Willard S. Townsend was born 126 years ago tomorrow (December 4, 1895), in Cincinnati, Ohio. During and after high school, Townsend worked in the Cincinnati Union Terminal as a “red cap.” A red cap is a baggage porter at railway stations. Red cap positions were predominantly held by Blacks well into the 1950s.
World War I began in Europe in August 1914; Townsend joined the U.S. Army in 1916. He served as a lieutenant in France in the 372nd Infantry Regiment. After returning from the war,...
The U.S. parent company of a Mexican auto parts factory has agreed to recognize worker rights and pay back wages to laid-off employees to settle a labor rights complaint filed under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA).
The agreement under the trade pact was announced Tuesday by the U.S. Trade Representative and the Tridonex plant in Matamoros, Mexico.
“The agreement reached with Tridonex to provide severance, back pay and a commitment to neutrality in future union elections shows...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/us-settles-labor-dispute-with-mexican-auto-parts-factory
AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka, whose death was announced Thursday by the labor organization he led since 2009, warned that the economy was “at a crossroads” and stood a chance of slipping if lawmakers did not give more than lip service to passing an infrastructure bill this year.
In addition to creating jobs and lowering unemployment, “investing in roads and bridges and transit and climate mitigation and all of those things will make America stronger and more competitive,” Trumka, who was 72,...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/trumka-predicted-passage-of-infrastructure-bill-in-coming-months
A Mexican auto parts supplier became the first company to receive a labor violation complaint under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) on Monday.
The complaint against the Tridonex auto parts factory in Matamoros, Mexico, just across the border from Brownsville, Texas, alleges workers were denied independent union representation in violation of the trade pact, which replaced the North American Free Trade Agreement in July 2020.
The AFL-CIO, the largest U.S. labor federation, filed...
https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/labor-complaint-filed-against-mexican-auto-parts-supplier
Freight rail stakeholders are offering early congratulations to former presidential candidate and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg for his nomination to President-elect Joe Biden’s Cabinet.
Biden nominated Buttigieg to become secretary of transportation and lead the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).
The stakeholders offer support amid hopes that the White House and Congress will agree upon transportation initiatives — including a bipartisan infrastructure bill — that would find...
https://s29755.pcdn.co/news/rail-roundup-groups-laud-nominee-buttigieg-us-rail-traffic-up
The Association of American Railroads (AAR) and the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) expressed condolences over the death of Larry Willis, president of the Transportation Trades Department for the AFL-CIO.
WIllis, 53, died Sunday as a result of injuries sustained in a biking accident on Nov. 22.
“Larry’s passing is a tremendous loss for all who knew this thoughtful, tireless...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/aar-aslrra-mourn-death-of-union-leader
U.S. railroad unions want federal lawmakers to remove the unemployment and sickness benefits of the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA) from the list of government programs subject to automatic spending cuts.
The unions have pressed the two U.S. Senators from Ohio, Rob Portman (R) and Sherrod Brown (D), to co-sponsor language within the HEROES Act (H.R. 6800) that would amend the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 so that RUIA benefits would be among government...
https://www.freightwaves.com/news/rail-unions-seek-to-protect-benefits-from-spending-cuts