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.