Railroad Department
How We Are Organized and Represent Our Members
 Our
Railroad Department includes a Director of
Railroad Workers, International Representatives,
41 Local Unions and the SMWIA District Council
of Railroads. The Department and Director are
located in our International Office in
Washington, D.C., and two (2) International
Representatives work in various regions of the
country.
Generally, wages, health insurance, vacation and
other benefits for our members employed by
freight railroads are negotiated on a national
basis, although, the contracts are between the
Sheet Metal Workers' International Association
and each company. Other contracts with freight
railroads, Amtrak and commuter railroads are
negotiated by International Representatives on a
local basis.
There are 56 SMWIA Local Unions whose members
work in one phase or another in the Rail
Transportation Industry. The officers of these
Local Unions protect the jurisdiction of the
Sheet Metal Workers' International Association
and with the Local Union members collectively
work to enforce our Union Contract with each
employer. Problems that cannot be resolved by
the Local Union Committee with the employer are
referred to a General Chairman in the District
Council.
The Sheet Metal Workers' International
Association United States District Council of
Railroads was charted in 1982, an amalgamation
of eleven (11) District Councils that dated back
to the 1930s. The officers of the SMWIA Railroad
District Council are the General Chairman,
Secretary Treasurer and three full-time elected
General Chairmen located in different areas of
the country who assist the local unions and
handle day to day problems with enforcement of
the contract. There are also five members of the
Council’s Executive Board. The District
Council's office is located at 24 Columbine
Avenue, Merrick, New York 11566, and the
telephone number is (516) 485-4571.
General Chairmen meet and negotiate over
problems and claims with the local management
and/or the Labor Relations Department of a
particular railroad. Claims, grievances and
disputes that cannot be settled between the
Labor Relations Department and the General
Chairman may be referred to arbitration. The
arbitration cases can be filed in two ways. 1.
An arbitration case can be taken to the Second
Division of National Railroad Adjustment Board
in Chicago, Illinois and presented to a neutral
party for resolution. The Board has an equal
number of Labor and Management representatives
who hold hearings and argue cases before the
neutral referee. An SMWIA International
Representative is a member of the National
Railroad Adjustment Board and presents the Sheet
Metal Workers' position in cases before the
Board. 2. An arbitration case can be brought to
a Public Law Board or Special Board of
Adjustment by the General Chairman. A neutral
arbitrator is chosen jointly by the General
Chairman and the respective Railroad Labor
Relations Department. The parties will present
their cases and the arbitrator will render a
binding decision.
The Sheet Metal Workers' International
Association was a founding member of the
Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the
AFL-CIO. Founded in 1990, the TTD consists of
Labor Unions whose members work in rail,
transit, trucking, aviation, bus, marine, and
related industries. We seek collectively to
promote the unionization of the Transportation
Industry, protect our members’ jobs and the
Union contracts that provide good wages and
benefits within that Industry. Also, through TTD
we work together to effectively monitor laws and
workplace regulations ranging from worker and
public safety protection to federal labor
standards and employee protection. The Unions
with members employed in the Rail Industry
formed a Rail Division of the Transportation
Trades Department. The Rail Division meets
regularly to plan joint initiatives to
effectively represent workers in the Railroad
and Shipyard Industries.
For more specific information about the TTD, the
following link will take you directly to their
web site:
www.ttd.org.
Retirement Benefits
One of the first benefits the Unions
successfully fought to establish for railroad
workers was a uniform pension system under the
Railroad Retirement Act. The Railroad Retirement
Act applies to workers whose employer is engaged
in the transportation of products or passengers
by rail and Unions who are Railroad Retirement
Act employers. The Act is administered by a
three (3) member Railroad Retirement Board and
is a unique agency of our Federal Government
with one Labor, one Management and one Public
Member. While Congress has the final authority
to change the Railroad Retirement Act, during
the last 40 years the only changes in the Act
were products of negotiation and agreement
between Labor and Management. After Labor and
Management agreed on the necessary changes,
Congress acted on each such agreement. The
Railroad Retirement Act replaced the failed
private systems on various railroads and was the
forerunner of the Social Security System.
For your convenience, use the link to the
Railroad Retirement Board's web page (www.rrb.gov)
for information about benefits under the
Railroad Retirement Act and the Railroad
Unemployment Insurance Act. Contained in the
Board's web page are informative bulletins on a
variety of subjects generally in a question and
answer form.
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