BLET News
BLET members ratify new five-year agreement with Indiana & Ohio Railway
BLET members have ratified a new five-year agreement with the Indiana & Ohio Railway (IORY). The agreement covers 2026-2030 and provides general wage increases, a signing bonus, and various work rule enhancements. The negotiating team consisted of General...
BLET pride on display at annual Labor Day parade in Toledo
Locomotive engineers from throughout Ohio, along with their families, proudly represented the BLET at the annual Labor Day Parade in Toledo, Ohio, on Monday, September 7. The delegation consisted primarily of BLET members from Division 4 (Toledo, Ohio) and...
Members ratify first BLET-negotiated agreement with Carrollton Railroad
Workers at Kentucky’s Carrollton Railroad have unanimously ratified their first BLET-negotiated contract. It marks a significant milestone for the Carrollton workers, who voted to join the BLET in late 2024. The five-year contract provides back pay and general wage...
Honoring 9/11: PATH train car that survived 9/11 preserved at Shore Line Trolley Museum
This article originally appeared in the Spring 2017 BLET Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen Journal. On August 6, 2015, the Shore Line Trolley Museum, located in East Haven, Conn., proudly received PATH Car 745 into its collection. PATH Car 745 was one of two cars...
25th anniversary of September 11, 2001: Railroad workers answered the call on one of America’s darkest days
Twenty-five years ago, on a cloudless September morning, nearly 3,000 lives were lost in the deadliest attack on American soil in our history when two planes commandeered by terrorists crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City. On that...
Cory Martin reelected Chairman of BLET’s Illinois State Legislative Board
Brother Cory Martin of BLET Division 135 (Beardstown, Ill.) was reelected Chairman of the Illinois State Legislative Board at its 17th quadrennial meeting in Springfield, Ill., August 31-September 2. The BLET Illinois State Legislative Board represents more than 3,000...
BLET members play a key role at 2026 Teamsters Women’s Conference
Every year, Teamsters from across North America come together at the Teamsters Women’s Conference to share their experiences, learn from one another, and talk about the issues shaping their workplaces. Among those representing BLET at this year’s conference were Audra...
FRA enforces two-person crew rule following BLET reports of Union Pacific violations
In two alarming incidents, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has found the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) in non-compliance with basic railroad safety rules. Railroad managers ordered two separate locomotive engineers to run trains without their assigned...
Rail labor opposition to UP-NS merger grows as TCU/IAM and IAM District 19 join Stop the Rail Merger Coalition
More opposition to the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger emerged recently, with additional rail unions joining the Stop the Rail Merger Coalition. The Transportation Communications Union (TCU/IAM) and IAM District 19, both part of the IAM Rail Division, announced...
Was the East Palestine derailment and fire more deadly than we thought?
Three years ago, J.D. Vance was Ohio’s Senator when the Norfolk Southern disaster occurred in East Palestine, Ohio, on February 3, 2023. Today, Vance is still fighting to get to the bottom of health and environmental concerns affecting East Palestine residents...
2027 BLET regional meetings will be held in Savannah, GA, and San Diego, CA
Looking ahead to next year, the BLET’s 2027 Eastern Regional Meeting will be held in Savannah, Ga., the week of June 28. The 2027 Western Regional Meeting will take place in San Diego, Calif., the week of August 16. Please make plans now to attend one or both of these...
More than 100 members of Congress demand that the STB ensure rail worker jobs are protected if UP-NS merger is approved
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives are circulating a signed letter urging the federal Surface Transportation Board (STB) to consider the consequences of the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern Rail merger for workers. Representative Val Hoyle (D-OR) led the...
ATTENTION ALL DELEGATES TO BLET’S SIXTH NATIONAL CONVENTION: Deadline for hotel reservations is September 4
Delegates attending the BLET’s Sixth National Convention in Las Vegas in October are reminded that the deadline to make hotel room reservations is Friday, September 4. It will take place at the Horseshoe Hotel in Las Vegas, and reservations should be made through the...
Attempted raid at Indiana Harbor Belt leads to a stronger Brotherhood
It wasn’t just organizing the unorganized on the agenda at the Eastern Regional meeting in Chicago. One session touched on internal organizing and fending off raids and misinformation. Indiana Harbor Belt General Chairman Dan Wells explained how improved internal...
Bill naming highway interchange after late BLET member Lou Shuster signed into law by Ohio Governor Mike Dewine
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine (seated) hosted a signing ceremony earlier this week for H.B. 973, a bill designating the interchange between I-480 and 150th Street in Cleveland as the SPC Louis P. Shuster Memorial Interchange. On March 7, 2023, Brother Lou — President of...
Short line workers rewarded with strong contracts after joining BLET
One of the highlights of the Eastern Regional meeting was a roundtable discussion with two of the union’s newest members, Tandi Colibert of Watco and Bailey Price of the Utah Central. Both recently helped organize their short line railroads with support from BLET....
President Wallace’s State of the Union Message: BLET vows to fight UP-NS merger every step of the way
BLET National President Mark Wallace, in his state of the union address at the union’s Eastern Regional Meeting last week in Chicago, called the proposed merger of Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern “one of the greatest threats facing our members today.” Addressing...
In Memoriam: Former General Chairman Jack McDermott, 1920-2026
The BLET National Division extends deepest condolences to the family of retired BLET General Chairman Jack McDermott, who passed away on August 11 at the age of 106. McDermott hired out with the Union Pacific in 1941 as a fireman, and was one of the last locomotive...
Stop the Rail Merger Coalition writes letter to White House opposing UP-NS merger
On August 24, the Stop the Rail Merger Coalition wrote a letter to President Trump outlining why it opposes the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger. The letter warns that the merger would reduce railroad competition, raise costs for American farmers,...
BLET gets big win for two-person train crews
On August 27, the Georgia Central Railroad — a BLET-represented short line — withdrew a petition it had filed with the Federal Railroad Administration requesting special approval to utilize one-person crew operations. BLET is the only union that represents workers on...
Daily Headlines
Stop the Rail Merger Coalition writes letter to White House opposing UP-NS merger
On August 24, the Stop the Rail Merger Coalition wrote a letter to President Trump outlining why it opposes the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger. The letter warns that the merger would reduce railroad competition, raise costs for American farmers,...
The ABCs of the STB: What is the Surface Transportation Board?
The railroad industry, including rail labor, likes to throw around a lot of letters. There’s an “alphabet soup” of acronyms that frequently appear in industry and union news sites and publications, including this one — for example, AAR, ARU, BLET, CSXT, DOT, FRA, and...
What are they trying to hide? UP-NS must resubmit withheld merger data as STB rejects rush to approval
Last week, the Surface Transportation Board (STB) adopted a procedural schedule and timeline for consideration of the UP-NS merger application, but ordered the railroads to turn over “substantial” additional data by August 28. Importantly, STB said that release of the...
BLET leads coalition of rail unions urging STB to reject UP-NS merger application immediately
The BLET last week led a coalition of rail labor unions in urging the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to immediately terminate the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger application before a full review can begin. In an August 19 joint filing, BLET and the...
President Wallace on Senator Cory Booker: “He had our back when we needed him”
BLET National President Mark Wallace and First Vice President Gary Best met with Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) as part of their series of high-level meetings on Capitol Hill. Wallace and Best went to Capitol Hill in late July to advocate on behalf of BLET members and...
Latest merger filing with the STB again shows that UP takeover of NS clearly is not in the public interest; U.S. Senators also voice concern
Here we go — again. This week, Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern filed a third round of merger application materials with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) in their attempt to merge the two Class I railroads. Back in May, the two railroads were ordered by STB to...
Trump administration pushes tougher English rules for Mexican train crews crossing into U.S.
Mark Wallace, the national president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union, has been raising concerns about this practice of using Mexican train crews for several years because of safety, security and job concerns.
Stop the Rail Merger Coalition says three times is not the charm… UP and NS’s Third Attempt Fails to Fix Flawed Deal
More Paperwork Cannot Fix a Merger That Would Raise Costs, Cut Competition and Put America’s Supply Chain at Risk WASHINGTON, D.C. — Stop the Rail Merger Coalition responded to Union Pacific (UP) and Norfolk Southern’s (NS) submission of supplemental information filed...
UP-NS merger: What are they trying to hide? STB orders UP and NS to make job impact data publicly available
In a victory for the BLET and other rail labor unions, the Surface Transportation Board this week ordered Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern to make public the merger-related job impact data that the railroads had inexplicably labeled as “highly confidential” in their...
Stop the Rail Merger Coalition: 23 Senators Raise Serious Concerns Over UP-NS Merger
These senators join a bipartisan group of more than 100 state and federal policymakers, attorneys general, and agriculture secretaries urging the Administration to stop this unnecessary merger. U.S. Senator Cory Booker, joined by 22 Senate colleagues, is urging the...
