Rail Industry News

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen has reached a Letter of Agreement with the BNSF Railway that would provide a 3 percent general wage increase to approximately 7,500 locomotive engineers across the BNSF system.

By Dennis R. Pierce, BLET National President September 29th of this year, our Brotherhood assembled for its Third National Convention as the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, a Division of the Teamsters Rail Conference. This was our third convention since the International Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers merged with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, becoming the pioneer Division of the Teamsters Rail Conference. Prior to the merger, the BLE had convened 61 International Conventions, bringing our total number of International and National conventions to 64 since our founding in 1863.

Citing SEPTA’s failure to follow its own scheduling procedures, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) has asked the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to reject the transit agency’s request for an extended waiver of safety rules. The waiver would decrease the amount of rest time available for SEPTA’s locomotive engineers.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) has reached a tentative contract agreement with CSX Transportation, Inc. (CSXT). BLET National President Dennis R. Pierce announced that ballots were mailed today to active members of the BLET employed by CSX Transportation who are eligible to vote in the ratification of this agreement.

Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen will keep their Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) through 2015 thanks to the level of participation in the money-saving plan.

By Dennis R. Pierce, BLET National President On behalf of the entire Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, I offer thanks to the millions of veterans and active-duty soldiers on Veterans Day. You are the protectors of the greatest nation on earth, and your sacrifices and devotion have preserved our way of life and our freedoms for generations.

J. Alan Holdcraft was reelected by acclamation to his second term as General Chairman of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe (former ATSF) General Committee of Adjustment at the GCA’s triennial meeting at Bally’s in Las Vegas, which concluded on October 24.

As a reminder, open enrollment is currently running for the Health Flexible Spending Account Plan (FSA) and the deadline to register for the 2015 benefit year is November 1, 2014. The FSA Plan is available to BLET represented engineers working on participating railroads, and all train service employees of Texas Mexican Railway.

The Teamsters Disaster Relief Fund is accepting applications for assistance from members who live in Michigan after severe storms and flooding caused major damage to homes and property from August 11-13, 2014.

By Dennis R. Pierce, BLET National President For those of you who were in attendance at the BLET’s Third National Convention earlier this month, you know that we talked a lot about this fall’s mid-term elections. Whether it was from our guest speakers like Teamster General Secretary-Treasurer Ken Hall, or from a video message like the one from Senator Elizabeth Warren, the common thread that all of our speakers shared was the importance of this year’s election, both at the Federal level and at the State level.