BLET News
Obituary: Steam rail enthusiast and honorary BLET member Ross Rowland passes away
Ross Rowland was a rail enthusiast and a champion for the preservation of steam locomotives for decades. He was named an honorary BLET member in the early 1970s. Photo from the BLET archives ____________________ Ross Rowland, one of only 16 lifetime honorary members...
BLET reaches tentative agreement with New York & Atlantic
The tentative contract includes general wage increases and a potential retention payment. Ballots are due by Wednesday, August 6. Photo by MOBlockLimit on Flickr ____________________ The BLET has reached a tentative agreement with the New York & Atlantic Railway...
Arizona: BLET reaches first tentative agreement for AZER membership
The BLET has reached a tentative five-year agreement with the Arizona Eastern Railway (AZER). If ratified by the members, it would become the first union contract for the formerly non-union workers who voted to join BLET in June 2024. The tentative agreement would...
Federal rail safety reform legislation is overdue. “We want detectors, but not in place of inspectors,” is the message at rail safety roundtable.
Attendees at the Roundtable, from left: BLET Ohio SLBC John Esterly, BLET VP and NLR Vince Verna, Ohio U.S. Rep Mike Rulli (R-OH), and Division 255 LR and LC Bruce Tatgenhorst. ____________________ Leaders of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division...
BLET statement on proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio — In response to today’s announcement by Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern (NS) regarding a proposed merger, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) issued the following statement on behalf of its members at both carriers:...
National President Wallace discusses cross-border rail issue with Mexico, rail safety, recent agreements and other topics in podcast interview
BLET National President Mark Wallace joined America's Work Force Union Podcast last week to discuss problems with crews from Mexico operating trains in the U.S. and why the practice, while currently limited, should be halted. President Wallace said the cross-border...
Unions, including BLET, urge Congress to add transportation workers to “no tax on overtime” provision
Teamsters Rail Conference affiliates BLET and BMWED have signed on to a labor-led letter asking Congress to swiftly correct a technical error in the recently passed “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (OBBA) that caused rail workers to be excluded from the bill’s overtime...
DOT launches “regulatory sprint,” but what’s at the finish line?
The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has launched a “regulatory sprint,” a term that describes eliminating or changing nearly 200 safety regulations that provide safeguards for the rail industry, its workers, and the communities they serve. Under direction from...
Now you see it, now you don’t: Transportation appropriations bill would use other rail infrastructure money to fund Amtrak and FRA
House Appropriations Committee Republicans last week released the draft fiscal year 2026 Transportation, and Housing and Urban Development (THUD), and Related Agencies funding bill. The BLET is keeping a close eye on the proceedings as the proposed legislation...
Keith Kerley reelected General Chairman of CSXT Western Lines GCA
Keith Kerley was reelected by acclamation to his third term as General Chairman of the BLET’s CSXT Western Lines General Committee of Adjustment at the GCA’s quadrennial meeting on July 16, 2025. The GCA represents more than 2,800 active and retired members from 25...
BLET, UP reach tentative agreement on 3% interim raise
The BLET has reached a tentative agreement with the Union Pacific Railroad that would provide a general wage increase of 3% to approximately 6,000 BLET members employed at UP, if ratified. The proposed “interim raise” is described in the balloting materials that are...
July 2025 RRB Q&A: Disability annuities for railroad employees
The Railroad Retirement Act provides disability annuities for railroaders who become totally or occupationally disabled. Medicare coverage before age 65 is also available for totally disabled employees and those suffering from ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) or...
AAR de-regulatory playbooks, part 5 in a series: Rail industry seeks to weaken safeguards for remote control operations
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) asked for feedback on federal safety regulations that could be repealed or modified. Class I railroads through their trade group, the Association of American Railroads (AAR,) jumped at the chance to put...
Seattle/Bellevue: July 21 is the deadline to make hotel reservations for BLET’s Western Regional Meeting
BLET members have until Monday, July 21 to make hotel reservations for the Western Regional Meeting, which will take place the week of August 18 at the Hyatt Regency Bellevue, 900 Bellevue Way NE, Wash., 98004, telephone (888) 959-9356. Meeting registration and hotel...
Amtrak: Hey y’all, after a 20-year absence, Mardi Gras service to resume along America’s Gulf Coast
Amtrak announced on June 30 that its Mardi Gras service between New Orleans, Louisiana. and Mobile, Alabama, with stops in Bay St. Louis, Gulfport, Biloxi, and Pascagoula, Mississippi will resume on August 18. The twice-daily service will provide employment...
North Central Texas Council of Governments votes to secure funding for Amtrak’s Heartland Flyer for one year
P42 no. 176 pushes the Heartland Flyer north toward Tower 60 in Fort Worth, Texas. Photo by Matt Shell ____________________ Thanks to the continued efforts of the BLET and Teamsters, the North Central Texas Council of Governments (NCTCOG) voted on July 10 to fund...
Have You Registered? The deadline for the Western Regional Meeting is right around the corner
Mount Rainier is a must-see icon of the Washington landscape. Ascending to 14,410 feet above sea level it is located less than 60 miles south of Seattle. ____________________ Registration continues for the BLET’s 2025 Western Regional Meeting in Bellevue, Wash.,...
June 2025 RRB Q&A: Understanding unemployment and sickness benefits for railroad employees
The Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) administers the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA), which provides qualified railroaders with unemployment benefits when they become unemployed but are ready, willing, and able to work, and sickness benefits when they cannot...
AAR de-regulatory playbooks, part 4 in a series: Cutting corners on brake operability puts lives at risk
Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) solicited public feedback on possible federal safety regulations that could be repealed or modified to achieve “meaningful burden reduction while continuing to meet statutory obligations and ensure the...
Educational loans from the BLET’s Greene Fund available to children of members in good standing
All BLET members with adolescent children going on to higher education, whether it be for trade school, associate, bachelor or graduate degrees, please take notice. The Franklin P. Greene Fund, established in 1956, is an educational loan fund set up to assist the...
Daily Headlines
April 2025 Q&A: Railroad Retirement Survivor Benefits
The following questions and answers describe railroad retirement survivor benefit eligibility requirements and provide benefit-related information.
Amtrak considering staff cuts, other cost-saving moves
Company says it is being ‘proactive’ in addressing outside pressures
Amtrak sidelines Horizon car fleet, leading to widespread cancellations
Corrosion issues lead to cars’ removal; Cascades, Borealis, Hiawatha operations hardest hit
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.”
