1 min read

Season 5, Episode 61

Protecting letter carriers from violence could help workers everywhere

AWF-Blogo-Logos-Template-400x400_ttd

 

Guest Name:


Greg Regan

Guest Website:


ttd.org 

Guest Social Media:


Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

LinkedIn

Supportive Documents:


President of the Transportation Trades Department, Greg Regan, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to talk about the rising attacks on letter carriers and legislation to help prevent the violence. Regan also discussed the REEF Act and his letter supporting the CEO of Norfolk Southern following a Wall Street special interest investor’s attempt to remove him.

The Protect Our Letter Carriers Act is bipartisan legislation that addresses the rise of violent crimes against letter carriers as they do their job. Regan said this is an issue that several workers in other industries are also facing, and together, unions could help get legislation passed to protect on the job. 

As a result of the Budget Control Act of 2011, budget sequestration was implemented to make even cuts between American defense and non-defense government programs. These automatic spending cuts were changed, and a different process was enacted after 2014. Most government programs were exempted from the cuts. However, the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Account was not a part of the exemption. Regan discussed how the REEF Act would create a permanent exemption and prevent automatic cuts to jobless benefits in the rail industry.

Finally, Regan discussed the letter he wrote in support of Alan Shaw, President and CEO of Norfolk Southern. An activist investor group is attempting to oust Shaw, and Regan talked about why he felt the need to support him. He warned that if the investor group were to get its way, he’d expect a greater increase in rail safety hazards and a doubling down of Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR). PSR is a concept in freight railroad that has been the source of several complaints from unions and workers about the inability to effectively conduct safety inspections leading to more derailments and accidents on the rails.

For more from Regan, please listen to the show above.


America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.

SUBSCRIBE ON:

Group 342

Group 341

Group 343

Group 339

Group 397

Group 397

 

Helmets to Hardhats assists veterans find a career in the trades

Wrapping up the National Apprenticeship Week coverage on America’s Work Force Union Podcast, Martin Helms, Executive Director of the Helmets to...

Read More

Safety on the job sets Iron Workers apprentices apart from others

Continuing the America’s Work Force Union Podcast coverage of National Apprenticeship Week, we welcomed Lee Worley, Executive Director of...

Read More