BLET News
Capitol Hill: BLET takes members’ top issues to Congress during Teamsters annual Political Coordinators Meeting
BLET representatives included, from left: Eric Sroik, Chuck Schulz, Pete Baldwin, Ross Grooters, Vince Verna, and Brendan Sullivan. ____________________ Last week, representatives from BLET and BMWED were among 200 Teamsters who gathered in Washington, D.C. for the...
SAVE THE DATE: 2026 BLET regional meetings will be held in New Orleans and Chicago
The BLET’s 2026 Western Regional Meeting will be held in New Orleans, Louisiana, the week of July 13. The 2026 Eastern Regional Meeting will take place in Chicago, Illinois, the week of August 24. As many BLET members are getting ready to schedule their vacations for...
Missouri: Congressman again seeks to overturn two-person crew rule
The two-person crew regulation is of vital importance to rail safety. Photo by Cory Rusch, BLET Division 659 __________________ Last year, U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison, a Republican from Missouri, introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives that sought to...
BLET applauds legislation that would expand “no tax on overtime” provisions to include railroad workers
The BLET is supporting a new bipartisan bill in Congress that would provide rail workers with tax exemptions on their overtime pay. The “No Tax on Overtime for All Workers Act” was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives today by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis...
Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Sisterhood and solidarity from BLET and BMWED on display at annual Teamsters Women’s Conference
From left: Darice Gilliam, BLET Arizona, SLBC; Rhonda Thompson, BMWED Lodge 358; Jennifer Ross, BMWED Lodge 788; Becky Huebner, Secretary-Treasurer of BLET Div. 624; Bernadette Murphy, BMWED Lodge 509; Marketa Wells, BLET DIv. 766; and Megan Mead, Director of BLET...
Texas: Registration now open for upcoming rail hazmat/chemical emergency response training programs
Class participants will engage in a simulated hazmat response wearing full safety gear. ____________________ The Rail Workers Hazardous Materials Training Program is hosting four in-person rail worker training sessions in late 2025 and early 2026 in Houston during...
OSHA blasts Union Pacific as “serial violator” in Texas whistleblower case
The Union Pacific Railroad remained in the headlines this week over its wrongful termination of a BLET member. As reported in our August 29 Weekly Recap, a BLET member received more than $184,000 in back pay after the BLET’s UP-Southern Region GCA got him his job...
Rail safety: BLET fights for worker safety as “regulatory sprint” reaches September 2 deadline
BLET representatives at meetings with the Federal Railroad Administration in Nashville, Tenn., during the week of September 1, 2025. ____________________ The BLET rose to the challenge created by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT)’s “regulatory sprint,”...
In case you missed it: History of BLET Zoom presentation now available online
Last month, the Teamsters Human Rights and Diversity Commission, in conjunction with the Teamsters History Project, hosted a Zoom presentation highlighting the history of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET). For those of you who may have missed...
Union Pacific: BLET reaches tentative agreement with UP
The BLET has reached a tentative on-property agreement with the Union Pacific Railroad covering rates of pay, work rules, and health & welfare benefits for over 6,000 BLET members employed at UP. Highlights of the tentative five-year contract include: General wage...
Texas: Remote control derailment at UP’s Davidson Yard in Fort Worth renews questions about trains operated without locomotive engineers at the controls
The scene from Davidson Yard following the derailment of a remote control train on August 31. It resulted in a hazmat release and shelter-in-place order for nearby residents. Image: WFAA-TV ____________________ Another derailment involving a remote control train...
Surface Transportation Board: Robert Primus fired
Surface Transportation Board member Robert E. Primus said on his LinkedIn profile that he received an email from the White House terminating his position on August 28. The move comes a few months before the STB is expected to receive the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern...
Pennsylvania: SEPTA halts planned Regional Rail service cuts following court order
A September 4 court order from a Philadelphia judge has stopped SEPTA from implementing a planned 20 percent cut to Regional Rail service but is allowing the agency to go ahead with a 21.5 percent fare hike. This is the latest development in the ongoing financial...
New York: Replacement ballots in LIRR strike authorization vote available as of September 8; Ballots due September 15
BLET members working for Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) should have received a mailing from the National Division regarding the union’s strike authorization vote at the commuter railroad. Members who are eligible and have not received a strike authorization packet by...
BLET engineer at the throttle as Amtrak’s “Mardi Gras” service returns to the Gulf Coast after a 20-year absence
It was a bit of a homecoming for BLET locomotive engineer Ted Graham when he pulled back the throttle to officially relaunch Amtrak’s “Mardi Gras” service along the Gulf Coast on August 19. Graham, a member of BLET Division 18, previously worked as an assistant...
Advocacy by BLET members and others appears to have stopped a gutting of the RRB’s programs — for now
Projected Congressional funding for the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is significantly higher than anticipated, thanks in part to the hard work and tenacity of the BLET and its members. Earlier this week, the House’s Appropriations Labor, Health, and Human Services...
Texas: OSHA reaffirms reinstatement of BLET locomotive engineer with full back pay, orders UP to pay significant punitive damages after injuries in an Uber ride-share called by the company
A wrongfully-terminated BLET member received more than $184,000 in back pay after the BLET got him his job back, and he was awarded an additional $150,000 in punitive damages after a federal whistleblower investigation found that the Union Pacific Railroad violated...
C3RS: Big railroads would rather retaliate than safely operate
An investigation released last week on railroad safety from the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of Maryland — later broadcast on NPR, published in newspapers such as The Washington Post, and distributed by the Associated Press — quotes two...
Amtrak: Next generation Acela debuts on the Northeast Corridor
Representing BLET at the inaugural run, from left: Vince Verna, VP & NLR; Mark Wallace, National President; and Gary Best, First Vice President. ____________________ BLET locomotive engineer Earl Braxton, a member of BLET Division 482, was at the throttle as...
New York: BLET conducting strike authorization vote at Long Island Rail Road
Nearly six hundred locomotive engineers employed by the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) received ballots in the mail last week from the national union seeking authorization to call a strike at the nation’s busiest commuter railroad. LIRR’s locomotive engineers, members...
Daily Headlines
NS makes deal with Ancora to prevent another fight for control of the railroad
Under the deal, Norfolk Southern will add another independent director to its board and work to further improve its operations.
DOT announces nearly $1.5 billion for 19 projects along Northeast Corridor
The NEC is one of the busiest and most economically significant rail corridors in the world, with hundreds of thousands of daily riders in a region that represents 20 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product.
Flurry of contract deals come as railroads, unions see Trump’s election looming over talks
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union has been unwilling to sign onto any of these early deals.
TSA proposes new cybersecurity requirements for some railroads, other transportation systems
The TSA estimates that under the rule’s criteria, 73 of the approximately 620 U.S. freight railroads and 34 of approximately 92 passenger rail and transit operators would be subject to the requirements.
Norfolk Southern rule that rail cars be inspected in less than a minute sparks safety concerns
Railroad labor unions have been raising safety concerns for several years now about rushed train inspections after the industry implemented the lean Precision Scheduled Railroading operating model and eliminated one-third of all rail worker jobs.
BNSF reports Q3 2024 results
BNSF Railway’s profits, revenue, and volume all increased for the third quarter, thanks to surging intermodal and agricultural shipments.
FRA proposes automated track inspection regulations
The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes applauded the proposed ATI rule.
FRA aims to tighten rules for waivers that allow railroads to experiment with safety technology
The proposal also seeks to preserve union jobs: It says the FRA will take a dim view of safety waiver requests that seek to reduce employment levels or the number of inspections performed by track and car inspectors.
FRA awards $2.4 billion in grants to 122 projects
This announcement is part of a series of investments the Biden-Harris Administration has made in nearly 300 rail projects and dozens of emerging passenger rail corridors across the country through Bipartisan Infrastructure Law-funded FRA grant programs.
CN reports Q3 2024 results
CN today reported its financial and operating results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2024, including operating income of $1.515 million.
