Archives for March 2019

https://smart-union.org/news/2019-utuia-scholarship-deadline-is-the-end-of-the-month/?fbclid=IwAR38Yb9OjDpY6BPcj7LxjE9GYBL1tSl4PekD_751qwVKfqL8KTbmpfzIFyA

This year, UTUIA has committed once again to supporting the children and grandchildren of our members by continuing to offer 50 four-year college scholarships and 50 two-year trade school scholarships, both at $2,000.00 per student, per year.

Currently, UTUIA is paying out on almost 200 scholarships! We encourage all members of SMART TD to support these ongoing fraternal benefits by becoming a member of UTUIA through ownership in our uniquely designed insurance plans.

“For over 150 years, we have served the members of SMART TD by providing insurance protection and fraternal benefits and we are committed to supporting our members for the next 150 years,” said UTUIA President Ken Laugel.

The deadline for scholarship applications is March 31, 2019. For more information about scholarship requirements and to apply, visit www.utuia.org/scholarships.

https://smart-union.org/news/local-60-legislative-rep-is-new-jersey-transit-board-nominee/?fbclid=IwAR20XhGJB6krUFg35JA1RNWW3AqaOLVdLmfF7kjTr_gfeelJefdk0lrZxPg

David Rasmussen, legislative representative for SMART Transportation Division Local 60 (Newark, N.J.), has been nominated as the rail labor representative on the New Jersey Transit (NJT) board by Gov. Phil Murphy.

“A strong NJ TRANSIT Board is critical to ensuring a leadership team whose sole focus is on restoring safety, reliability, and accountability to commuters,” Murphy said in a March 21 news release. “I thank the Legislature, the Labor community, and our colleagues in transportation for their input, and I look forward to working with the new board members.”

Rasmussen has been Local 60’s legislative rep. since late 2015. Prior officer positions the 53-year-old from Woodbridge has held include vice chairperson of GCA-610 and vice local chairperson of LCA-610. He is among seven new nominees to the board who still must be confirmed by the state’s Senate.

Rasmussen

“I feel I will be an asset to the board as I will bring my nearly 30 years’ experience as a conductor at NJT. Through my career I’ve worked at nearly every terminal and at yard facilities within NJT. I have also worked all types of services that govern our responsibilities,” Rasmussen said. “I feel this will serve the board well, as the other members can lean on me and my experience to identify best possible solutions to resolve any problem, issues or changes the board may be considering.”

The addition of the new board members was part of a restructuring of the transit agency, which is dealing with financial pressures and a shortage of engineers that happened late last year. Murphy’s signing of the overhaul in late December was a win for the N.J. State Legislative Board.

“This piece of legislation adds the largest rail union (SMART TD) to the Board of Directors at NJT. We advocated for this for two years,” New Jersey State Legislative Director Ron Sabol said at the time of the signing. “This was a huge undertaking by our office, and it has paid off.”

Among the changes brought about by the bill:

• Five new positions are created on the transit agency’s board, bringing the board from eight to 13 members.
• Board composition will go from four to eight public members and increases the number of labor representatives to two — one to be appointed from the labor organization that represents a plurality of bus operations workers and one to represent the labor organization that represents a plurality of rail operations workers, which is SMART TD.
• A chief ethics officer will be employed to address whistleblower complaints and a customer advocate would compose reports about on-time performance and other customer-centered activities.
• The board will have to hold at least 10 public meetings annually with many at times so commuters can attend.
• A residency requirement is waived for certain employees.

Dear Coalition Partners,

The ATU NJ State Council and US Senator Robert Menendez will be holding a joint press conference on Monday at Newark Penn Station to push for Federal Legislation to increase protections for transit workers and pedestrians.You are invited to join us at Newark Penn Station on Monday at 11:30am.

Menendez Pushes Legislation to Improve Pedestrian Safety, Protect Bus Operators from Assault 

Sen. Menendez recently introduced the Transit Worker and Pedestrian Protection Act with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), and Reps. Grace F. Napolitano (D-CA-32) and John Katko (R-NY-24). The bipartisan legislation provides $125 million over five years to make critical safety upgrades to reduce the risks of pedestrian strikes and attacks on bus and rail operators. 

The Transit Worker and Pedestrian Protection Act gives transit agencies two years to develop Bus Operations Safety Risk Reduction Programs in partnership with their transit workforce, and with oversight from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT).  Specifically: 

It also gives transit agencies two years to develop Rail Operations Worker Assault Risk Reduction Programs.

The Transit Worker and Pedestrian Protection Act would also require transit agencies to report all assaults on transit workers to the USDOT’s National Transit Database (NTD).  

Funding provided through the Transit Worker and Pedestrian Protection Act could be used to advance those and other efforts developed partnership with NJ TRANSIT and its employees.

 The legislation is supported by the ATU, Transport Workers Union of America (TWU), International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART), AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department, and Teamsters.