full article will appear as a feature in the dozen or so rail articles above. Know of a train wreck? Please feel free to forward a link to raillabornews@gmail.com for possible inclusion next week. Thanks! |
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