INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, August 3 — 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 September 24-28, 2023.
The class will take place at the International Brotherhood of Teamsters headquarters. Attendees will stay at the Hilton Capitol Hill located at 525 New Jersey Avenue NW., in Washington DC. Classroom training begins on the evening of Sunday, September 24, with an orientation and discussion of what to expect during the week ahead. Classroom training will be held on Monday, September 25, and conclude on Tuesday, September 26. In addition, attendees will participate in a full day of lobbying on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, September 27, with the travel day home on Thursday, September 28.
Given the continued 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
- State Legislative Board 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. LRs who sign up should do so with the concurrence of their State Legislative Board Chairman. All participants must register online prior to August 24, 2023 using the following link: https://members.ble-t.org/EducationTraining/RegisterLR
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.
Those who successfully complete the September 24-26 classroom portion will be eligible for a $98.00 per diem, for classroom days only, from the North American Railway Foundation (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.
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.org.