BLET News

(Source: The Hill, July 14, 2016) WASHINGTON, D.C. — Federal regulators are proposing new rules aimed at mitigating the effects of derailments, spills and explosions of oil trains. Full story: The Hill Friday, July 15, 2016

(Source: U.S. Railroad Retirement Board press release, June 15, 2016) CHICAGO — The payment of a railroad retirement annuity can be affected by entitlement to social security benefits, as well as certain other government benefits. Such dual entitlement, if not reported to the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB), can result in benefit overpayments which have to…

(Source: Oregon Public Broadcasting, July 7, 2016) MOSIER, Ore. — The National Transportation Safety Board has responded to letter from Oregon’s senators about why it did not investigate last month’s oil train derailment in the Columbia River Gorge, saying its limited staff likely would not have gleaned any new safety recommendations from examining the incident.…

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, June 29 — The BLET’s Education and Training Department is hosting a GCA Secretary-Treasurer Training Class for UnionTrack in the Training Center in Independence, Ohio, from August 9-11, 2016. Space in the class will be filled by those GCA Secretary-Treasurers who register online on a first come first serve basis. Attendance is limited…

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 16 — John Previsich, president of SMART Transportation Division and Dennis Pierce, president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, issued this statement following the joint submission of comments responding to the Federal Railroad Administration’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking establishing a minimum size for train crews. “Operating freight trains with one-person…