BLET News
BLET and other rail unions tell DOT and Congress that proposed changes to the established safety culture put railroaders and the public at risk
BMWED President Tony Cardwell testified before members of Congress this week about the potential dangers of over-reliance on technology. ____________________ BLET members rely on Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) investigations to hold railroads accountable, but...
BLET and Teamsters lobby Senate to change AI and no-tax on overtime provisions in the “One Big Beautiful Act”
Two provisions of the massive federal spending and tax package now under consideration in the U.S. Senate, called the “One Big Beautiful Act,” look pretty ugly to the BLET and the Teamsters. One provision of the spending bill, which has nothing to do with federal...
Take Action Alert: Contact your Senators now BLET fighting to get Senate to change “Big Beautiful Bill” to include our members in overtime tax exemption
Right now, the United States Senate is considering reconciliation legislation, also known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBB). Section 70202 (“No Tax on Overtime”) of the OBBB deals with exempting as much as $25,000 in overtime pay from taxation for workers...
President Wallace says BLET will be proactive, not reactive during his state of the union address at Eastern Regional Meeting
BLET President Mark Wallace addresses the crowd in the June 17 open session of the Regional Meeting in Daytona Beach. ____________________ Daytona Beach, the site of last week’s BLET Eastern Regional Meeting, is known as the “world center of racing.” Good slogan and...
Texas: BLET working to secure funding for at-risk Heartland Flyer route
Amtrak 822 highballs north out of Fort Worth bound for Oklahoma CIty on BNSF's Fort Worth Subdivision. Photo by Matt Shell ____________________ On June 5, Amtrak announced that its Heartland Flyer service between Fort Worth, Texas and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma will be...
Colorado: Governor signs new law to beef up rail safety inspectors
Colorado Governor Jared Polis signed a bill on June 4 to fund the hiring of rail safety inspectors. The new law, Senate Bill 162, would impose fees on rail companies to hire six new state rail safety inspectors. The total annual fees collected is capped at $2.9...
Surface Transportation Reauthorization and BLET priorities
Roughly every five years, Congress takes up “Surface Reauthorization.” This broad legislative package covers various federal surface transportation programs, including funding and federal policy for highways, transit (including commuter railroads), and passenger and...
NBC spotlights BLET cross border fight and following a BLET investigative trip to Eagle Pass and El Paso, the union reaches out to the White House
Video still from NBC's investigative report. NBC 5 DFW image ____________________ On June 6, the NBC affiliate in Dallas-Fort Worth aired an investigative report highlighting BLET’s opposition to Class I railroads being granted waivers that allow Mexican train crews...
Texas: Two BLET-backed bills reach governor’s desk
At the Texas Capitol after passage of HB 1772, from left: Bryce Dondero, TX SLB 1st Vice Chairman; Kameron Sanders, SMART-TD; Rep. Salman Bhojani (Dist. 92); Ben Wright, TXSLB Chairman; and Scott Piekarski, TXSLB Secretary-Treasurer. ____________________ It was a...
Canada: Arbitrator in TCRC, CPKC contract dispute awards 3% raises
A Canadian arbitrator appointed to resolve the contract dispute between members of Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) and CPKC rendered his decision on May 30. The imposed contract provides 3% general wage increases annually for 2024, 2025, 2026, and 2027. In...
BLET’s Caltrain members ratify new contract with TASI
BLET members today ratified a new five-year contract with Transit America Services, Inc., (TASI). The agreement covers 68 locomotive engineers who operate passenger trains at Caltrain. Ballots were counted this afternoon. Eighty-four percent of members cast ballots,...
Make plans now to attend BLET’s Western Regional Meeting in Seattle/Bellevue
Registration is now open for the BLET’s Western Regional Meeting in Bellevue, Wash., the week of August 18, 2025. Bellevue is located across Lake Washington from Seattle. Guests will stay at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue, 900 Bellevue Way NE, Wash., 98004, telephone...
Examining funding levels for key rail programs under President Trump’s proposed 2026 federal budget
On Friday, May 30, President Trump released his proposed budget for the 2026 federal Fiscal Year (FY) for every federal agency, including key federal agencies important to BLET such as the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB), the National Mediation Board (NMB), Amtrak,...
Ballots mailed in tentative BLET, Alabama State Docks agreement
The tentative five-year deal provides retroactive pay and general wage increases through 2027. Ballots are due back to the National Division by June 26. ____________________ The BLET has reached a tentative agreement with the Terminal Railway-Alabama State Docks...
BLET members ratify new contract with CSXT
Today, BLET members ratified a new five-year contract with CSX Transportation, which governs nearly 3,500 members. Ballots were counted this afternoon, and the agreement was ratified by a 53.6% majority of those who returned ballots. The contract provides compounded...
BLET members ratify agreement with NJ Transit
“…fair and acceptable.” Deal ends five-year contract battle. Voting concluded today for members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) for a new collective bargaining agreement with NJ Transit (NJT), the nation’s third largest commuter...
BLET asks Trump administration to intervene in ongoing cross border issue with Mexico
BLET leadership traveled to the southern U.S. border in Texas in late-May. ____________________ In a June 2 letter, BLET National President Mark Wallace asked U.S. President Donald J. Trump to take “immediate and decisive action” to help protect national security and...
Our History: Remembering contributions of railroad workers on the 81st anniversary of D-Day
Troops of Company A, 16th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division (the Big Red One) wading onto the Fox Green section of Omaha Beach on the morning of June 6, 1944. Photo: Chief Photographer’s Mate Robert F. Sargent via Wikipedia ____________________ June 6, 2025 marks the...
Eliminating brake and mechanical inspections at the border with Mexico takes work away from U.S. citizens, puts lives at risk
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) solicited public feedback on possible federal safety regulations that could be repealed or modified to achieve “meaningful burden reduction while continuing to meet statutory obligations and ensure the...
Ohio State Legislative Board: Three honored at 2025 Founders Day dinner
From left: Rep. Michele Lepore-Hagan, Aaron Barlage and Tom Galloway were all honored at the Ohio SLB Founders Day dinner. ____________________ The BLET’s Ohio State Legislative Board hosted a Founders Day dinner on May 8 in recognition of the BLET’s 162nd...
Daily Headlines
CPKC, CSX receive STB approval to create Mexico-U.S. rail link
The two railroads received approval from the Surface Transportation Board for their acquisition of rail lines operated by Genesee & Wyoming’s Meridian & Bigbee Railroad, also known as MNBR, resulting in the new direct interchange connection in Alabama.
CSX reports Q3 2024 results
Net earnings were $894 million compared to $828 million in the same period last year.
NJ Train regulation bill advances in state senate
A New Jersey state senate committee has approved a bill that would require two-person crews for freight trains and set a maximum length of 8,500 feet for “dangerous hazardous trains.”
NTSB: Improper coupling, excessive in-train forces caused March 2023 NS derailment
Contributing to the accident was the misidentification of couplers without alignment control during the NS’ inspection process, according to an NTSB report issued Sept. 22.
CSX’s former Clinchfield largely unrecognizable after historic flood
With roadways out of service and railroad washouts prohibiting inspections and repair, CSX’s Blue Ridge Subdivision and much of its Clinchfield are likely to remain out of the service for the foreseeable future.
Q&A: RRB financial reports
As of September 30, 2023, total railroad retirement system assets, comprising assets managed by the National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust (NRRIT) and the railroad retirement system accounts at the Treasury, equaled $26.5 billion.
UP explains absence from early contract agreements with organized labor
UP has sought to renegotiate the scheduling deal it reached last year with the BLET, under which engineers work 11 days and then have four days off. That prompted the union to sue the railroad this summer because it had yet to implement the scheduling agreement systemwide.
NTSB identifies probable cause of close-clearance death of CSX conductor trainee
“In this accident, a conductor trainee was fatally injured when he rode a shoving movement through a close clearance — a 7-inch gap — between his train and a series of parked locomotives. The conductor, riding a different ladder on the same railcar through the same gap, was not injured,” the NTSB said.
STB urges BNSF and UP to be prepared for West Coast container surge
Specifically, Primus asked the railroads for their plans to provide reliable service, how they will allocate resources to West Coast ports, and how the railroads are sharing information with port officials.
Biden-Harris administration calls on Class I freight railroads to guarantee paid sick leave and get to 100% worker coverage
U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Department of Labor Acting Secretary Julie Su today sent letters to the CEOs of three Class I freight railroads – CPKC, CN, and CSX – calling on them to guarantee paid sick leave to all of their employees.
