From left: BLET President Mark Wallace congratulated Vice President Pete Semenek on his upcoming retirement during the December BLET Advisory Board meeting. Photo by Bonnie Brihan
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The BLET Advisory Board held its final meeting of 2025 on December 10 and 11, planning for the year ahead. National President Mark Wallace led the meeting as National Vice Presidents gave detailed reports on their assignments. The Advisory Board is composed of the 14 highest-ranking elected officers in the union, and is the chief policy making body of the BLET between conventions.
During the meeting, National Vice President Pete Semenek announced that he will be retiring at the end of this month, marking the end of a 34 year career as both a railroader and as a union leader.
“Pete Semenek has been a tireless labor leader for more than three decades and I am proud to have worked with him,” President Wallace said. “Countless BLET members throughout the United States have benefitted from his leadership as Head of the BLET Arbitration Department. He will be missed. On behalf of the Advisory Board, I extend best wishes upon his well-deserved retirement.”
Semenek began his railroad career on the Soo Line Railroad in 1991 when he hired out as a conductor. He was promoted to locomotive engineer in 1993, working in the Soo Line yard in Bensenville, Illinois. Brother Semenek is a member of BLET Division 790 (Chicago). In 1997, he was elected Local Chairman of Division 790 and served in that position until 2011, when he was elected to the position of General Chairman for the CP Rail System/U.S. General Committee of Adjustment. He was also reelected General Chairman at quadrennial meetings in 2015 and 2019. Semenek was elected National Vice President for a term beginning on January 1, 2023, at which time he was appointed Head of the BLET Arbitration Department. He also served as Labor Member-First Division of the National Railroad Adjustment Board (NRAB).
“It was an honor and privilege to serve as a union officer and represent the hard working Brothers and Sisters of the BLET,” Semenek said. “It was also my honor to serve alongside the fine body of officers at the BLET National Division — they are true professionals who exude great compassion for the needs of our members.”
Semenek also thanked the many mentors and predecessors who had a positive impact on his career as a union officers, especially retired National Vice Presidents Marcus Ruef, Cole Davis, and Mike Priester.
More photos of the Advisory Board meeting can be found here.
The BLET Advisory Board at National Division headquarters on December 10. Photo by Bonnie Brihan