CLEVELAND, September 27 — Brother D.W. “Bill” Hannah was reelected by acclamation to his fourth term as General Chairman of the Union Pacific-Western Lines General Committee of Adjustment at triennial meetings in San Diego, Calif., from September 21-23, 2010.
Brother Hannah is a member of BLET Division 56 (Colton, Calif.). He joined the Brotherhood on February 1, 1979, and has served as General Chairman since 2001, winning reelection in 2003, 2007 and 2010.
Also elected were: 1st Vice Chairman L.R. “Larry” Law, Division 56; 2nd Vice Chairman J.R. “John” Eutsler, Division 158 (Sparks, Nevada); 3rd Vice Chairman M.R. “Mike” Arnold, Division 800 (Portola, Calif.); Secretary-Treasurer C.H. “Chuck” Fleming III, Division 192 (El Paso, Texas); and Alternate Secretary-Treasurer L.J. “Luis” Chavez Jr., Division 283 (Oakland, Calif.).
In addition to General Chairman Hannah, Brother Law and Brother Fleming were reelected by acclamation.
BLET National President Dennis Pierce attended the meeting and addressed the delegates.
“Congratulations to Brother Hannah and all the officers of the Union Pacific-Western Lines General Committee of Adjustment,” President Pierce said. “Brother Hannah is one of the hardest-working General Chairmen in the Brotherhood and his unanimous reelection is a testament to the fantastic job he has done these many years.”
Also in attendance from the National Division were: First Vice President Lee Pruitt; National Secretary-Treasurer Bill Walpert; National Vice President Steve Speagle; National Vice President Gil Gore; and Special Representative Ken Kroeger.
Brother Hannah succeeded Lee Pruitt as General Chairman of the UP-Western Lines in 2001, following Brother Pruitt’s election to the Advisory Board.
The following State Legislative Board Chairmen were also in attendance: Tim Smith, California; John Passi, Nevada; Terry Briggs, Texas; Scott Palmer, Oregon; and Vince Verna, Arizona.
Brother Dave Grimes, Local Chairman of BLET Division 42 (St. Louis, Mo.), delivered a time claims presentation to the 19 delegates who were in attendance.
John Conklin and Mike Sanders of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) were also in attendance to address the delegates.
The BLET’s Union Pacific-Western Lines General Committee of Adjustment is comprised of 19 different BLET Divisions, representing more than 1,800 active locomotive engineers and trainmen from the Union Pacific Railroad and the Pacific Harbor Line Railroad. They live and work primarily in California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Kansas.