September 4, 2025 | C3RS, News, Railroad Safety, Top News
An investigation released last week on railroad safety from the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland — later broadcast on NPR, published in newspapers such as The Washington Post, and distributed by the Associated Press — quotes two...
September 3, 2025 | Amtrak, News, Top News
Representing BLET at the inaugural run, from left: Vince Verna, VP & NLR; Mark Wallace, National President; and Gary Best, First Vice President. ____________________ BLET locomotive engineer Earl Braxton, a member of BLET Division 482, was at the throttle as...
September 2, 2025 | News, Top News
Nearly six hundred locomotive engineers employed by the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) received ballots in the mail last week from the national union seeking authorization to call a strike at the nation’s busiest commuter railroad. LIRR’s locomotive engineers, members...
August 31, 2025 | News, Top News, Unions
A new report from the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) details the benefits of unions to workers, communities, and democracy. The report finds a number of benefits in the 17 states with the highest union density, including higher incomes, greater access to health...
August 30, 2025 | News, Regional Meetings, Top News
Looking ahead to next year, the BLET’s 2026 Western Regional Meeting will be held in New Orleans, Louisiana, the week of July 13. The 2026 Eastern Regional Meeting will take place in Chicago, Illinois, the week of August 24. Please make plans now to attend one or both...
August 29, 2025 | News, Railroad Retirement, Top News
Members of the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee on July 31 considered Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) legislation, which funds the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB), National Mediation Board (NMB), and Department of Labor...
August 27, 2025 | News, Top News
BLET Executive Committee members with BLET Auxiliary national officers. ____________________ Kat Bisbikis, National President of the BLET Auxiliary, said that copies of the Auxiliary’s new railroad survival guide, “Taking Charge,” remain available to BLET members and...
August 27, 2025 | Mexico, News, Top News
The BLET has been in firm opposition to allowing locomotive engineers coming out of Mexico to operate trains into the United States. Now the inability of most Mexican national train crew members to speak fluent English has become a safety and security issue. In April,...
August 26, 2025 | News, Regional Meetings, Top News
From left: Rep. Rick Larsen, President Mark Wallace, and First Vice President Gary Best. _____________________ U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-WA) participated in a one-on-one chat with BLET National President Mark Wallace in front of an audience comprised of more than 300...
August 25, 2025 | News, Regional Meetings, Top News
Organizing and facing new technologies are two of the BLET’s top priorities during the months ahead, according to BLET President Mark Wallace as he gave his State of the Union address during the union’s Western Regional Meeting in Bellevue, Washington, on the morning...
