Mark L. Wallace is National President of the 51,500-member Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), a Division of the Rail Conference, International Brotherhood of Teamsters. Wallace also serves as President of the Teamsters Rail Conference. He was elevated to the BLET’s highest-office effective May 1, 2025.
President Wallace has participated in every facet of membership representation at many levels, beginning at the grassroots level and working his way up through the local level to the General Committee and the National Division. He has served as Vice Local Chairman, Local Chairman, 4th Vice General Chairman, 3rd Vice General Chairman, 2nd Vice General Chairman, General Chairman, Ninth Alternate Vice President, First Alternate Vice President, National Division Trustee, National Vice President, and First Vice President and Alternate National President.
President Wallace began his railroad career as a carman with Norfolk Southern in 1993 and transferred to the craft of conductor in 1996. In 1998, he completed his locomotive engineer training and attained seniority as a locomotive engineer. He began his service to the union’s membership immediately after joining Division 267 in Asheville, N.C., on February 1, 1997. He served as an appointed Local Chairman for trainmen/conductors and Vice Local Chairman before becoming Local Chairman in 2000.
President Wallace served two terms as General Chairman of the Norfolk-Southern-Southern Lines General Committee of Adjustment (GCA), winning elections in 2012 and 2016. At the time, the GCA represented 43 Divisions with over 3,000 active members He is a member of BLET Division 267 in Asheville, N.C., and he first joined the Brotherhood on February 1, 1997.
President Wallace has served on the BLET’s Advisory Board in numerous leadership roles, including National Division Trustee (2014-2018), National Vice President (2018-2022), and First Vice President and Alternate National President, the union’s second-highest office (2022-2025).
Throughout his career, Wallace participated in negotiations that resulted in numerous contract agreements, including the 2015 on-property agreement with Norfolk Southern, on-property agreements with Portland & Western and the Pacific Harbor Lines, and the 2015 and 2022 National Agreements. Through previous work as a member of the BLET Advisory Board, Wallace helped secure a Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS) pilot program for rail safety at Norfolk Southern, an 11/4 work/rest agreement at Union Pacific, and a first of its kind paid sick leave agreement for locomotive engineers at UP. Wallace also served as a member of the Rail Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) Two-Person Crew Working Group.
Before his railroad career, Wallace attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, where he earned his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science. He follows in the footsteps of his father, Ray C. Wallace, who was a locomotive engineer, Local Chairman, and General Chairman of the NS-Southern Lines GCA from 1986-2008. His mother Janie was very active in the Grand International Auxiliary (GIA), serving as a national officer, and also served as Executive Secretary of the NS-Southern Lines GCA for many years.