BLET News
Obituary: Former BLE International President Clarence Monin, 1940-2025
Former BLE International President Clarence V. Monin passed away peacefully in his sleep on June 26. He was 84 years old. He served in the union’s highest office from 1996-1998. “Our thoughts and prayers go out to the entire Monin family in their time of loss,” said...
Western Regional Meeting is coming soon. Have You Registered? Don’t Delay.
Registration continues for the BLET’s 2025 Western Regional Meeting in Bellevue, Wash., located across Lake Washington from Seattle. The meeting, scheduled for the week of August 18, will take place at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue, 900 Bellevue Way NE, Wash., 98004,...
BLET members ratify new contract with Terminal Railway-Alabama State Docks
BLET members on June 26 ratified a new five-year agreement with the Terminal Railway-Alabama State Docks (TRASD). The BLET represents 14 members at the railroad, and the vote was 10-2 in favor of the new deal. The contract provides retroactive pay dating to 2023 as...
“Big Beautiful Bill” passes
Rail workers got the short end of the stick when Congress passed the massive federal spending and tax package — known as the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBB) — on July 3. The bill’s “No Tax on Overtime” provision (Section 70202) was crafted in such a way as to...
Texas: Investigation by CBS affiliate on “monster trains” exposes dangers to the public caused by extremely long trains
Eddie Strom, President of BLET Division 28, in his interview with television station KOLD News 13 in Tucson regarding train thefts and extremely long trains. ____________________ An investigative report by CBS Texas broadcast in June examines how the use of longer and...
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...
Daily Headlines
Analysis: CEO’s dismissal the beginning of the end for Amtrak?
No names have yet been floated about a potential replacement for Gardner.
Amtrak CEO abruptly resigns
Gardner’s departure also arrives just weeks after billionaire Elon Musk floated the idea of privatizing Amtrak, as well as the U.S. Postal Service, at a Morgan Stanley tech conference earlier this month.
STB issues draft environmental statement on proposed Texas border crossing railroad
Green Eagle Railroad’s 1.3-mile line would be part of a 19-mile secure corridor linking Eagle Pass, Texas, and Piedras Negras, Mexico.
Senate confirms Lori Chavez-DeRemer, the daughter of a Teamster, as Secretary of Labor
Teamsters President Sean O’Brien recommended her for the job.
Trump taps former Pa. GOP chair to serve on Amtrak board of directors
Rob Gleason, a longtime resident of western Pennsylvania, has been an advocate for expanding rail service.
NS says route through Asheville, N.C., will reopen by March 31
Still to be addressed is the badly damaged section of track east of Swannanoa to Old Forts, the rugged Old Fort Loops segment of the line to Salisbury, N.C.
FRA personnel cuts could further delay languishing rail initiatives: Analysis
Concerned about such a prospect, the Rail Passengers Association and 22 other public transportation advocacy organizations on Friday, Feb. 28, sent a letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, urging him to “preserve mission-critical personnel to avoid further delays in the administration of these passenger and freight projects.”
Thieves targeting freight trains in California and Arizona deserts make off with $2 million worth of Nikes
It is said the trains are so long that train crews rarely encounter the thieves.
BNSF reports Q4, full year 2024 results
For the year, BNSF’s pre-tax earnings increased 0.5%, to $6.64 billion, while revenue declined 0.5%, to $23.35 billion.
CPKC dedicates new rail bridge between U.S., Mexico
The bridge is 1,170 feet long and cost $100 million.
