Posts tagged Railway Safety Act
JD Vance Courts Sean O’Brien and the Teamsters
June 1, 2026 // Mr. O’Brien is desperate for a win in Washington to sell to his 1.3 million members as he runs for re-election. Some Republicans in Congress seem eager to give him one—maybe two—as they seek to burnish their bona fides as defenders of the working class. These Republicans are doing more to help Democrats—the primary beneficiaries of Teamster campaign donations—than workers. The Teamsters’ membership has shrunk by nearly half since the 1970s amid a broader decline in organized labor. Technology has improved productivity. At the same time, jobs have migrated to states with right-to-work laws, which prohibit unions and employers from making union membership a condition of employment. The Teamsters have also lost rank-and-file support. Between 2016 and 2025, members filed 373 petitions to decertify the Teamsters, according to Reason magazine. Some 60% of the decertification elections succeeded. You can’t blame union members for wearying of paying dues that bankroll Democratic candidates and lavish lifestyles of union leaders. In the 2023-24 election cycle, 92% of Teamsters PAC donations to federal candidates went to Democrats, as did 91% of the union’s contributions to party committees.
GOP’s populists flex muscles with wins on Capitol Hill
May 29, 2026 // F. Vincent Vernuccio, president of the Institute for the American Worker think tank, which has argued against the bill, pointed to hesitation that one union official expressed about that format in a Senate hearing last year, calling it undemocratic. “It takes away the whole point of a union because it takes away the vote from workers, and that’s exactly what the Faster Labor Contracts Act would do,” Vernuccio told The Hill. “If the union and the employer can’t come to an agreement within 120 days, this arbitration panel that’s appointed by government bureaucrats would write everything in that contract.”
Op-ed: The New Big Labor GOP
May 26, 2026 // The FLCA is a plank in the Big Labor PRO Act that failed to pass Congress in the Biden years. The bill is now likely to pass the House. The GOP Senate could kill it, but Josh Hawley (R., Mo.) is sponsoring the corresponding legislation there. The pro-union Republicans fancy themselves as tribunes for the common man, but they’re really rubber stamps for labor bosses who are allies of the Democratic Party.
Railway Safety Act in the balance
May 21, 2026 // Today, the House Transportation and Infrastructure (T&I) Committee is marking up the BUILD America Act — the surface transportation reauthorization bill. Among the amendments under consideration is the Railway Safety Act (RSA), a pro-union measure that has consistently failed to advance as a standalone bill but has suddenly gained new life with President Trump’s endorsement. The RSA purports to be aimed at ensuring an accident like the East Palestine, Ohio disaster does not happen again. Indeed, that is the president’s stated rationale for supporting the measure. However, as so often happens after a disaster, on hearing a cry that “something must be done,” opportunistic forces advance a policy wish list saying, “this is something, so let’s do this.” That is certainly the case with the RSA, which advances a long-held rail union position that two-person crews are necessary for safety. This is untrue. Research has shown that modern trains can operate safely with one-person crews. As T&I Committee Chairman Sam Graves (R-MO) said opposing the amendment,
Op-ed: White House wrong to push Railway Safety Act
March 10, 2026 // “The legislation would mandate minimum two-member crews (one conductor, one engineer) on freight trains. There is no evidence that such a mandate would make trains any safer, but it would prohibit attempts to further automate them. Railroad companies have reduced crew sizes for decades while also reducing accident rates. The two-crew rule exists solely for the benefit of unions that represent railroad workers. If there is any form of transportation that should be on the leading edge of automation, it is trains, which have a natural safety edge because they don’t use public roads or the skies.”
Walz Twists Some Labor Claims
August 19, 2024 // Delivering remarks at a labor union conference in California, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz stretched the facts with several labor-related claims.
J. D. Vance’s One-Track Mind for Railroad Regulation
August 17, 2024 // Ohio senator and GOP vice-presidential nominee J. D. Vance has something of a soft spot for unions, as evidenced by his co-sponsorship of the 2023 version of the Railway Safety Act. The legislation would mandate minimum two-member crews on freight trains, a requirement unions have long sought. Such a mandate wouldn’t make trains any safer but would damage the ability of the rail industry to pursue automation.
Opinion: Unions, Washington Lackeys Exploit Ohio Rail Tragedy to Fatten Coffers
June 7, 2023 // the unionistas are pushing for a permanent requirement that all carriers use a minimum of two-person crews. This, despite the fact that the ill-fated Norfolk-Southern train itself had not two but three crew members. Mandating two on a crew would have done nothing to avert the disaster. It’s not responsive to the challenge at hand. Moreover, the make-work provisions will not affect Norfolk-Southern-sized railroads. It will primarily hurt the smaller regional and short-line railroads, which are more likely to use a one-man crew.