CLEVELAND, October 22 — BLET National President Dennis R. Pierce today announced the hiring of Brothers Paul T. Aird and Matthew C. Kronyak to full time Special Representative positions with the BLET National Division. Their hiring becomes effective November 1, 2014.
Brother Aird will serve as Director of Organizing and as National Mobilization Coordinator for the Western United States. He will assume the duties of Brother Kent N. Confer, who is retiring effective January 1, 2015. Brother Kronyak will serve in a new Special Representative position to arrange facilities and coordinate meeting space for Brotherhood functions. Both Brothers will also handle other duties as assigned by the National President.
“I am pleased to welcome Paul Aird and Matt Kronyak to our National Division staff and I know they will work tirelessly on behalf of the National Division and all members of our Brotherhood,” President Pierce said. “Brother Aird will have big shoes to fill with the retirement of Kent Confer, but I have every confidence that he has the skill and dedication necessary to meet the challenges that lie ahead.”
“Brother Kronyak has been with the National Division on a part-time basis for over a year now, and has done an excellent job during that period. It became necessary to add him on a full-time basis to handle the growing number of meetings in the years to come, including the National Division’s increasing involvement in the regional meeting process beginning in 2016,” President Pierce said.
A fourth-generation railroader, Brother Aird is a Wisconsin Central locomotive engineer and member of BLET Division 173 (Fond du Lac, Wisc.). He hired out in 1993 as a section laborer for the Fox River Valley Railroad. In 1994, he hired out on the Wisconsin Central and earned promotion to locomotive engineer in May of 1999. He is a proud veteran of the United States Marine Corps. Immediately prior to his November 1 appointment, Brother Aird served as Legislative Representative of Division 173 and as 1st Vice Chairman of the Wisconsin State Legislative Board, a position he has held since July of 2004. For Brother Aird, one of the most influential experiences in his union career was his participation in the War on Workers protests in Wisconsin in the spring of 2011.
“Having seen first hand how extremist politics can negatively impact us as organized labor is certainly a driving force in how I approach my work as a union officer,” Aird said. “The challenges that face us today are no different than the struggles that our forefathers in this organization faced at the time of our inception. We must stand together in these turbulent times to face the attacks of those who seek to destroy our way of life.”
Brother Kronyak hired out on Conrail as a trainman on February 23, 1993. He earned promotion to locomotive engineer on May 26, 1995. In 1999, when Conrail was split between Norfolk Southern and CSX, Brother Kronyak elected to work for CSX. Immediately prior to his full-time appointment, Brother Kronyak served as Chairman of the New Jersey State Legislative Board (NJSLB). He was first elected to that position on March 26, 2010, and then reelected by acclamation in March of 2013. Brother Kronyak also is Local Chairman of BLET Division 235 (Union City, N.J.) and also Vice Chairman of the Conrail (SAA-CSX Northern District) General Committee of Adjustment. He was elected Local Chairman of Division 235 in 2000 and has held the position for the past 14 years, having been reelected by acclamation four times.
“Dedication and knowledge through education are two of the things that make for a good union officer,” Brother Kronyak said. “I have won many discipline cases over the past 14 years, and if not for the training I received through the BLET’s Education and Training Department, I do not believe I would have had the know-how to win some of them.”
One of Brother Kronyak’s proudest accomplishments as Chairman of the NJSLB was facilitating a formal Affiliation Agreement between his State Legislative Board and Teamsters Joint Council #73, which represents over 62,000 Teamsters within New York and New Jersey. It marked the first time in the United States that a BLET subordinate body became affiliated with a Teamster Joint Council. Both Teamsters General President Hoffa and BLET National President Pierce signed off on the agreement.
“Again, I am proud to welcome Brother Aird and Brother Kronyak to our BLET National Division staff,” President Pierce said. “I have every confidence that our members will be well served by their professionalism and dedication.”