TAYN Ep. 44 - Commisioner John Risch

John Risch was the highest-ranking union official ever to be elected from the state of North Dakota.  He served the nation’s railroad workers at the national level full time in Washington DC from August 2009 through September 2019. Risch was elected national legislative director of the SMART Transportation Division (formerly the United Transportation Union) in 2014. He led the union in developing, communicating and executing the legislative, regulatory, safety and political positions. As national director he testified before Congress and at regulatory forums. He was also a presenter at numerous transportation, labor and Wall Street analyst forums.  Risch is a native of Mandan, N.D. He was the North Dakota State Legislative Director for the United Transportation Union from 1986 to 2009, while also working as a locomotive engineer. He is retired member of Local 1344 at Mandan. Risch began his railroad career on Burlington Northern Railroad, working in the track department for two summers while attending college. In the fall of 1978, he hired out in train service and in 1979, he entered engine service in what is now BNSF Railway. He was a long-time international union officer, serving on the union’s executive board from 1991 until 2009. While serving as the UTU North Dakota State Legislative Director, he testified hundreds of times at the state legislature. His focus at the state legislature included railroad, labor, tax, insurance and other issues important to working people. He was appointed by Governor George Sinner to the Education Action Commission and Occupational Therapy Board. He was also appointed chairperson of the state’s Minimum Wage Commission twice, once by a Democratic labor commissioner and once by a Republican labor commissioner. In that role, he led efforts to raise the minimum wage and improve conditions of the workplace, including extending minimum wage coverage to farm workers, something the federal law and most states exempt from coverage. Risch is a graduate of Bismarck State College and earned a bachelor’s degree in Labor Studies while working full time on the railroad from Antioch University of Yellow Springs, Ohio, where he studied collective bargaining, labor history, labor law, world labor movements and other issues related to labor. The North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party honored Risch in 2018 with the Governor Art and Grace Link Lifetime Achievement Award. The award recognizes those who have dedicated a lifetime of service to the people of North Dakota, have represented excellence in the field of public service and have left a laudable legacy benefiting future generations. Risch also wrote a regular newspaper column for The Bismarck Tribune from 1991 until 1993, where he focused on labor, economic and tax issues.