July 13, 2026 | FRA, News, NS, Top News
The BLET is opposing a Norfolk Southern request to waive safety standards governing refresher training for its transportation employees. BLET National President Mark Wallace filed formal comments in a June 29 letter to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). As... July 11, 2026 | News, NS, STB, Top News, UP
Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific appear to have purposefully left out critical information on the affect that the proposed merger would have on workers – if approved. Instead of listing the information publicly as they did in their past two applications, they... June 30, 2026 | News, NS, STB, Top News, UP
The BLET continues to keep a close eye on the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger, and whenever necessary, shine a public spotlight on risks associated with the merger. BLET has staunchly opposed the merger as it could harm workers, shippers, and the... June 18, 2026 | News, NS, STB, Top News, UP
The BLET and Teamsters Rail Conference applauded the recent action by the House Appropriations Committee to urge the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to conduct a rigorous review of the proposed Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern (UP-NS) merger. BLET and the Rail... June 17, 2026 | News, NS, STB, Top News, UP
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Stop the Rail Merger Coalition today responded to alarming comments made by Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena at an investor conference in which he suggested that the Surface Transportation Board (STB) should rush its review of the proposed UP/NS merger,... June 16, 2026 | News, NS, Top News, UP
In a major story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution this week with the headline, “Norfolk Southern doesn’t have the crews to keep trains moving, union says,” BLET National President Mark Wallace charged that NS “doesn’t have the needed manpower to keep trains running... May 29, 2026 | News, NS, STB, Top News, UP
The U.S. Surface Transportation Board on Thursday announced that it has paused the review of the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger application — again. “Several aspects of the revised application… are unclear or underdeveloped and require supplementation... May 28, 2026 | News, NS, STB, Top News, UP
The Surface Transportation Board today accepted the Union Pacific (UP)–Norfolk Southern (NS) merger application but delayed the review process to collect vital information that is still missing from the railroads’ revised application. The STB has put a hold on the... May 15, 2026 | News, NS, Top News, UP
In early May, it was announced that BLET had joined the Stop the Rail Merger coalition to oppose the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger. Since then, the American Farm Bureau, a member of the coalition, has launched a commercial on broadcast, cable and social media... May 4, 2026 | BMWED, News, NS, Top News, UP
The BLET last week joined farmers, railroads, and shippers in opposition to the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger, calling it “a bad deal for America.” The groups, representing a broad cross-section of business, labor and consumers, have joined together to form... 