I would like to take this opportunity to reflect on the unprecedented nomination period for our leadership Offices that ran from April 15 to April 30, 2025, for the upcoming UPRF General Elections in June. Our membership has demonstrated firm support for our current leadership, as evidence by the fact that all nominees have won by acclamation. All the positions in the UPRF were open and uncontested therefore, there will be no need to hold the elections in June 2025.
- UPRF General Chairman Anthony Sess
Amtrak paid $2.3 million in executive bonuses in 2021. Talk about a hand in the fare box. Despite lower revenue and ridership, Amtrak somehow found gobs of money for the bosses. Amtrak's CEO Stephen Gardner received $293,000 in bonuses in 2021. Eight others in the 12-member leadership team received bonuses of $230,000 more. Meanwhile, the BMWED struggles with an attrition rate that robs America’s railroad of productivity.
Part of this OIG report (OIG-SP-2022-008) comments on the vibrancy of Amtrak's workforce, or lack thereof, from the top down and the bottom up. For years we’ve been commenting on the shortcomings of railroad management, both in their numbers and more specifically in their skillsets. Not only has our message finally been heard, it’s been articulated in creditable parlance that describes a weak railroad administration that may be incurable by any amount of Biden Bucks.
Meanwhile, France built a brand new 210-mile high speed rail line with a max speed of 200 mph in six years. The New Jersey project, dubbed the New Jersey High Speed Rail Improvement Program, planned to upgrade and improve 24 miles of track, wires, signals, and other infrastructure between Trenton and New Brunswick, accommodating speeds up to 160 mph, up from 135. It was supposed to take six years. It did not.
United Passenger Rail Federation Founded to Represent All BMWED Amtrak Members
Anthony Sessa elected as General Chairman of the new federation.
The United Passenger Rail Federation is the newest federation within the BMWED-IBT, founded today at an historic convention in Newark, N.J.
Effective immediately, the Federal Railroad Administration has issued an Emergency order temporarily implementing a mask requirement for all freight and passenger railroad employees in all crafts. This EO in accordance with Center of Disease Control guidelines. Until this deadly pandemic is over masks will be an FRA required part of your PPE.
...and Conservative Policies Are to Blame. A new study demonstrates that differences in life expectancy correlate closely with many state policies: Most red states have adopted more policies that correlate strongly with lives cut short, while most blue states have adopted opposite policies.
Gerald Fauth, III. was appointed to the National Mediation Board (NMB) by President Tweety in 2017. On the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic, Fauth dumped enormous amounts of stock, just like his brother-in-law Senator Richard Burr (R-NC). Burr has since resigned his position as Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. Fauth should resign from the NMB as well. Crooks all.
I Want My Death to Make You Angry | April 22, 2020 Emily Pierskalla, RN MINNESOTA NURSES ASSOCIATION | Letter from a frontline nurse in Minnesota: "I want you to politicize my death. I want you to use it as fuel to demand change in this industry, to demand protection, living wages, and safe working conditions for nurses and ALL workers.
April 17, 2020 - Our National Division provides answers to questions about this pandemic, from our Legislative efforts to our legal rights to unemployment and sickness benefits.
