BLET News
East Palestine disaster may have been last year, but it’s a 2024 story as well. Biden travels to Ohio town, NTSB to release final report June 25
President Biden is scheduled to visit East Palestine to witness firsthand how the town is recovering from the devastation of last year's derailment. This visit should help keep a spotlight on rail safety. (NTSB image) ____________________ President Joe Biden visited...
Education & Training: Secretary-Treasurers benefit from additional Zoom sessions
A total of 52 BLET Secretary-Treasurers participated in online refresher sessions hosted by the BLET Education & Training Department last week. The training on February 6 and February 8 helped Secretary-Treasurers prepare their LM-3 or LM-4 reports for the U.S....
BLET formally signs on to confidential safety reporting pilot program at NS
At the February 15 signing ceremony, from left: General Chairman Scott Bunten, General Chairman Jerry Sturdivant, NS CEO Alan Shaw, FRA Administrator Amit Bose, and General Chairman Dewayne Dehart. (Photo: courtesy of NS) ____________________ Representatives of the...
Rail industry spends millions to obstruct rail safety laws and regulations after East Palestine
In a February 3 article detailing how railroad management’s public positions on railroad safety differ from their lobbying activity, the Washington Post exposed how the rail industry routinely says one thing — but does the opposite.“Over the past year, the nation’s...
Utah: Ballots are in the mail for tentative agreement with Utah Railway
A contract ratification vote is underway for BLET members at the Utah Railway. Ballots were mailed this week to members to vote on a tentative on-property agreement governing rates of pay, benefits and work rules for approximately 42 operating employees. The five-year...
Arkansas: Ballots are in the mail for tentative Missouri & Northern Arkansas agreement
A contract ratification vote is underway for BLET members at the Missouri & Northern Arkansas Railroad (M&NA). Ballots were mailed this week to members to vote on a tentative on-property agreement governing rates of pay, benefits and work rules for...
New England: Ballots mailed as BLET reaches tentative agreement with Berkshire & Eastern
The BLET has reached a tentative contract with the Berkshire & Eastern Railroad (B&E). The tentative agreement governs rates of pay, benefits and work rules for approximately 30 members. Ballots were mailed this week. Some of the proposed contractual...
In the states: Filibuster ends Nebraska two-person crew bill; BLET member shines light on rail safety in Nevada
A filibuster stretching over three days derailed a proposal in Nebraska's unicameral legislature to require two-person train crews. State Sen. Mike Jacobson sponsored the proposal, which had been introduced multiple times in recent years. This was the first time it...
DOT Secretary Buttigieg aligns with BLET on rail safety in National Public Radio interview
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg: “Just basic common sense to me says that you at least want to have two people on board a train that might be carrying hazardous materials, that might be going at a high speed through communities.” IBT Image ____________________...
Celebrating Black History Month: Did you know that an African American inventor was responsible for improvements that made the coupler safer?
Andrew Jackson Beard (1849-1921), an African American inventor, was awarded patents in 1887 and 1899 for improvements to the automatic railroad car coupler. Beard had lost a leg in a car coupling accident earlier in his life. Original railroad couplers required the...
BLET leads joint labor endorsements of Homendy, Primus
The BLET is rallying rail labor support for the reappointment of Jennifer L. Homendy as Chair of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the appointment of Robert E. Primus as Chairman of the Surface Transportation Board (STB).
State legislative update: Virginia rail safety bill advances, Iowa bill introduced
Virginia State Senator Jennifer D. Carroll Foy (center, maroon), the Chief Patron of SB 143, with the BLET’s Herb Harris (green tie) and Tim Craver (far right) and fellow supporters of the rail safety bill. ____________________ In a follow up to a recent Legislative...
In the Line of Duty: Division 423 member Christopher M. Wilson
A visitation and funeral for fallen Brother Christopher M. Wilson will be held on February 9 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. A member of BLET Division 423, Brother Wilson was killed in a Norfolk Southern rail yard accident on January 31. The National Transportation Safety...
Eddie Hall interview: Has anything changed one year after East Palestine derailment?
In an interview with America’s Work Force Union Podcast, BLET National President Eddie Hall talked about growing concerns with rail safety one year after the tragic events of East Palestine, Ohio. He said the Norfolk Southern derailment of February 3, 2023, brought...
Remembering brother Chris Seeling: FRA final rule requires emergency escape breathing apparatuses
On January 25, 2024, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced a final rule requiring railroads to provide emergency escape breathing apparatuses to train crew members who work on hazardous materials trains. The FRA press release announcing the final rule...
East Palestine disaster: One year later, it’s time to hold railroads accountable and make safety enhancements
In an ideal world, February 3, 2024, would serve as a day to reflect on the safety improvements the rail industry has made since Norfolk Southern’s derailment and massive chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio. But the sad reality is that the rail industry has learned...
BLET negotiates C3RS safety program with Norfolk Southern
The BLET and Norfolk Southern will begin working together to improve safe train operations under a joint FRA Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS). The Implementing Memorandum of Understanding (IMOU), was announced on January 29. C3RS allows operating...
Union membership grew in 2023, thanks to worker wins
On January 23, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its annual report on union density. The report shows that union membership grew by 139,000 in 2023. Union membership in the private sector increased by 191,000 members, with a majority of new members...
BLET member killed at NS yard in Alabama
“This tragic loss underscores the safety risks present in railroading, even in the controlled environment of a rail yard,” BLET National President Eddie Hall said. “This week marks one year since Norfolk Southern’s derailment and chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio. I hope as we reflect on that disaster and on the need to continually improve rail safety that we also pause to remember Brother Wilson and the family he leaves behind.”
New England: St. Lawrence & Atlantic members ratify new contract
On January 23, BLET members ratified a new six-year agreement with the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad (SL&A). The agreement provides retroactive pay dating to January 1, 2022, for all active employees, and general wage increases of 24% over the life of the...
Daily Headlines
A year after East Palestine derailment, U.S. freight trains remain largely unregulated
ProPublica Reporter Topher Sanders has spent the last two years with his colleagues reviewing court and regulatory records of thousands of incidents involving trains.
AAR reports rail traffic for January and the week ending February 3, 2024
Combined U.S. carload and intermodal originations in January 2024 were 2,231,182, down 0.7 percent, or 16,530 carloads and intermodal units from January 2023.
NTSB will return to East Palestine in June to release findings, probable cause of NS derailment
The National Transportation Safety Board will announce its final findings, probable cause, and recommendations regarding the 2023 Norfolk Southern derailment and massive hazardous materials release in East Palestine, Ohio. The public board meeting will be held at the high school in East Palestine.
Former BNSF track inspector who secretly recorded boss shares why he took on the railroad
As the country focuses on rail safety following derailments here and around the country, Don Sanders’ recordings raise new questions about internal operations at the BNSF Railway
CPKC railroad lags peers in offering sick time and now some dispatchers will have to forfeit it
The head of the American Train Dispatchers Association, President Ed Dowell, sent an angry public letter to CPKC executives and shareholders this week about the 35 dispatchers who will lose their sick time when they move from Canadian Pacific’s old U.S. headquarters in Minnesota to the new U.S. CPKC headquarters in July.
Filibuster derails proposal to require two-person crews on trains in Nebraska
A filibuster stretching over three days derailed a proposal Friday to require two-person crews on trains operated by major railroads in Nebraska.
FRA issues Emergency Order shutting down Oklahoma short line
The Federal Railroad Administration issued a rare emergency order shutting down an Oklahoma short line following the discovery of multiple derailments and safety violations. In an emergency order posted this week, the FRA alleged that the continued operation of the Blackwell Northern Gateway Railroad posed an “imminent threat” to public safety.
A year after East Palestine, rail industry blocks new safety rules
Publicly, Norfolk Southern and its peers have pledged to work with lawmakers on the bill. But the companies have still labored to severely weaken or eliminate some of its core provisions, according to 15 lawmakers, congressional aides, union officials and others, many of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.
STB modifies performance requirements for Class I railroads
The agency is keeping in place a requirement that Class I railroads provide monthly data on hiring and retention plans, and also provide an additional update containing labor force targets. In addition, the railroads are being directed to continue to submit data about trainees in their monthly employment data.
A year on, a small Ohio town is recovering from a fiery train derailment but health fears persist
Daily life largely returned to normal for most of the nearly 5,000 residents of East Palestine, Ohio, months after a Norfolk Southern train derailed and spilled a cocktail of hazardous chemicals that caught fire a year ago, but the worries and fears are always there.
