Brothers and Sisters,
On August 6th, the BLET achieved an important victory for engineers working in pool service on the former Montana Rail Link territory. Public Law Board No. 8083 ruled that BNSF’s attempt to use the Enhanced Customer Service (ECS) provisions of Article IX to replace negotiated 12/24/36 hour structured-rest elections was “egregiously inconsistent” with the parties’ mutual intent under the 1996 BLET National Agreement.
The dispute began when BNSF issued its ECS notice on June 15, 2026. General Chairman Kent Psota objected two days later. On June 22, I invoked Side Letter No. 9 and formally declared the proposal egregiously inconsistent with Article IX. We maintained that position through meetings with the Carrier, federal litigation, and ultimately expedited arbitration.
Our argument was simple: the negotiated provision at issue is a rest-selection rule, not a calling rule. The Board agreed, finding that a calling rule concerns the mechanics of contacting and assigning available employees into service, not the contractual right that determines when an employee’s protected period of unavailability ends. Because rest-selection provisions are not among the work rules Article IX allows a carrier to relax, the Board ruled in the BLET’s favor.
The practical result is equally important: BNSF cannot implement the proposed ECS service period that would replace these negotiated structured-rest elections.
But this victory is about more than one arbitration. Before this dispute moved forward, the General Committee and National Division met with the affected BLET Local Chairmen Alex Hilde and Pete Dodge, who were instrumental in voicing their members concerns and objections while their working conditions were at stake. Their direction was clear: preserve the negotiated structured-rest options and fight the Carrier’s attempt to remove them through the ECS process. That direction guided us throughout the case.
General Chairman Psota and Vice Chairman Jess Nelson stood firm for the affected engineers. First Vice President Gary Best and Vice President Billy Lyons assisted and advised the General Chairman throughout the process, and I served as the BLET Organization Member on the Board. It was a coordinated effort from the membership up.
Our members are the guiding light of this Brotherhood. Our responsibility as officers is to listen to them, represent their interests, and be willing to fight when the contractual rights they have earned are threatened. This case once again shows that when the Local Division, General Committee, and National Division work together with a common purpose, we are at our strongest.
When the language of our agreements is clear, the BLET will not stand by while our members’ rights are stripped away. We will commit the resources. We will stand together. And we will fight.
In Solidarity,
Mark Wallace
BLET National President