News
Yesterday (January 11), the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in a case you may have heard about — Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association (CTA). The gist of the case is this: many California public school teachers are members of CTA. Like all union members, California teachers can choose whether or not to join the union. However,…
Risch SMART TD and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen (BLET) have submitted a petition to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) for rulemaking that mandates uniform warning speed signs in advance of a permanent speed restriction. SMART TD National Legislative Director John Risch said, “Not having speed signs would be like listing all the…
Dear Member, How often have you heard the phrase, “this is the most important election in our lifetime?” Plenty, I’m sure. The truth is, every election is important, with the stakes being higher in a presidential election year — especially for rail, transit and airline workers and retirees who are directly impacted by administration regulations and…
“You don’t merge two railroads like this to create job opportunities, but to boost profits for a few investors,” stated John Risch, National Legislative Director of SMART Transportation Division, to Reuters reporter, Nick Carey. Click here to read the complete Reuters article.
The Progressive Magazine reported Dec. 8, 2015, that in a union-busting move, Menards (a home improvement chain store) was threatening 60 percent pay cuts to managers if workers under their supervision organized a union in a 2015 managers contract. The Progressive Magazine later reported on Dec. 15, 2015, that Menards backpedalled under negative public scrutiny…