The BLET Education and Training Department will conduct a comprehensive training class for Local Division Secretary-Treasurers. This class will also be open to General Committee of Adjustment and State Legislative Board Secretary-Treasurers, as most of the material to be covered is relevant to their respective positions. This workshop will be held at the BLET National Division Headquarters in Independence, Ohio, during the week of September 15, 2025.
Full-day classes will be held on Tuesday, September 16 and Wednesday, September 17. A half-day class will be offered on Thursday, September 18, 2025, for one-on-one assistance and general questions and answers. Hotel check-in/travel day is Monday, September 15 and hotel check-out/travel day is Thursday, September 18. In addition to the in-person training, this class will also be available to remote participants in a hybrid training setting.
Secretary-Treasurers will receive training in several areas, including how to use the UnionTrack membership reporting system, OLMS compliance tips, and Division/SLB Trustee reporting. During the sessions, attendees will review best practices for financial record keeping to better facilitate reporting to the Department of Labor, Internal Revenue Service, and the Railroad Retirement Board. The class will also focus on insurance bonding, check registers, banking, and other important items. A goal for our instructors is to do everything they can to make the Secretary-Treasurer’s job as easy as possible.
All participants (both in-person and remote) must register for the class at https://members.ble-t.org/EducationTraining/RegisterST. Once registered, you will receive a confirmation email that will contain more detailed hotel information and instructions for making your room reservation if attending in-person, or a Zoom meeting link if attending remotely. In-person attendees will stay at the Embassy Suites Hotel located at 5800 Rockside Woods Boulevard, in Independence, OH. If you have any problems securing your room in our reservation block, contact BLET Special Representative Matthew Kronyak at (201) 978-6436, or email kronyak@ble-t.org.
Upon successful completion of the course, in-person attendees will qualify for a $110.00 per day stipend from the North American Railway Foundation (www.narfoundation.org). The stipends will be paid directly to the Local Division, General Committee of Adjustment, or State Legislative Board.
The North American Railway Foundation (NARF) is a non-profit foundation formed by the Brotherhood’s Relief and Compensation Fund (BR&CF) to support rail history, education, safety and technology in the United States and Canada. With initial funding and continued Board of Directors stewardship coming from the BR&CF, NARF has supported many non-political projects throughout the United States and Canada. The primary focus of these efforts has been in support of organized rail labor — giving back to all the men and women of the railroad community across North America.
For more information, please contact David Estes, National Secretary-Treasurer and Department Head of the BLET Education and Training Department, at telephone number (216) 241-2630 ext. 227, or by email at: estes@ble-t.org.