July 17, 2024 | News, Top News
Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen today ratified a new three-year contract with SEPTA. An impressive 87 percent of eligible voters cast ballots, with 94 percent voting in favor. The contract provides numerous improvements for BLET...
July 17, 2024 | News, Top News
Ohio Rep. Sean Brennan is the sponsor of HB 381 and is pictured here addressing BLET members in 2023. ____________________ By a vote of 87-0, the Ohio House of Representatives passed a bill that would rename a northeast Ohio highway interchange to honor fallen BLET...
July 16, 2024 | News, Railroad Retirement, Top News
If you think phone wait times are bad now when calling the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB), think again. They could get much worse if proposed budget cuts are allowed to happen. RRB Labor Member John Bragg announced on June 26 that the House Appropriations...
July 14, 2024 | National Mediation Board, News, Top News
In a brief published on July 1, the National Mediation Board announced that Loren Sweatt, a Republican, has assumed Chairmanship. Deirdre Hamilton and Linda Puchala, both Democrats, will remain as Members of the Board. The NMB also confirmed on July 1 that, pursuant...
July 12, 2024 | Contract Agreement, News, Top News
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), Division 214, and Pacific Harbor Line, Inc. (PHL) have overwhelmingly ratified a three-year extension to their current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) well ahead of any deadline. The agreement...
July 12, 2024 | News, Remote Control, Top News, UP
Just days after an explosive New York Times investigative report exposed the dangers of remote control technology, the Union Pacific launched a wide-ranging initiative to implement remote control locomotives (RCLs) in Las Vegas. Brother Matt Parker, Chairman of the...
July 11, 2024 | News, Teamsters, Top News
More than 1,500 Teamster Sisters attended dozens of workshops to empower workers and better advocate for their fellow members on the job during the Teamsters Women’s Conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico, June 23-26. Topics included union bylaws, heat stress,...
July 10, 2024 | FRA, News, Top News, Train Length
A recent article published at Jacobin.com examines how the railroad industry has continued to aggressively lobby against federal safety regulations since the 2023 East Palestine disaster, even as new data suggests that increases in train length have made derailments...
July 9, 2024 | News, Tentative Contract, Top News
Pacific Harbor Line intermodal train. Photo courtesy of Jason Burke ____________________ Balloting is currently underway on tentative agreements at two BLET-represented railroads — SEPTA and Pacific Harbor Line (PHL). Eligible members who have not received a ballot...
July 9, 2024 | East Palestine-NS, Legislation, News, Railroad Safety, Top News
U.S. Senators Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and J.D. Vance (R-OH) are pressuring Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and skeptical Republicans to pass the Railway Safety Act. The NTSB’s damning investigation of Norfolk Southern’s toxic 2023 train derailment in East...
