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United Transportation Union (UTU)

$100 Plus Story

  • Split decision in appeals court: Court allows UTU-Sheet Metal merger to proceed

    On October 31, 2009, in Michael v. Thompson a sharply divided panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed a U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio decision that had granted a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) and a Preliminary Injunction to stop a merger between the United Transportation Union (UTU) and the Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMWIA) to form a new entity, the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART).

UDR Story

  • Judge blocks Rail and Sheet Metal union merger

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    In late December 2007, a federal judge temporarily halted the planned January merger of the United Transportation Union and the Sheet Metal Workers International Association into a new entity to be called SMART (Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers.)

    Suit to block the merger was brought by Roy Arnold, a UTU VP; John Hasenauer and Jim Eubanks, UTU local officers; and Ed Michael, a UTU member. They were represented in court by attorney Arthur Fox, an AUD Director.

  • Railroad workers on right track for unity

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    Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) adopted three amendments to their union constitution providing for the direct election of national officers by the membership. Previously, officers were elected by convention delegates. The three measures were adopted by votes of around 4,500 to 2,500 in a membership referendum. The BLET is now affiliated to the Teamsters as a national division.

  • Battling corruption in United Transportation Union

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  • Locomotive Engineers: suspect referendum blocked by federal court and AAA stumbles on election rules.

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    [Click here to download and print the PDF version with the cartoon.]

    by Carl Biers

  • Some unions hate to say, "you have legal rights."

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    When President Kennedy decided to appoint his own brother as attorney general---so the story goes---he explained how he intended to make the somewhat embarrassing news public. "Sunday at 3:00 AM, I will tiptoe out on the deserted White House lawn and whisper: it’s Bobby."

  • Section 105 Update: obeying union democracy law, belatedly

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    Slowly, one by one, with varying degrees of lack of enthusiasm, top union leaders are learning that they must comply with federal law and let their members know that the LMRDA protects their rights in their unions. First, the Machinists. Then, the United Transportation Union. Then, the Plumbers and Pipefitters United Association. And latest, dragging its heels, the Carpenters.

  • Rail Workers United off to a highballing start

    Railroad workers in the United States are scattered among many unions. Railroad Workers United, a new alliance of rail workers, reaches across unions, craft lines, and employing rail lines to introduce the spirit of unity. It is not still another union but a movement which advocates common action by those unions that already bargain for rail workers. Under its ambitious watchword: "Unity-Solidarity-Democracy: the Rank and File in Action," RWU embarks on its own campaigns in their general interests.

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