CLEVELAND, June 28 — BLET First Vice President and Alternate President Dennis R. Pierce was elected by acclamation to the office of President of the Teamsters Rail Conference on June 24 at the Rail Conference’s Quadrennial Convention in Las Vegas.
Also elected by acclamation was BLET Vice President Lee Pruitt, who will serve as Vice President of the Rail Conference, and BMWED National Secretary-Treasurer Perry K. Geller Sr., who was reelected by acclamation to the office of Rail Conference Secretary-Treasurer.
“Brother Pruitt and I are both honored to have been given the opportunity to serve the Rail Conference,” said Brother Pierce. “We are both dedicated to working with Brother Geller and the other officers of the Rail Conference to make the Teamsters Rail Conference stronger as BLET and BMWED transition into the future together.”
The BLET Advisory Board also elected representatives to serve on the Rail Conference Policy Committee, and they are First Vice President/Alternate President Pierce, National Secretary-Treasurer Bill Walpert, Vice President & National Legislative Representative John Tolman, and Vice President Pruitt.
The Rail Conference Convention came on the heels of the BMWED National Convention. BMWED delegates reelected incumbent President Freddie Simpson by acclamation, as well as Secretary-Treasurer Geller.
Simpson, who also serves as a Teamsters Vice President, congratulated the new Rail Conference officers on their election. “I am very confident in the newly elected officers and am very excited about working with them to transition both Craft Divisions and the Teamsters Rail Conference into the future,” he said.
As President, Pierce is the principal officer of the Rail Conference and is responsible for conducting its day-to-day affairs. He also presides over quarterly meetings of the Rail Conference Policy Committee and all meetings of the Conference. With Policy Committee approval, Pierce also may hire Rail Conference staff, assign tasks to them and direct their work.
Teamsters Vice President John Murphy serves as Director of the Rail Conference. He presided over the Rail Conference Convention, along with the assistance of David Cameron, Assistant to the Director of the Rail Conference. Brother Pierce offered his thanks to Assistant Director Cameron, Vice President Murphy, General Secretary-Treasurer Tom Keegel and General President Jim Hoffa for their ongoing support of the Teamsters Rail Conference and its membership.