BLET News
BLET SLB Chairmen: Two days left to submit candidate recommendations via email
BLET State Legislative Board Chairmen are continuing to review candidates for public office who are worthy of our support in the upcoming national election on November 5. Their list of candidates for federal office will be published in an upcoming issue of the...
Melone elected new Chairman of Montana State Legislative Board
Brother Kristian (Kris) Melone, a BNSF locomotive engineer and member of BLET Division 504 (Great Falls, Mont.), was elected to his first term as Chairman at the Montana State Legislative Board’s quadrennial meeting on August 14-15, 2024. He has served as the State...
Washington: STB to hold hearing on growth in the freight rail industry — BLET’s Wallace to testify
Surface Transportation Board (STB) Chairman Robert Primus has called a public hearing on September 16 and 17 to gather information about how the freight rail industry has grown and intends to grow in the future. STB is the federal agency charged with economic...
BLET exposes carriers’ backdoor effort to change PTC safety regulations
The BLET has called out five railroads for a backdoor attempt to make changes to Positive Train Control operating rules without going through proper regulatory channels. Each railroad has in place FRA-approved Positive Train Control Safety Plans (PTCSP), which dictate...
TCRC defiant as government mandates binding arbitration to end CN, CPKC lockouts
Sean O’Brien, General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and François Laporte, President of Teamsters Canada, were on the picket line at CPKC’s headquarters in Calgary on August 23. ____________________ The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC)...
AFL-CIO Executive Paywatch exposes exorbitant CEO pay in railroad industry
The AFL-CIO released its annual Executive Paywatch report which tracks how worker wages have fallen while CEO pay continues to soar. Here are some highlights from the railroad industry: CEO to worker pay ratios CSX — 116:1 (it previously was a 186:1 ratio) Union...
Illinois: Division 644 recognizes three Brothers upon retirement
From left: Rob Weimer, BNSF Galesburg Assistant Superintendent; Brandon Sauvageau BNSF LaCrosse Superintendent; Will Wayzny BNSF Superintendent Of Safety; Division 644 Locomotive Engineer James VonKannon; Division 644 Locomotive Engineer Troy Ericson; Division 644...
Lambert reelected to second term as UP-Eastern District General Chairman
Officers, members, and guests at the UP-Eastern District GCA's quadrennial meeting in Omaha, Neb., on August 14, 2024. _____________________ Chad Lambert was reelected to his second term as General Chairman during the Union Pacific-Eastern District General Committee...
BLET SLB Chairmen: Candidate recommendations due by August 30
BLET State Legislative Board Chairmen are in the process of reviewing candidates for public office who are worthy of our support in the upcoming national election on November 5. Their list of candidates for federal office will be published in an upcoming issue of...
RRB budget update: Funding concerns continue as Senate proposes FY 2025 funding
The Railroad Retirement Board has provided an update as Congress considers RRB’s funding levels for fiscal year 2025. In July, a House subcommittee proposed a catastrophic $26 million budget cut for RRB. In mid-August, the Senate Committee on Appropriations approved a...
BLET stands in solidarity with Teamsters Canada Rail Conference
Roughly 10,000 members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference will be able to strike, or will be locked out by management, if a settlement is not reached by August 22. Photo courtesy of TCRC ____________________ BLET members in the United States are standing with our...
NJ Transit: Agency has money for a “fare holiday,” but says it can’t afford pay raises for locomotive engineers
NJ Transit leaders just can’t seem to get their story straight. In arguments before Presidential Emergency Board 251 earlier this month, NJ Transit plead poverty and said it had no room in its budget for additional expenses like pay raises for locomotive engineers....
Union Pacific: BLET holds carrier accountable for not living up to promises made in quality of life agreement
As a result of an agreement reached with BLET last year, BLET’s engineers employed at Union Pacific are supposed to be working under a negotiated schedule that provides for a four-day rest period after 11 days on the job. But the railroad has been slow to honor its...
Reminder to BLET SLB Chairmen: Candidate recommendations due by August 30
BLET State Legislative Board Chairmen are in the process of reviewing candidates for public office who are worthy of our support in the national election on November 5. Their list of candidates for federal office will be published in an upcoming issue of the...
Railroad Retirement Board urges you to review Form BA-6
The Railroad Retirement Board routinely publishes important news of interest to active and retired BLET members. Here is a summary of highlights published in Summer 2024. • Each year the RRB prepares a Form BA-6, Certificate of Service Months and Compensation, for...
BLET Safety Task Force: Three major derailments in July are under investigation
July was a busy month for the BLET’s Safety Task Force (STF). The BLET has received party status from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) to assist with investigations into three serious incidents: a BNSF hazmat derailment and fire in Carrington, N.D.; a...
Triennial Election refresher training classes are available in advance of next month’s Division nomination meetings
The BLET Education & Training Department is offering online training to help BLET Divisions prepare for the upcoming round of Triennial Elections, which are only a few weeks away. Nominations will be held at each Division’s first regular meeting in September of...
NJ Transit: BLET makes a strong case at hearing before PEB 251
The BLET made a strong case on behalf of its members as PEB 251 held formal hearings last week in the contract dispute between BLET and New Jersey Transit. NJT’s locomotive engineers have been seeking a new labor agreement since October 2019. NJT’s engineers are the...
BLET Eastern Regional Meeting: Highlight video features key speakers, major themes
The BLET National Division has prepared a video featuring highlights from several speakers at the union’s Eastern Regional Meeting last week in Washington D.C. The 8-minute video features the meeting’s opening ceremony and includes messages from U.S. Senator Bernie...
Keep up the pressure: Tell Congress to fully fund Railroad Retirement
BLET is continuing to urge its members and their families to tell their legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives to fully fund the Railroad Retirement Board. As reported previously, budget cuts that would be catastrophic for the RRB are now under consideration...
Daily Headlines
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.
NJ Transit board approves 15% fare hike
NJ Transit’s board convened Wednesday to vote on what would be its first fare hike in nearly a decade, a 15% increase that would take effect on the heels of New York City’s controversial congestion pricing tolls, if all goes according to plan.
$430 million improvement plan for PATH
The two-year program calls for the repair or replacement of infrastructure throughout the system, including rail cars, bridges, tracks and track switches.
NS reaches $600 million settlement to resolve East Palestine class-action lawsuits
But Norfolk Southern didn’t admit to any liability or wrongdoing as a result of the settlement.
Now trains must have two-person crews. Will that continue for airplanes?
Once the Department of Transportation (DOT) on Tuesday unveiled new rules requiring two-member crews on board most freight trains, three U.S. pilot unions raised the question: Can the same policy continue for aircraft?
Report urges railroads to adopt growth strategies to regain freight lost to the highway
Recent research on potential 2030 scenarios for North American Class I railroads shows that focusing on growth — backed by a cost-efficient and reliable operation — is the only strategy likely to lead to long-term value creation.
Logjam at Canadian ports as import surge meets rail shortages
A surge of imports meeting strained rail capacity has pushed up container dwell times at North American west coast ports, especially in Vancouver.
