INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, March 15 — The BLET Education & Training Department, in conjunction with the National Legislative Office, will conduct a class for BLET Division Legislative Representatives in Washington, D.C., from June 5-9, 2023.
The class will take place at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters headquarters. Classroom training begins on the evening of Monday, June 5, with an orientation and discussion of what to expect during the week ahead. Classroom training will be held on Tuesday, June 6, and concluded on Wednesday, June 7. In addition, attendees can participate in a full day of lobbying on Capitol Hill on Thursday, June 8, with the travel day home on Friday, June 9.
This is the first in-person training class for Division Legislative Representatives since the COVID-19 pandemic. Given the strong national spotlight on railroad safety, this is an important time for all Legislative Representatives to assist the BLET in relaying the issues and concerns affecting our Organization to members of Congress.
Among other topics, the curriculum will cover the following:
• Computer skills (principles of letter writing and database management);
• Regulatory affairs (reporting and documenting important issues);
• Political affairs (the anatomy of elections, how a bill becomes law, communications skills and correspondence with politicians);
• Understanding individual State Legislative Board bylaws; and
• Trustee responsibilities.
Participation in this class is limited to the first 20 who register. The curriculum will be geared toward Division Legislative Representatives and new State Legislative Board Chairmen.
Those who successfully complete the June 5-7 classroom portion will be eligible for a $98.00 per diem, for classroom days only, from the North American Railway Foundation (http://www.narfoundation.org ). NARF does not pay stipends for the day of lobbying. The stipends will be paid directly to the Secretary-Treasurer of the Division, or the State Legislative Board.
The North American Railway Foundation (NARF) is a non-profit foundation formed by the Brotherhood’s Relief and Compensation Fund (BR&CF) to support rail history, education, safety and technology in the United States and Canada. With initial funding and continued Board of Directors stewardship coming from the BR&CF, NARF has supported many non-political projects throughout the United States and Canada. The primary focus of these efforts has been in support of organized rail labor — giving back to all of the men and women of the railroad community across North America.
All participants must register for the LR class at https://members.ble-t.org/EducationTraining/Register . Once registered, you will receive a confirmation email that will contain more detailed hotel information and instructions for making your room reservation. If you have any problems securing your room in our reservation block, please contact BLET Special Representative Matthew Kronyak at (201) 978-6436, or email: kronyak@ble-t.org.
For more information, please contact David Estes, BLET National Secretary-Treasurer and Director of the BLET Education and Training Department, at (216) 241-2630, ext. 227, or email: Estes@ble-t.og .