After the conclusion of the Ohio SLB meeting, BLET officers and members went to the Ohio Statehouse in a show of support for a proposed bill naming a highway interchange after fallen brother Lou Shuster.
The BLET’s Ohio State Legislative Board conducted its 18th quadrennial meeting last week. Chairman John Esterly was reelected to his second term of office. A CSX locomotive engineer and member of BLET Division 34 (Columbus, Ohio), Esterly hired out in 2011 and has served as Chairman of the Ohio State Legislative Board since March of 2021. The Ohio State Legislative Board represents more than 2,100 active and retired members from 20 different BLET Local Divisions.
Also elected were: 1st Vice Chairman Sam Schatz, Division 447 (Bellevue, Ohio); 2nd Vice Chairman James McMahon, Division 607 (Cleveland, Ohio); 3rd Vice Chairman Tim McMahon, Division 565 (Youngstown, Ohio); and Secretary-Treasurer Brian Garrison, Division 607 (Cleveland, Ohio). Elected to serve as Trustees were: Desmon Brown, Division 34 (Columbus, Ohio); Bruce Tatgenhorst, Division 255 (Steubenville, Ohio); and Roger Williams, Division 511 (Portsmouth, Ohio).
Attending the meeting and engaging in a wide-ranging conversation with the delegates were National President Mark Wallace, First Vice President Gary Best, and National Secretary-Treasurer David Estes. President Wallace informed the delegates regarding all the major issues facing the BLET today, including legislative, regulatory, organizing, and collective bargaining. Also, President Wallace and First Vice President Best did a deep dive into the proposed Norfolk Southern-Union Pacific merger. Many Ohio-based locomotive engineers are employees of Norfolk Southern and their elected delegates brought their concerns to the meeting. President Wallace has assigned Best as BLET’s lead officer addressing the proposed merger.
Following conclusion of union business, a large delegation of BLET officers and members turned out in full force at the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus for the first hearing of H.B. 360, a bipartisan bill that would designate the interchange from I-480 to West 150th St. in Cleveland as the SPC Louis P. Shuster Memorial Interchange.
On March 7, 2023, Brother Shuster was killed in a yard accident while working for Norfolk Southern in Cleveland, Ohio. Shuster was President of BLET Division 607. The I-480 interchange is where many railroad workers exit the highway to reach the train yard where Shuster worked, and naming the interchange in his honor would serve as a reminder of Brother Lou’s passion and dedication towards his family, his co-workers, and fellow military veterans. Testifying on behalf of BLET was Division 607 Local Chairman Patrick Redmond, with Rep. Sean Brennan (D-14) and Rep. Ty Mathews (R-83) sponsoring the bill and delivering moving testimony in memory of Brother Shuster. A video of the hearing is available here, starting at about 24:15.
