CLEVELAND, October 15 — Marcus J. Ruef, BLET National Vice President & Arbitration Director, was elected Vice Chairman of the full National Railroad Adjustment Board (NRAB) at meetings in Chicago on September 22. His term of office began on October 1, 2010.
Vice President Ruef is the longest serving Labor Member on the Board. He will be working with Chairman Mike Lesnik in overseeing the Boards operations.
“This is not only a significant honor for me personally, but also for our Organization,” Vice President Ruef said.
As Vice Chairman of the NRAB, Brother Ruef is now responsible for working with the rail industry and the National Mediation Board (NMB) to resolve problems presented to the Board and to find ways to improve the minor dispute resolution process.
NMB recently established a new Arbitration Advisory Forum with representatives of labor, industry, and the arbitrator community to work with NMB in a spirit of cooperation to explore ways to improve the Section Three process. Brother Ruef is one of the three labor representatives serving on this important new panel.
“Congratulations to Brother Ruef on this significant achievement,” BLET National President Dennis Pierce said. “His appointment as NRAB Vice Chairman is a testament to his many years of distinguished service on behalf of the Organization.”
As background information, the National Railroad Adjustment Board (NRAB) is an agency of the Federal Government located in Chicago, Ill. Established by an amendment to the Railway Labor Act (RLA) in 1934, the Board has jurisdiction over all “minor disputes” in the rail industry (i.e. claims and grievances concerning the interpretation of existing agreements – including challenges to unjust discipline).
The minor dispute process is vital to our membership because it is the mechanism by which the BLET enforces our collective bargaining Agreements and challenges unjustly assessed discipline.
The Board has 34 members divided evenly between Labor and Management, and is comprised of four separate divisions, each handling a certain group of crafts or classes of railroad employees. The First Division represents operating employees; the Second Division the shop crafts; the Third Division the Maintenance of Way, Clerical, Signal and on-board passenger service groups; and the Fourth Division handles the remnants of the maritime trades, the Yardmasters, line level supervisors and police.
Vice President Ruef serves the BLET as one of our two Labor Members of the First Division. He was elected to a four-year term of office, as a National Division Vice President, at the BLET’s First Quadrennial Convention in June of 2006and was later appointed Director of Arbitration in April of 2009.