United Transportation Union
Because more than 30 years have passed since the formation of the United Transportation Union (UTU) in 1969, the younger transportation professionals in their midst may not be acquainted with their rich heritage and their aims for the future.
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The facts of their proud history explain how four international rail labor organizations, including the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, the Order of Railway Conductors and Brakemen, and the Switchmen’s Union of North America, came together to form today’s premier transportation union.
United Transportation Union (UTU), an AFL-CIO affiliate headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. They are a broad-based, transportation labor union representing about 125,000 active and retired railroad, bus and mass transit workers in the United States and Canada.
With offices in Ottawa, Ontario, and Washington, D.C., the UTU is the largest railroad operating union in North America, with more than 600 locals. The UTU represents employees on every Class 1 railroad, as well as employees on many regional and shortline railroads. It also represents bus and mass transit employees on approximately 45 bus and transit systems and has recently grown to include airline pilots, dispatchers and other airport personnel.
Membership is drawn primarily from the operating crafts in the railroad industry and includes conductors, brakemen, switchmen, ground service personnel, locomotive engineers, hostlers and workers in associated crafts. More than 1,800 railroad yardmasters also are represented by the the UTU. The UTU's 8,000 bus and transit members include drivers, mechanics and employees in related occupations.
Widely recognized as the leader among transportation labor unions, the UTU sets the pace in national and state legislative activity, collective bargaining, and in efforts to improve safety and working conditions on the railroads and in the bus, transit and airline industries. Through experienced representation and its legislative strength, the UTU has been instrumental in the preservation of Amtrak (the national rail passenger network), the enactment of numerous safety laws and the promotion of employee assistance programs.
The UTU has been successful in the past and continues to strive for progressive and innovative contracts that ensure excellent wages and benefits and a healthy pension system for the railroad, bus, mass transit and airline employees who have devoted their lives to service those industries.
The UTU also continues to lead in efforts to combat drug and alcohol abuse among its members, in the promotion of mass transit and an efficient rail passenger service, and in protecting its members and the public from the unsafe shipment of hazardous materials.
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