On Dec. 28, 2018, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) published its determination of minimum random drug and alcohol testing rates for 2019 for covered service employees and Maintenance of Way (MOW) employees in the Federal Register.
AP Analysis: DOT Miscalculated When Considering ECP Brake Rule
The Associated Press reported Dec. 20 that an analysis by the federal Department of Transportation (DOT) did not take into account up to $117 million in damage reductions when considering the repeal of a Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) rule requiring the installation of electronically controlled pneumatic (ECP) brakes on tanker cars.
New Content on Website
We have added 3 new GCA agreements for CFT under the Agreements Section.
We have added a new members section called Further Reading
SMART Constitution
Railway Labor Act
Members Resource Guide
YARD MEAL PERIOD DISPUTE SETTLED
SMART-TD Legislative Office Seeks Clarification of PTC Controls
We Want To Hear From You
Below you will find a link to a SMART-Union survey being conducted by DFM Research and powered via SurveyMonkey, a leader in the online survey industry. The survey should take about 10 or so minutes of your time; but the answers you provide will provide us information to help your union better met the needs of our growing and diverse membership.
We take your data privacy seriously — all individual answers will remain 100% confidential. The research company will only share overall results with SMART leadership, not the individual answers. All we ask is your honest feedback.
Should you require further information about the survey process, feel free to contact Dean Mitchell with DFM Research at dfmresearch@comcast.net
Railroad Retirement and Unemployment Insurance Taxes in 2019 - December 2018
Railroad Retirement and Unemployment Insurance Taxes in 2019
The amounts of compensation subject to railroad retirement tier I and tier II payroll taxes will increase in 2019, while the tax rates on employers and employees will stay the same. In addition, unemployment insurance contribution rates paid by railroad employers will continue to include a surcharge of 1.5 percent.
U.S. court could give assist for CN oil ‘pucks’
Wisconsin Alternate Work Training Schedule (AWTS) 2018
It looks like our carrier has over-hired and has activated the Wisconsin AWTS board. We understand how difficult this can be to our members that are placed on this board. Unfortunately, there is not much we can do but wait for business to pick up. For now, we have posted the AWTS agreement and a summary of some key points. Please read the documents and call the office if you have any questions.
It can be found under Members/AWTS 2018.