BLET News
BLET Legislative Reps meet in DC to sharpen skills and lobby Congress
The BLET’s Education & Training Department wrapped up its Legislative Representative Workshop this week at Teamster headquarters in Washington, D.C. The workshop for 20 BLET Legislative Reps taught them how to become better lobbyists on behalf of the union. The...
Registration open for upcoming rail hazmat training classes
The Rail Workers Hazardous Materials Training Program is hosting four in-person rail worker training sessions in late 2023 and early 2024. The dates are as follows: October 15-20, 2023; January 14-19, 2024; February 4-9, 2024; and March 3-8, 2024.
BLET, TCU call for safety examination of remote control operations after death of CSX carman
The death of a CSX carman, Fred Anderson, 56, who was struck and killed by a remote controlled train on September 17 in Wallbridge Yard, near Toledo, has renewed calls for stricter rules on the use of remote operations. The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and...
BLET backs new rail safety bill introduced in Congress
Rail labor turned out in full force on September 19 for the introduction of a new railroad safety bill in the U.S. House of Representatives. Introduced by U.S. Reps. Melanie Stansbury (D-N.M.) and Jamaal Bowman, Ed.D. (D-N.Y.), the Rail Worker and Community Safety...
Iowa: Working hard to grow the BLET PAC Fund
State Chairman Mike Walker and members of the Iowa State Legislative Board have been hard at work this year signing up new members to voluntarily contribute to the Brotherhood’s Political Action Committee Fund (BLET PAC Fund). Last week, Brother Walker presented a...
Gallup poll: More in U.S. see unions strengthening and want it that way
On the heels of Labor Day, a new Gallup poll shows that labor unions continue to enjoy high support in the U.S., with 67% of Americans approving of them. The poll shows Americans wanting union influence to strengthen, because they believe unions are a benefit to...
Obituary: Retired BLET General Chairman Dennis Penning
Retired BLET General Chairman Dennis “Denny” E. Penning, who served the Union Pacific-Central Region GCA for many years, passed away on September 7, 2023. He was 75 years old. Brother Penning hired out on the Missouri Pacific Railroad in 1967 and earned promotion to...
New England Central: New BLET contract provides general wage increases of 22%
Early last week, a majority of BLET members at the New England Central Railroad (NECR) ratified a new on-property agreement governing rates of pay, benefits and work rules for approximately 40 operating employees. The five-year deal runs through December 31, 2027, and...
Education & Training: Secretary-Treasurers complete workshop
Last week, the BLET National Division hosted approximately 25 Division Secretary-Treasurers and SLB S-Ts for a training class at National Division headquarters in Independence, Ohio. The in-depth training covered UnionTrack (the BLET’s system for membership...
Locomotive engineers at NJ Transit take contract battle to passengers and to New Jersey’s voters
BLET billboards highlighting NJT's spending “millions for penthouse views, but not a dime for train crews” are being placed around the state This week, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) launched an advertising and voter outreach campaign...
Ballots mailed for tentative Portland & Western agreement
A contract ratification vote is underway for BLET members at the Portland & Western Railroad (PNWR). 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 50...
Ballots mailed 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...
160th Anniversary: BLET builds a national headquarters
Delegates attending the Brotherhood’s convention in 1908 voted to fund construction of a union-owned headquarters building. Opened in 1911, the Engineers Building was a 13-story office building in downtown Cleveland, Ohio. It housed executive offices of the union’s...
BLET members march in Toledo Labor Day parade
Members of BLET Division 4 and Division 937 had the honor of being first in line at the annual Labor Day Parade in Toledo, Ohio, on Monday, September 4. “It’s a big deal to be first out in this parade, which is one of the largest in the state,” said John Esterly,...
“Blaming workers creates the exact kind of environment where employees do not feel able to report unsafe conditions,” BLET tells DOT Buttigieg
The rail industry prefers to discipline workers rather than take their confidential input regarding safety improvements. That’s the hypocritical policy of the Association of American Railroads (AAR) in a letter to Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg...
It’s unanimous: BLET engineers at NJ Transit authorize a strike
Results show 81 percent of eligible voters returned ballots, 100 percent of those voting were in support of strike authorization BLET members at NJT are furious over the transit agency’s misplaced priorities. The agency has “millions for penthouse views, but not a...
Blame the workers: Despite previous promises, railroads resist joining confidential safety program because they want to be able to discipline workers
Photo by: Cory Rusch The major freight railroads say a disagreement over whether they will be allowed to discipline some workers has kept them from following through on the promise they made back in March to join the Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS)....
BLET 160th Anniversary: Legendary BLET Member Casey Jones
Most people have heard of the brave locomotive engineer named Casey Jones through popular culture. But not everyone knows that he was, in fact, a member of our union. John Luther “Casey” Jones was a member of BLET Division 99 in Water Valley, Mississippi. He was one...
Federal judge denies NJ Transit’s frivolous nuisance motion to block BLET strike authorization vote
On Thursday afternoon, the Hon. Christine O’Hearn, a judge on the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, denied NJ Transit’s (NJT) cynical attempt to strip members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) of their legal right to hold a strike vote under the rule of the federal Railway Labor Act.
2023 Eastern Regional Meeting draws members from across the country, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy delivers keynote speech
It may be called BLET’s Eastern Regional Meeting, but the union’s gathering in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, this week was packed with 450 members from 177 BLET Divisions who traveled from 39 states. Attendees had an opportunity to learn from the union’s Advisory...
Daily Headlines
UP: BNSF has no right to interchange with proposed Utah short line
Union Pacific has asked federal regulators to squash BNSF Railway’s request to gain access a proposed short line railroad in Utah.
UP expects shipment delays as harsh weather impacts network
Union Pacific Corp. said on Tuesday it anticipates a 24- to 48-hour delay in shipments as its rail network in some states has been impacted by heavy snow, blizzard conditions, ice and power outages.
Graniteville honors lives lost on 19th anniversary of NS crash
In 2005, nine lives were lost and hundreds were injured after two Norfolk Southern trains collided near the Avondale Mills Plant in Graniteville. Over 250 people were treated for toxic chlorine exposure.
Train enthusiasts look back on Montana Rail Link legacy
A blue locomotive on a mountainous background has been the image for the Montana Rail Link for almost 30 years but as of 2024, the railroad company has undergone a big change.
UP beefs up border patrol
Union Pacific, which with Ferromex and BNSF suffered a severe service disruption in December when U.S. Customs and Border Protection unnecessarily closed the U.S./Mexico rail bridges at Eagle Pass and El Paso, Tex., has added a Special Agent patrol at the border.
Five of the six Class I railroads saw volume declines in 2023
Canadian Pacific Kansas City was the only Class I railroad that was able to eke out higher volume last year. CPKC’s traffic was up a scant 0.1% in 2023, which was a down year for North American freight volume.
AAR reports final rail traffic volumes for 2023
December 2023 was the fourth consecutive month that total year-over-year carload and intermodal volumes rose for U.S. Class I railroads.
Improving rail service key to growing intermodal volumes
Intermodal rail in 2024 is likely to still face pressure from the trucking market; however, market conditions for the overall freight transportation market also appear to be returning to pre-pandemic patterns, and so providing good rail service will be key in enabling intermodal rail to compete.
FRA’s train crew size rule moves forward
The Federal Railroad Administration has submitted its final rule on train crew staffing to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review, with the final rule potentially being released in March, according to OMB’s website.
7 hot issues for rail stakeholders in 2024
Railroads, shippers and unions are tracking hot topics ranging from service improvement to government oversight to safety regulations in 2024. Two of the items are federal action on rail safety and labor contract negotiations.
