By Dennis R. Pierce
BLET National President
CLEVELAND, December 21 — As we enter the Holiday Season, I want to extend to all BLET members and their families my sincere best wishes for a Happy Holiday season and a prosperous, safe and happy New Year.
All across our great country, families and friends will gather this Holiday Season to renew their bonds and to celebrate the season. In the case of our proud service men and women, some will see their friends and family for the first time in months if not years. Others will celebrate the season away from their family and friends but they will all hold a special place in their hearts for those that they cannot be with.
Our Union is no different; we, too, are a family that includes a very diverse membership from all across the country. In Local Divisions all across this land, gatherings will be held and members will come together to celebrate the season with their second family — their Brothers and Sisters in the labor movement. Local Divisions all across the country will also lead efforts to provide comfort to the less fortunate this Holiday Season and we should commend them for their acts of kindness.
Not only is this a time to renew our bonds with our own family and friends, it is also a time to renew our bonds as proud members of today’s rail labor family. Although we have had more than our share of ups and downs in recent times, our strong resolve and spirit has insured that adversity has only made us stronger, and we have much to be proud of as we move into 2011.
For example, the BLET just completed its first ever rank and file election of National Division officers, an accomplishment that no other rail labor union can match. Members from all across the country participated in all aspects of the election process. They supported the candidates of their choice as was their right, and they turned out in great numbers to vote for the candidates of their choice. We should all be proud of what we have just completed. BLET members, and all in rail labor, will talk about our proud exercise in democracy for decades to come.
Now that the election is over and our members have spoken, the time has come for all BLET members to bond together as we move into the future, so that true democracy prevails. The eyes of all in the rail community are upon us now, and the success of our proud exercise in democracy will be proven when all BLET members unite and get behind the efforts of our Organization.
As you renew your bonds with your family and friends this Holiday Season, I would ask that you also take the time to renew your bonds with your Brothers and Sisters in the rail labor movement. Rededicate yourselves to being a part of the union, make a New Year’s resolution to be more active and put that into play by attending your Local Division’s January union meeting. I am making a personal resolution to attend at least one union meeting every month in 2011. I truly believe that the best way to know the membership’s concerns is to go right to the source — attend a union meeting and listen directly to the members who have taken the time to participate. Working together and standing as one when we leave our union meetings will only make us stronger in the New Year.
Wishing you a Happy Holiday season and fraternally,
Dennis R. Pierce