August 27, 2024 | News, STB, Top News
Surface Transportation Board (STB) Chairman Robert Primus has called a public hearing on September 16 and 17 to gather information about how the freight rail industry has grown and intends to grow in the future. STB is the federal agency charged with economic...
August 26, 2024 | News, Positive Train Control, Top News
The BLET has called out five railroads for a backdoor attempt to make changes to Positive Train Control operating rules without going through proper regulatory channels. Each railroad has in place FRA-approved Positive Train Control Safety Plans (PTCSP), which dictate...
August 24, 2024 | Canada, CN, CPKC, News, Teamsters Canada, Top News
Sean O’Brien, General President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, and François Laporte, President of Teamsters Canada, were on the picket line at CPKC’s headquarters in Calgary on August 23. ____________________ The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC)...
August 23, 2024 | CEO Pay, News, Top News
The AFL-CIO released its annual Executive Paywatch report which tracks how worker wages have fallen while CEO pay continues to soar. Here are some highlights from the railroad industry: CEO to worker pay ratios CSX — 116:1 (it previously was a 186:1 ratio) Union...
August 23, 2024 | News, Top News
From left: Rob Weimer, BNSF Galesburg Assistant Superintendent; Brandon Sauvageau BNSF LaCrosse Superintendent; Will Wayzny BNSF Superintendent Of Safety; Division 644 Locomotive Engineer James VonKannon; Division 644 Locomotive Engineer Troy Ericson; Division 644...
August 23, 2024 | GCA Elections, News, Top News, UP
Officers, members, and guests at the UP-Eastern District GCA’s quadrennial meeting in Omaha, Neb., on August 14, 2024. _____________________ Chad Lambert was reelected to his second term as General Chairman during the Union Pacific-Eastern District General...
August 22, 2024 | News, Top News
BLET State Legislative Board Chairmen are in the process of reviewing candidates for public office who are worthy of our support in the upcoming national election on November 5. Their list of candidates for federal office will be published in an upcoming issue of...
August 22, 2024 | News, Railroad Retirement, Top News
The Railroad Retirement Board has provided an update as Congress considers RRB’s funding levels for fiscal year 2025. In July, a House subcommittee proposed a catastrophic $26 million budget cut for RRB. In mid-August, the Senate Committee on Appropriations approved a...
August 21, 2024 | CN, Contract Negotiations, CPKC, News, Teamsters Canada, Top News
Roughly 10,000 members of the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference will be able to strike, or will be locked out by management, if a settlement is not reached by August 22. Photo courtesy of TCRC ____________________ BLET members in the United States are standing with our...
August 20, 2024 | Contract Negotiations, News, Top News
NJ Transit leaders just can’t seem to get their story straight. In arguments before Presidential Emergency Board 251 earlier this month, NJ Transit plead poverty and said it had no room in its budget for additional expenses like pay raises for locomotive engineers....
