INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, December 19 — The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) has reached two tentative agreements with the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway (W&LE) — one for the craft of locomotive engineer and one for the craft of trainman. The proposed agreements govern work rules, rates of pay, and health & welfare issues for approximately 75 locomotive engineers and over 130 trainmen.
Ballots and instructions, along with a synopsis of the agreement, have been mailed to active members working for the W&LE. Ballots are due by 2:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on Friday, January 18, 2019. Members who have not received a ballot by Thursday, December 27, should request a replacement by calling the BLET National Division at (216) 241-2630, extension 222. When connected with the extension, please leave the following information:
• your name, address and phone number;
• the division to which you belong;
• whether or not you have engineer’s seniority;
• your date of birth; and
• the last four digits of your Social Security number.
E-mail requests for ballots will not be accepted because personal information is required to verify eligibility before a ballot can be issued.
President Pierce urged all eligible members to participate in the ratification process. “Voting on your union contract is one of the core democratic principles of our Union,” President Pierce said. “I encourage all of our Wheeling & Lake Erie engineers and trainmen to study their ratification packets and to participate in this most important process of union democracy.”
Headquartered in Brewster, Ohio, the W&LE incorporates approximately 840 miles of trackage in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Maryland. The W&LE handles over 140,000 carloads annually and interchanges with three Class I railroads (CSX, Canadian National and Norfolk Southern) and 16 regional, short line and switching railroads.