BLET News
“Blaming workers creates the exact kind of environment where employees do not feel able to report unsafe conditions,” BLET tells DOT Buttigieg
The rail industry prefers to discipline workers rather than take their confidential input regarding safety improvements. That’s the hypocritical policy of the Association of American Railroads (AAR) in a letter to Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg dated August 24, 2023. This is a reversal from their public posturing earlier this year. Following Norfolk Southern’s…
Read MoreBallots mailed for tentative Portland & Western agreement
A contract ratification vote is underway for BLET members at the Portland & Western Railroad (PNWR). Ballots were mailed this week to members to vote on a tentative on-property agreement governing rates of pay, benefits and work rules for approximately 50 locomotive operating employees. The five-year tentative deal would run through December 31, 2028, and…
Read MoreCPKC says Union Pacific aims to stifle competition for Gulf Coast grain
(Source: Trains.com, August 21, 2023) Union Pacific’s contention that Kansas City Southern can’t haul grain from the Upper Midwest to the Gulf Coast using trackage rights south of Beaumont, Texas, is “revisionist history,” Canadian Pacific Kansas City has told federal regulators. Full story: Trains.com
Read MoreBLET 160th Anniversary: Legendary BLET Member Casey Jones
Most people have heard of the brave locomotive engineer named Casey Jones through popular culture. But not everyone knows that he was, in fact, a member of our union. John Luther “Casey” Jones was a member of BLET Division 99 in Water Valley, Mississippi. He was one of the most alert and able engineers working out…
Read MoreBlame the workers: Despite previous promises, railroads resist joining confidential safety program because they want to be able to discipline workers
The major freight railroads say a disagreement over whether they will be allowed to discipline some workers has kept them from following through on the promise they made back in March to join the Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS). The Association of American Railroads sent a letter to Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg this…
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