BLET News
False comp time promises must not replace OT pay
(Source: International Brotherhood of Teamsters press release, May 18, 2017) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Lawmakers who cozy up to corporate America love to sponsor legislation that to the uninitiated might sound like a good thing for workers, but in the end is just another pathway for big business to line their pockets with even higher profits.…
Read MoreRRB: Medicare for railroad families
(Source: Railroad Retirement Board press release, April 19, 2017) CHICAGO — The Federal Medicare program provides hospital and medical insurance protection for railroad retirement annuitants and their families, just as it does for social security beneficiaries. Medicare has the following parts: • Medicare Part A (hospital insurance) helps pay for inpatient care in hospitals and…
Read MoreCourt upholds OSHA finding that Pan Am Railways violated Maine employee’s whistleblower rights
(Source: Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) press release, May 10, 2017) BOSTON — A federal appeals court has affirmed that Pan Am Railways, Inc. must pay $260,000 in punitive and compensatory damages to – and take corrective action on behalf of – an employee who was subjected to retaliation for filing…
Read MoreSTB: Number of Class I train and engine service employees rises
(Source: Progressive Railroading, May 22, 2017) Class Is employed 149,107 workers in the United States as of mid-April, down 0.14 percent compared with mid-March and down 2.64 percent from the year-ago figure, according to the Surface Transportation Board (STB). But on a positive note, the number of train and engine service employees working in the…
Read MoreThis is your union, and it is strongest when you are involved
By Dennis R. Pierce BLET National President (BLET Editor’s Note: The following message from BLET National President Dennis R. Pierce has been excerpted from the April 2017 issue of the Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen News.) INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, May 3 — My last President’s Message contained the text of the remarks that I prepared to present…
Read More