BMWED NEWS ALERT EMAIL
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RAILROADS, LABOR APPLAUD RELIEF FOR UNEMPLOYED RAIL WORKERS
WASHINGTON, DC - March 27, 2020 - Freight railroads, short line railroads and rail labor applaud Congress for ensuring that rail workers have access to critical unemployment and sickness benefits during this unprecedented public health emergency in the latest COVID-19 aid package. Unlike the average American worker, railroaders do not receive unemployment benefits through state-administered programs but rather through the Railroad Retirement Board's (RRB) Railroad Unemployment Insurance Program (RUI).

As a united front, the Association of American Railroads (AAR), the American Short Line Railroad Association (ASLRRA), , the Rail Labor Division (RLD) of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) and the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division (BMWED) called on Congress to provide rail workers affected by the coronavirus with the same vital protections they extended to other impacted Americans in the first COVID-19 stimulus package. Of note, H.R. 748 includes the following railroad specific provisions:

  • Waives the 7-day waiting period for filing a sickness or unemployment claim with the RRB and provides $50 million to cover the costs of providing these additional benefits


  • Increases unemployment benefits through an additional $1,200 biweekly benefit and provides $425 million to cover the costs of providing these additional benefits through July 31, 2020


  • Allows RRB to access approximately $130 million of remaining American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to provide extended benefits through December 31, 2020


  • Supplies $5 million to RRB for additional administrative costs

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