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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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