CLEVELAND, June 25 — BLET National Vice President Willard E. Knight is retiring following a 44-year railroad career. He has served as a Vice President on the BLET’s Advisory Board since April 24, 2009, and his retirement is effective June 30, 2013.
Vice President Knight publicly made the announcement in an emotional speech at the BLET’s Southeastern Meeting Association’s 86th annual convention on June 24, 2013.
For the past several months, Vice President Knight has bravely battled esophageal cancer and related complications. Richard C. (Rick) Gibbons, Alternate National Vice President No. 1, will be promoted to the office of National Vice President to fill the vacancy on the Advisory Board effective July 1, 2013.
“I personally thank Brother Willard for his valuable leadership and experience,” BLET National President Dennis R. Pierce said. “The contracts he helped negotiate over the years have had a positive and lasting impact on a generation of locomotive engineers. Brother Willard should be proud of what he accomplished for the membership over the past 44 years. On behalf of the National Division and the entire Organization, I wish him nothing but the best in his well-deserved retirement.”
Brother Knight spent 34 of his 44 years in the industry serving the membership as an elected officer of the Brotherhood. His railroad career began in 1969 as a fireman on the Norfolk & Western Railroad in Portsmouth, Ohio. He earned promotion to locomotive engineer in 1972 and first joined BLET Division 511 (Portsmouth, Ohio) on January 1, 1974. His began serving as a union officer in 1979 when he was elected Local Chairman of Division 511. He was reelected to that office numerous times over the next 18 years until he was elected General Chairman of the BLET’s Norfolk Southern–Eastern Region General Committee of Adjustment on January 1, 1992. He served as General Chairman for 17 years before stepping up to the BLET’s Advisory Board.
In 2006, Brother Knight was elected by acclamation to the position of third-alternate vice president and was promoted to the BLET’s Advisory Board on April 24, 2009. He was then reelected by acclamation to his Vice President’s office in October of 2010.
As General Chairman, Brother Knight was involved in CSX / NS / Conrail merger negotiations in the mid-1990s and participated in all on-property agreements on the Norfolk Southern. Those agreements have provided wage increases, quality of life improvements and important job protections for the members he represented. The innovative on-property agreement with NS was among the first in the country to tie membership wage increases to company performance in a way that provided total compensation greater than the scheduled increases. Most recently, he helped negotiate an agreement that contains an important scope rule that protects locomotive engineer jobs in the face of changing technology without sacrificing jobs in other crafts.
As National Vice President, Brother Knight continued to assist the Norfolk Southern and Canadian National-Grand Trunk Western General Chairmen with his years of experience and leadership. He was also assigned to assist several short line railroads, including the New England Central, Indiana & Ohio, Chicago, Fort Wayne & Eastern, and the New York Susquehanna and Western, and others.
During retirement, Brother Knight will spend more time with his wife, Teresia Lynne, and his grandsons. The couple has been married since 1971 and they have one daughter, Michele (husband Patrick), and two grandchildren: Brady and Creed. Knight’s son-in-law Patrick is a Norfolk Southern engineer and member of Division 511.
Richard C. Gibbons was elected Alternate National Vice President No. 1 in the BLET’s historic first membership election of National Division officers in December of 2010. Vice President Gibbons is serving as General Chairman of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (former SL-SF) General Committee of Adjustment until his promotion to the Advisory Board becomes effective on July 1. He was first elected General Chairman in 2001, then reelected by acclamation in 2005 and 2009. Most recently, he was reelected by acclamation to his fourth term as General Chairman in May of 2013. Immediately prior to winning election in 2001, he served as Local Chairman of Division 502 and 1st Vice Chairman of the BNSF SLSF/MNA GCA.
Vice President Gibbons began his railroad career in 1972 on the former Illinois Central Gulf in Slater, Mo. He earned promotion to locomotive engineer in 1973 and first joined the Brotherhood on November 1, 1973. He was a member of BLE Division 8 in Slater until 1993 when he moved to Kansas City, Mo., and joined BLE Division 502. After joining the Brotherhood, he was elected to numerous offices throughout his 40-year career, including Division President, Local Chairman, Legislative Representative, and First Vice Chairman (GCA).
“Rick Gibbons has been a capable and determined General Chairman for many years,” President Pierce said. “I know that he will bring that same tenacity and leadership to his new role as National Vice President and I am proud to welcome him to the Advisory Board.”