CLEVELAND, January 12 — BLET National Division officers and staff bid a fond farewell to long-serving staff employee and Brotherhood member Charles E. “Chuck” Anderson. Brother Anderson retired effective December 31, 2011, after 23 years of dedicated service to the national union.
Brother Anderson has been a BLET member for 34 years. He began working for the Brotherhood’s national headquarters in Cleveland in May of 1988, moving his wife JoAnne and three young sons across country from Oregon to Ohio.
Brother Anderson is a proud member of BLET Division 362 in LaGrande, Ore. Prior to his work at the National Division headquarters in Cleveland, Brother Anderson served Division 362 as Local Chairman and was Vice General Chairman of the former Union Pacific-NW District General Committee of Adjustment.
Prior to the start of his railroad career, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from UCLA in 1973. He began his railroad career as a sectionman on the Union Pacific Railroad in 1976, becoming a switchman in 1977 and moving to engine service later that year. He earned promotion to locomotive engineer in 1978 where he worked in through freight service in mountain territory. He joined the Brotherhood on July 1, 1977.
Brother Anderson has professionally and faithfully served the National Division office in numerous capacities over the past 23 yeas. He has served as Assistant to the International President, headed the BLET’s Information Technology (IT) Department, and served as the Brotherhood’s Constitution & Bylaws scholar. He has also planned and organized the Brotherhood’s national conventions and has overseen production of the union’s Bylaws and Convention Proceedings. Most recently, he has returned to the Brotherhood’s IT Department, an assignment he most enjoys due to his strong personal interest in the tech world.
His other hobbies include backpacking, camping, cross country skiing, and bee keeping. However, his most enjoyable pastime is spending time with family, especially his granddaughter Esther.
“Brother Chuck loyally served eight different Chief Executives of our Brotherhood with honor and distinction,” BLET National President Dennis R. Pierce said. “For me, personally, Chuck was a great asset and source of institutional knowledge. I thank him for his service and wish him a long, healthy and enjoyable retirement.”