BLET News
Texas: Annual rail labor solidarity rally slated for October 15
BLET members are encouraged to attend the annual Houston Solidarity Rally, which runs from noon-7:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday, October 15. The rally features guest speakers from organized labor (including BLET), presentations from the Railroad Retirement Board and various...
Texas: BLET notches another short line organizing victory — third one in 2024
Train and engine service employees at Transglobal Solutions/TGS Cedar Port Railroad in Baytown, Texas, voted overwhelmingly in favor of joining the BLET this week. Rail industry publication Progressive Railroading described Cedar Port, where the railroad operates, as...
Members still have time to request replacement ballots in Metra-UP implementing agreement
Ballots are due on October 8 in the Metro-Union Pacific implementing agreement. Photo: Chase Gunnoe _____________________ BLET members are continuing to vote on a tentative implementing agreement regarding Metra’s takeover of services from the Union Pacific Railroad....
Pearson reelected to third term as Colorado State Legislative Board Chairman
Brother Paul Pearson of BLET Division 133 (Denver, Colo.) was reelected by acclamation to his third term as Chairman of the Colorado State Legislative Board at its 8th quadrennial meeting in Centennial, Colo., on September 18. Brother Pearson hired out with the...
Help is available for BLET members who suffered damage or property loss from Hurricane Helene
Big Bend Region, Florida — Coast Guard personnel from the Gulf Strike team and Station Pascagoula conducting urban search and rescue operations alongside federal and state partners to assist stranded people. (Photo Credit: U.S. Coast Guard) ____________________ More...
Biden-Harris administration calls on CPKC, CN and CSXT to guarantee paid sick leave for all railroad workers
Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. Department of Labor photo ____________________ On September 25, U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and U.S. Department of Labor Acting Secretary Julie Su sent letters to the CEOs of three Class I freight railroads — CPKC,...
Buffalo: CSXT’s remote control trains kill and maim pedestrians
The BLET continues to expose the dangers of remote control train operations after three tragic pedestrian incidents — including a fatality — in Buffalo, New York. The lead story on Page 1 of the September 22 issue of the Buffalo News says it all: “Driverless trains...
New England: Cadogan reelected State Legislative Board Chairman
The BLET’s New England Legislative Board, formerly known as the Massachusetts State Legislative Board, reelected Daniel Cadogan as Chairman at its 8th quadrennial meeting held virtually on September 7, 2024. This will be the third term of office for Brother Cadogan,...
BLET President Hall on hand as ATDA is inducted into DOL’s Century of Service Honor Roll
From left: Retired ATDA President Leo McCann, Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su and ATDA President Ed Dowell (DOL photograph) ____________________ The American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA) was one of nine unions honored by the U.S. Department of Labor on...
Georgia: New state law increases penalties for assault against railroad workers
BLET Georgia State Legislative Board Chairman Dwayne Massengale (second from left) at the desk of Georgia Governor Brian Kemp during the signing ceremony. ____________________ A new law in the State of Georgia, backed by the BLET, increases the punishment for assault...
Rail Conference in the spotlight as IBT hosted 2024 Political Coordinators Meeting
BLET SLB Chairmen (SLBC) who attended the Political Coordinators Meeting. Front row, from left: Brendan Sullivan (BLET Director of Political Affairs), Corey Martin (Illinois SLBC), Adam Hausman (Nebraska SLBC), and Vince Verna (BLET Vice President & NLR). Back...
Chicago: Ballots mailed in tentative Metra, UP implementing agreement
Ballots were mailed last week to BLET members eligible to vote on a tentative implementing agreement regarding Metra’s takeover of services from the Union Pacific Railroad. Ballots were mailed to 307 members. UP has provided operating crews to Metra since its purchase...
New report says railroads and regulators must address dangers of long trains
The recently-released report confirms what the BLET has been saying all along. Longer trains create a greater risk of overall safety. Photo courtesy of Cory Rusch, BLET Division 659 ____________________ A report by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and...
In his testimony to the STB, First VP Wallace says “inept” Class I management, PSR to blame for lack of growth in rail industry
BLET First Vice President Mark Wallace did not mince his words when he testified at the Surface Transportation Board’s public hearing that focused on the lack of growth and poor service in the freight rail industry. “To be clear, today’s rail service problems and lack...
ATDA, BLET, & SMART-TD jointly endorse Sherrod Brown for US Senate after he meets with Presidents of the three unions at ATDA HQ
For Ohio’s rail workers and union members across the state, the choice is clear. Sherrod Brown has spent his career fighting for them—fighting for fair wages, safe working conditions, and the right to organize. Bernie Moreno, by contrast, poses a threat to the very existence of unions and the protections they provide.
Teamsters Rail Conference endorses Harris-Walz
The 70,000-member Teamsters Rail Conference represents locomotive engineers, trainmen, and maintenance-of-way workers on all major freight railroads in the United States, Amtrak, and many of the nation’s commuter rail systems and short lines. The 70,000-member...
Education & Training: Record attendance for September 12 Local Chairman class
The BLET National Division Education & Training Department hosted a claims and grievance training class for Local Chairmen on September 12. “With 113 attendees in person and via Zoom, it was the largest single training class hosted since our Department was founded...
BLET-backed identity protection bill signed into law in Illinois
Cory Martin, Chairman of the BLET Illinois State Legislative Board ____________________ Last month, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker signed a BLET-backed privacy bill into law that protects the identities of train crew members following grade crossing incidents...
Nunnenkamp reelected Kansas Legislative Board Chairman
Brandon Nunnenkamp of BLET Division 130 (Kansas City, Kan.) was reelected to his second term as Chairman of the Kansas State Legislative Board at its quadrennial meeting in Lenexa, Kan., September 4-6. Brother Nunnenkamp is a BNSF locomotive engineer. He was first...
In the Line of Duty: Division 604 member Jerry D. Arterberry, 1969-2024
Brother Jerry D. Arterberry, a BNSF conductor and member of BLET Division 604, suffered a medical emergency and passed away while working at BNSF’s yard in Madill, Oklahoma, on September 7. He was 54 years old.
Daily Headlines
CPKC says longer hauls helped propel Q1 2024 earnings
On a combined basis — which estimates the effects of the CP-KCS merger as if it had become effective on Jan. 1, 2023, instead of April 14, 2023 — CPKC’s operating income was flat, at $1.2 billion, as revenue increased 2%, to $3.5 billion.
New Jersey Rep. Donald Payne Jr. dies at 65
The BLET mourns the passing of Rep. Donald M. Payne Jr. (D-NJ), a staunch advocate for rail safety who served as Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials.
Jury: BNSF contributed to 2 asbestos-related deaths in Montana
A federal jury on Monday said BNSF Railway contributed to the deaths of two people who were exposed to asbestos decades ago when tainted mining material was shipped through a Montana town where thousands have been sickened.
AAR reports rail traffic for the week ending April 13, 2024
For this week, total U.S. weekly rail traffic was 466,463 carloads and intermodal units, up 1.5 percent compared with the same week last year.
CSX profit drops 10% in Q1 2024; CEO says Baltimore bridge collapse will reduce Q2 revenue by about $25 million per month
The railroad said on April 17 that it earned $893 million, or 46 cents per share, in the first three months of the year as it handled 3% more freight. That’s down from $987 million, or 48 cents per share, a year ago.
BRC-TCU secures sick leave at CPKC
(Source: Transportation Communications Union press release, April 16, 2024) The Brotherhood of Railway Carmen Division (BRC-TCU) is proud to announce that a sick leave agreement has been reached with Canadian Pacific Kansas City Railroad (CPKC). This agreement is in...
STB ends probe of UP’s use of embargoes, but slams railroad’s “delay and obfuscation”
The Surface Transportation Board today closed the book on its investigation of Union Pacific’s record use of congestion-related embargoes in 2022 – but not before scolding the railroad for failing to comply with board orders and requests for information.
Federal agency mandates two-person train crews just weeks after Virginia gov. vetoes bill
Mark Wallace, First Vice President of the BLET, said: “The engineers are a lot of times hyper-focused on the controls, and what’s happening not only on the front of the train, but what’s happening in the middle and on the rear of the train. It’s very helpful, and we think, necessary to have a second crew person on the train with us.”
NS reports preliminary Q1 2024 results
In an outlook for Q1 earnings, which are to be released April 24, Norfolk Southern said adjusted earnings would come in at $2.49 a share and adjusted operating ratio would be 69.9%.
Lawyers want East Palestine residents to wait for details of $600 million derailment settlement
The lawyers who negotiated a $600 million settlement with Norfolk Southern over that railroad’s disastrous 2023 derailment in Ohio want residents to talk with them before deciding the historic deal isn’t enough.
