WASHINGTON, D.C., August 14 — More than 300 members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and their families convened here this morning for opening ceremonies of the BLET’s Washington D.C. regional meeting. They heard presentations from 10 different speakers, including Teamsters General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall.
In order of appearance, guest speakers were: Jeff Marootian, Director of the D.C. Department of Transportation; Ken Hall, General Secretary-Treasurer of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters; Congressman Anthony G. Brown, who represents Maryland’s 4th District; President Pierce; Kathleen Bisbikis, National Second Vice President and Legislative Representative of the BLET Auxiliary; Karl Racine, Attorney General for the District of Columbia; Dana Balter, Democratic candidate to represent New York’s 24th District; and Mark Thomson, Assistant to Labor Member Walt Barrows of the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board. The final two speakers were BLET National Vice Presidents Cole Davis and Gil Gore, who are retiring at the end of the year.
BLET National President Dennis R. Pierce called the meeting to order. After presentation of the flags by representatives of the D.C. National Guard, Brother Fred Cox delivered the invocation. Brother Cox is Second Vice Chairman of the BLET’s Norfolk Southern-Southern Lines General Committee of Adjustment.
President Pierce then welcomed all members, families and guests to our nation’s capital. He introduced members of the BLET Advisory Board who were in attendance, and thanked National Vice President Jim Louis, Special Representative Matt Kronyak and Special Representative Jason Wright for their work in planning, organizing and managing the regional meeting. President Pierce also recognized and thanked the regional meeting arrangements committee members who provided support: Dino Raptis, a retired member of Division 12 (Fort Wayne, Ind.) and his wife Kathy; and Steve Tuck, a retired member of Division 17 (Kansas City, Mo.), and his wife Chris.
Speaking on behalf of Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, Jeff Marootian presented a proclamation to BLET President Dennis Pierce welcoming the Union to Washington and recognizing the BLET’s 155th anniversary. Marootian is the former Assistant Secretary for Administration at the U.S. Department of Transportation
The chief financial officer of the IBT, Brother Ken Hall discussed the strong financial state of the Teamsters and the successful merger of the BLET and IBT, which became effective in 2004. He warned that the Supreme Court’s Janus decision will hurt organized labor and urged members to become active in the November elections to counteract the anti-union slant in American politics.
“We have a chance in November for change,” Hall said. “There is an incredibly important election coming up. We have got to change the politics of this country.”
Hall discussed the need to protect two-person train crews throughout the United States. He also condemned the job giveaway currently unfolding on the Texas Mexican Railway in Laredo, Texas, where the Kansas City Southern is giving American jobs to Mexican train crews who will work under less stringent safety standards.
Congressman Brown discussed the importance of labor unions and the American economy. “Unions have always played an important role in America,” he said. “Wages are better when unions are strong, and our economy is stronger when unions are stronger.” He said the recent stagnation in worker pay is the result of decades of attacks against labor unions. He also called for increased funding for Amtrak, Positive Train Control, and the Howard Street Tunnel project in Baltimore, MD, which would expand freight capacity for CSX.
President Pierce then delivered remarks regarding the importance of the union movement and the necessity for unions to work together in solidarity. He also warned that rail worker benefits and contracts are under attack due to the anti-worker, anti-union movement in Washington, D.C.
“If these corporate-backed politicians succeed in eliminating labor unions from the American workplace, your Union contracts go away with them. Many of our members do not realize that without a union and a union contract, there is no seniority roster or seniority district,” he said.
President Pierce concluded his remarks by challenging all BLET members to resist complacency and do their part to help end these attacks on working class Americans.
“Going forward, we must redouble our efforts to get even more union members actively involved in their future. This is not a job that any one of us can do alone … we need your help to spread the word, and the help of every union member who is willing to pitch in and do their part. To stop the anti-worker movement in the legislative halls across the country, we must seek out and elect politicians who will work for working class Americans,” he said.
Sister Bisbikis spoke on behalf of Auxiliary National President Sereena Hogan, who was unable to attend the meeting. Sister Bisbikis discussed the importance of the BLET and BLET Auxiliary working together and thanked everyone in the BLET for their support of the Auxiliary’s Scholarship Fund Program. She was a founding member of Nor Cal 39 Auxiliary in Stockton, California. “The say that beside every great man stands a great woman, and there are no greater women than those married to a railroader,” she said.
Racine is the first elected Attorney General for the District of Columbia. He said his office has been fighting and winning cases of wage theft in the D.C. area. Racine also stressed that elections matter and urged union members to turn out at the polls in November to help swing the nation’s political pendulum back toward the center.
Dana Balter is the Democratic candidate to represent New York’s 24th District, which includes Syracuse. If elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, she said she plans to continue to fight for the underdog, and to make the federal government responsive to all Americans.
Mark Thomson has worked for the RRB for nearly 30 years. Since 2015, he has served as Assistant to RRB Labor Member Walt Barrows. He discussed the RRB’s finances and the National Railroad Investment Trust, which manages over $26 billion in assets. He warned that potential job losses due to cuts at Amtrak or reduction in train crew members would have a negative impact on the financial health of the system, which would impact all railroaders. “These benefits are not just handed out,” he said. “They have been fought for and earned by the strength, hard work, and sacrifice of labor.”
Vice President Davis began his remarks by saluting the citizens of Missouri who on August 7 voted to overturn the state’s right-to-work law. He also discussed the four characteristics that a good union leader must have: perseverance, integrity, humility, and the willingness to work hard.
The final guest speaker of the morning was BLET National Vice President Gil Gore, who also is retiring at the end of the year. He delivered a message of unity, and stressed the importance of mentoring younger union members and educating them about the Railway Labor Act. Citing examples from his long and distinguished career, Brother Gore described how the Railway Labor Act is not a race … it’s more like a marathon.
“Sometimes justice takes a while under the Railway Labor Act,” Gore said. “Guys get frustrated, but we have to go by the rules of the Railway Labor Act. It’s not a race — it’s a marathon. The winner is the one who has the endurance to finish. Let’s all be marathoners.”
Near the end of the morning session, President Pierce led BLET members in a moment of silence for all BLET members who have been killed in the line of duty since 1989. All their names were shown in a solemn video presentation. Most recently, the BLET family lost Brother Michael Kempf, an Amtrak locomotive engineer and member of BLET Division 35, who was killed when his train collided with a CSX train tied down in a siding near Columbia, S.C., on February 4, 2018.
Today’s afternoon session included a closed meeting for BLET members and an open meeting hosted by the BLET Auxiliary. Members will take advantage of educational opportunities throughout the remainder of the week. Workshops will feature specialized training for BLET Legislative Representatives, Secretary-Treasurers and Local Chairmen.
The 2018 Washington D.C. regional meeting will conclude with a banquet on the evening of Thursday, August 16. The dates and locations of the BLET’s 2019 regional meetings will be announced soon. When available, information will be posted at: https://www.ble-t.org/regional/.