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WASHINGTON, D.C.:
In a letter to
The Washington Post, BLET
National President slams attack on
Vice President J.D. Vance for
supporting rail safety
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U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance has advocated
for rail safety reforms since the 2023
derailment and chemical fire in East
Palestine, Ohio.
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 BLET National President Mark Wallace in a letter-to-the-editor
challenged a hit piece published as a
guest editorial in The Washington Post. The commentary written by an executive
at the advocacy group Advancing American
Freedom attacks Vice President J.D. Vance
for supporting rail workers and advocating
for safety reforms being considered by
Congress. This and other dark money groups
that rely on contributions from the
railroad companies and other corporate
sponsors have been regularly targeting
Vance, BLET, BMWED, the Teamsters and
other advocates of rail safety. Below is
President Wallace’s
letter-to-the-editor:
In his March 16 op-ed, “A devastating train tragedy is
clouding J.D. Vance’s judgment,” John
Shelton, vice president at Advancing
American Freedom, demonstrates that he
knows something about the freedom of
companies to place 80 million Americans
who live near a Class I railroad in
jeopardy, but nothing about rail safety.
He’s clearly out of line attacking Vice
President Vance, who has done his homework
and been a leader in advancing rail safety
in his time as a Senator and now as part
of the Trump Administration.
Shelton provides lots of statistics to
show “great railroads that helped unite a
continent” have made advancements over the
years — but conveniently leaves out
an important and unacceptably large
number: the rail industry’s average of
roughly 1,000 derailments a year. It’s
true we have fewer accidents than we had
in the 1980s. But we have much longer and
arguably more dangerous trains today. Some
are now three miles in length. Just this
week, 48 cars left the tracks in
California, and in Texas 28 tank cars
derailed and leaked ethanol into the
community of Richmond.
If the derailment and fire that devastated
the small community of East Palestine,
Ohio, had happened two hours earlier or
two hours later, we would have been
talking about a major disaster in
Cleveland or Pittsburgh.
Shelton lauds technology and argues that
hotbox detectors didn’t contribute to the
East Palestine disaster. This is contrary
to what the NTSB found. Hotbox detectors
and other tools are great when they work,
but they’re often broken, not monitored,
or turned off.
He questions the benefit of having
two-person crews on trains. It’s little
surprise that he didn’t mention
the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster in
Quebec, where 47 people were killed and a
town was destroyed by fire when a train
was not tied down properly and got away
from its sole operator.
Vice President Vance knows what railroads
left to their own devices are capable of.
That’s why he wants Congress to pass the
Railway Safety Act of 2026. We don’t need
to give big railroads the freedom to do
whatever they please. We urgently need to
advance common-sense reforms for the
safety of both railroaders and the
communities our railroads serve.
Photo by Rebecca Droke via Getty
Images
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LEGISLATIVE UPDATE:
BLET pushes Congress to increase
funding for the Railroad Retirement
Board to better serve
railroaders
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A lack of funding to support the
administrative functions of the Railroad
Retirement Board has severely hampered the
agency’s ability to operate. As an example
of this, the waiting period for some RRB
disability claims now extends beyond 400
days. The BLET National Division finds this
unacceptable and is joining with allies to
increase the funding and services the RRB
provides.
BLET is working in the U.S. House of
Representatives with Representatives Dina
Titus (D-NV), Pete Stauber (R-MN), Chris
DeLuzio (D-PA), and Don Bacon (R-NE) to
gather Congressional support for the $185
million in administrative funding that the
RRB needs in FY2027 to effectively serve
railroaders. The National Division reached
out to other House members asking them to
sign the letter that Congresswoman Titus is
leading. This action resulted in 81 members
of Congress lending their support. The
letter can be read here (PDF).
The National Division has now turned its
attention to the Senate and is working on a
bipartisan basis with Senators Amy Klobuchar
(D-MN) and Josh Hawley (R-MO) to gain
similar support for RRB funding in that
chamber.
Improved service and full-funding for the
RRB is one place where labor and management
see eye-to-eye. The BLET’s efforts have been
augmented by joint outreach from the
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the
Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO,
Association of American Railroads, and the
American Short Line and Regional Railroad
Association. A letter from that
labor-management coalition can be
read here (PDF).
RRB’s administrative costs are funded
entirely through payroll taxes paid by the
rail industry and its workers. RRB is not
funded by general fund revenue, but each
year Congress limits the amount of funding
the agency can use for administrative
purposes. Essentially, Congress limits how
RRB can spend its own money.
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RAILROAD RETIREMENT BOARD:
Pre-Retirement Seminars are online
only in 2026
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Due to ongoing budget constraints, the
Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is unable
to conduct pre-retirement seminars
in-person this year. These critical
seminars help promote a better
understanding of the sometimes-complicated
RRB benefit programs.
In the absence of in-person meetings, the
RRB has made a Pre-Retirement Seminar
presentation available to view online. The
program has been updated for 2026 and
is available here on the RRB website. While in-person
meetings are preferred, the RRB has
received positive feedback regarding its
online presentation.
Once on the site, you will find a PDF
booklet and video designed to help educate
those nearing retirement about the
benefits available to them, and what they
can expect during the application process.
Among other important topics, the
70-minute video explores retired employee
and spouse benefits, spouse annuities,
working after retirement, survivor
benefits, and items affecting retirement
and survivor benefits.
Click here for RRB’s 2026 Pre-Retirement Seminar presentation.
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EDUCATION & TRAINING
DEPT.:
Zoom workshop for short line members
a first for BLET
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The BLET Education & Training
Department hosted its first workshop
specifically for Grievance Chairmen
representing BLET short line members on
Saturday, March 28. A Saturday was
selected as it is the day most short line
members are off duty.
Approximately a dozen Grievance Chairmen
attended, representing short line
railroads across the country. National
Secretary-Treasurer David Estes, head of the Education & Training
Department, and Vice
President Randy Fannon hosted the workshop from BLET
National Division Headquarters for the
short line representatives in
attendance. Walt Schmidt, BLET’s Director of Online Services,
provided technical support.
National President Mark Wallace and First Vice
President Gary Best addressed the group, outlining a
renewed vision for the Short Line
Department and discussing legislative and
collective bargaining issues of national
importance.
Additional instruction was provided by
Vice President James Logan, Head and Designated Representative of
the Short Line Department and Director of
Organizing, along with Luke Myers, Director of Bylaws Administration,
Organizing, and the Short Line
Department.
“This training was an important step in
ensuring our short line Grievance Chairmen
have the tools they need to represent
their members with the same level of
professionalism we expect from Local
Chairmen on the Class I railroads,” said
Logan. “President Wallace and the entire
Advisory Board have committed long-overdue
resources to organizing these
properties.”
Every BLET member is a potential
organizer. Rank-and-file BLET members have
played a critical role in the union’s
recent organizing wins, with some of the
union’s organizing victories coming
directly from tips provided by former BLET
members employed at other railroads. If
you know of family, friends, or former
co-workers who are railroaders employed at
a non-union railroad who would like to be
represented by BLET, contact the
Organizing Department at [email protected].
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AMTRAK:
BLET seeks job protections in light
of possible restructuring at
Amtrak
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Last week, BLET National
President Mark Wallace and Amtrak General
Chairman Pat Darcy represented the union at a meeting of
Amtrak’s Executive Leadership where a
proposed restructuring of the national
passenger railroad was discussed.
 In February, the Rail Passengers
Association revealed that the Federal Railroad
Administration had directed Amtrak to
undertake a dramatic organizational
restructuring, breaking itself into three
distinct operational entities within an
umbrella holding company, focusing on
operations, rolling stock management and
leasing, and infrastructure management and
construction.
Although many details remain unclear, the
concern among Rail Labor is that a
restructuring could lead to the
privatization of Amtrak and the elimination
of worker protections provided by collective
bargaining agreements. There are
approximately 18,000 union workers at
Amtrak, including more than 1,400 locomotive
engineers.
In last week’s meeting, President Wallace
and General Chairman Darcy sought assurances
that the locomotive engineer workforce would
remain Amtrak employees and their collective
bargaining agreements (CBAs) would remain
intact in the event of restructuring. While
it was made clear to Rail Labor
representatives present at the meeting that
potential restructuring is not about job
reductions, service reductions, or
privatization, and CBAs would follow any
possible structuring changes; the BLET
intends to stay involved in any upcoming
discussion where the membership would or
could see the effects of changes is
necessary.
“Shifts of this nature raise legitimate and
substantive concerns regarding the
maintenance of qualifications, preservation
of established work jurisdiction, crew
utilization practices, pilot requirements,
and, most importantly, the continued
protection and enforcement of existing
Agreement rights,” General Chairman Darcy
wrote in a message to BLET’s Amtrak
locomotive engineers.
Amtrak
photo by Cory Rusch,
BLET Division 659
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PENNSYLVANIA:
BLET members to Take Action as rail
safety bill advances to State
Senate
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By a vote of 120-79, the Pennsylvania House
of Representatives passed a BLET-backed rail
safety bill on March 25.
 Tim Laveing, Chairman of the BLET’s Pennsylvania State
Legislative Board, worked with Rep. Rob
Matzie (D-District 16) in support of the
measure. If passed, House Bill 1191 would limit the length of freight
trains to 8,500 feet, require two-person
train crews, and would ensure proper
functioning of wayside signal
detectors.
The bill is in large part a response to the
2023 derailment in East Palestine, Ohio,
which impacted portions of Western
Pennsylvania. Rep. Matzie said that, since
2023, the U.S. has averaged roughly three
train derailments per day, totaling over
1,200 annually.
On March 30, the bill was referred to the
State Senate’s Committee on Consumer
Protection & Professional Licensure. The
BLET plans to launch a Take Action soon so
that members in Pennsylvania can make their
voices heard in the State Senate in support
of the bill. Laveing said that State Senator
Patrick Stefano (R-District 32) heads the
committee that now has jurisdiction of the
bill. Stefano represents a district that is
home to many BLET members who work for
either CSX or Norfolk Southern, so BLET
members’ voices will make an impact and
could be the difference between the bill
passing or not, given the strong opposition
from the railroads.
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COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
UPDATE:
Members still have time to request
replacement ballots to vote on
tentative agreements at Utah Central
and Tacoma Rail
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Members needing a replacement ballot should
call the National Division ASAP.
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BLET members are continuing to vote on two
tentative agreements: one with the Utah
Central Railway and another with
the Tacoma Municipal Belt Railway
(Tacoma Rail). Eligible members who have not
received a ratification packet by this time
should immediately request a replacement
ballot by calling the BLET National
Division’s dedicated voicemail line at (216)
241-2630, ext. 222. When connected with the
extension, please leave the following
information:
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Your name, address and phone
number;
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The division to which you belong;
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The railroad you work for;
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Your date of birth;
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The last four digits of your Social
Security number; and
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Your email address.
The Utah Central ballots will be tabulated
on April 8. The Tacoma Rail ballots on April
9.
UCRY photo by Laurence Pearlman &
Tacoma Rail photo by Benjamin
Dziechciowski
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LABOR LAW:
The Final Frontier — SpaceX workers
now governed by Railway Labor
Act
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Regulators have determined that NASA
subcontractor SpaceX is a common carrier in
the air, much like an airline that carries
freight or passengers.
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Space travel made headlines this week with
the launch of NASA’s Artemis II mission from Kennedy Space Center in Florida
on April 1. The rocket carrying four
astronauts will loop around the far side of
the Moon before returning to earth about
four days later. At the furthest point of
their voyage, the Astronauts will be about
230,000 miles from Earth, which will be the
farthest humans have ever traveled.
SpaceX, one of NASA’s subcontractors also is
making headlines. In February, it was
reported that workers at the company would
be governed by the Railway Labor Act, the
federal law that governs labor relations in
the railroad and airline industries.
Regulators determined the company is a
common carrier in the air, much like an
airline that carries freight or passengers.
Some day in the future, if a space station
is built on the Moon or Mars, it could be
BLET members pulling the throttle and boldly
working where no one has worked before.
Photo by JHVEPhoto - stock.adobe.com
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HAPPY EASTER:
Best wishes from the BLET National
Division
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