BLET News

By Dennis R. Pierce BLET National President INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, May 25 — Over the past 155 years, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) has seen too many of our union members go off to war and not come home. We also know that many of our Brothers and Sisters have lost family and…

(Source: National Railway Labor Conference (NRLC) press release, May 23, 2018) ARLINGTON, Va. — An arbitration board has ruled that the pattern health care terms adopted by the freight railroads and nine of the other unions in national bargaining should apply to the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes (BMWE) and the International Association of Sheet…

(Source: CNN, May 21, 2018) ATLANTA — On Monday, an Oregon judge ordered the boy, who pleaded guilty to starting the Eagle Creek wildfire last year, to pay $36,618,330.24 in restitution to cover the damages. Of that, the Union Pacific Railroad is owed $1,048,877.52 in damages. Full story: CNN Tuesday, May 22, 2018

(Source: The Columbian, May 21, 2018) COLUMBIA, Wash. — BNSF Railway shipments were at an all-time high during the first quarter of this year, the company reported, surpassing its record set in 2006. BNSF, which is also moving record numbers of trains through Southwest Washington, is adding employees. Full story: The Columbian Tuesday, May 22, 2018

(Source: National Review, May 21, 2018) WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Supreme Court said Monday that employers can prevent employees from joining together to file class-action lawsuits through arbitration clauses in their contracts, dealing a blow to organized labor and upholding the Trump administration’s position on federal employment law. Full story: National Review Tuesday, May 22, 2018