BLET News

(Source: Omaha World-Herald, February 15, 2018) OMAHA, Neb. — A dozen former Union Pacific workers have filed identical lawsuits in U.S. District Court in Omaha, saying they were exposed to cancer-causing materials in violation of federal law while working the trains, yards, shops and tracks of the Omaha-based freight railroad. Full story: Omaha World-Herald Tuesday, February…

(Source: Herald-Dispatch, February 18, 2018) HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Forty-six former railroad workers are suing CSX for alleged wrongful termination, according to court documents filed Friday at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of West Virginia Huntington Division. The documents allege CSX refused to allow the employees to take legitimate medical leaves of absence,…

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, February 15 — BLET Vice President and National Legislative Representative John P. Tolman urged Congress, the railroads, and governmental regulators to ensure that Positive Train Control (PTC) is fully implemented by the current deadline of December 31, 2018. During his testimony, Vice President Tolman also discussed the problem of electronic device distraction (Trip…

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, February 12 — The U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) has announced a schedule of dates for the agency’s spring 2018 informational conferences and pre-retirement seminars. Attendance at the informational conferences is limited to elected union officers only, while the pre-retirement seminars are designed for railroad employees and spouses planning to retire within five…

(Source: New York Magazine, February 12, 2018) NEW YORK — In the past two months, there have been four fatal accidents involving Amtrak trains. In December three people died on a train making its first trip on a track between Seattle and Portland. On January 14 a North Carolina couple died when their SUV was…