March 18, 2026 | Last Run, News, Top News
Leland Eoff of BLET Division 197 (San Antonio, Texas) retired in January 2026 after 48 years of service. Eoff has over 44 years of membership in the BLET and served Division 197 for several years as President and Vice President. Division 197 President Jason...
March 17, 2026 | Contract Negotiations, News, Presidential Emergency Board, Top News
On March 16, Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) 254, the second board assigned to the long-running contract dispute between a coalition of five railroad unions and the Long Island Rail Road, like an earlier appointed board of experts, recommended raises and...
March 16, 2026 | BMWED, Legislation, News, Teamsters, Teamsters Rail Conference, Top News
Legislation introduced in Congress, with support from BLET, the Teamsters Rail Conference and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, would put into federal law the current long-standing requirement that railroad tracks are visually inspected twice a week while...
March 14, 2026 | News, Teamsters, Teamsters Rail Conference, Top News
“The Teamsters Rail Conference today is stronger, more unified, and more influential than it has ever been,” said Mark Wallace, President of the Teamsters Rail Conference and BLET National President, in his keynote report to delegates during the Rail Conference’s...
March 13, 2026 | News, SLB Elections, Top News
The BLET’s Ohio State Legislative Board conducted its 18th quadrennial meeting last week. Chairman John Esterly was reelected to his second term of office. A CSX locomotive engineer and member of BLET Division 34 (Columbus, Ohio), Esterly hired out in 2011 and has...
March 12, 2026 | Contract Negotiations, News, Tentative Contract, Top News
The BLET has reached a tentative agreement with the Indiana & Ohio Railway (IORY). Ballots were mailed to members last week. If ratified by the members, the agreement will run through 2031 and provide a 7% general wage increase (GWI) in 2026, 4.5% GWIs each year...
March 11, 2026 | Contract Negotiations, News, Top News
In early March, a White House-appointed mediation panel, Presidential Emergency Board 254, heard from five rail unions, including BLET, as well as the Long Island Rail Road’s management on proposals for a new agreement in the years-long contract dispute at the...
March 9, 2026 | Education and Training, News, Top News
Brothers and Sisters, It has been the honor of my career to serve this organization, first as a Local Division officer, then as a General Committee officer, and now as your National Secretary-Treasurer. Having worked at every level of this union, I understand the...
March 6, 2026 | News, Top News, Unions
It’s not just railroaders at short lines joining unions. The number of workers covered under union contracts jumped to a 16-year high in 2025, according to new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). About 16.5 million workers were covered by a union contract...
March 5, 2026 | Education and Training, News, Top News
The BLET Education & Training Department hosted a hybrid training class for LM-2 filers from February 23-26, with a total of 24 officers participating — both in person at the BLET National Division Training Center and virtually via Zoom. The workshop was designed...
