|
BLET Weekly News Recap 6-29-23
|
|
|
 |
| From left: BLET National President Eddie Hall, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, First Vice President Mark Wallace and National Secretary-Treasurer David Estes |
|
Milwaukee: BLET wraps up 2023 Western Regional Meeting today
Today, Thursday, June 29, is the final day of BLET’s Western Regional Meeting in Milwaukee. Outside the convention hotel, the air has been filled with drifting smoke from Canadian wild fires, but inside it became a much clearer picture for the 250 members participating in educational workshops and specialized training for Local Chairmen, Legislative Representatives, and Secretary-Treasurers.
Earlier this week attendees had an opportunity to learn from the union’s Advisory Board about the latest developments in the industry and issues related to the union during a closed-door members-only session.
The meeting kicked off Tuesday with a jam-packed schedule of speakers that included Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Rep. Mark Pocan, Surface Transportation Board (STB) Chairman Martin Oberman, STB Member Robert Primus, BMWED President Tony Cardwell, TTD President Greg Regan, RRB Labor Member John Bragg, BLET Auxiliary National President Kathleen Bisbikis, and FRA Senior Advisor Andrea Wohleber.
This was the first large-scale BLET meeting chaired by National President Eddie Hall since winning election earlier this year. He recognized the following members and staff for their assistance in planning and hosting the meeting: National Vice President Jim Louis, Special Representative Matt Kronyak, IT Director Mike Hager, and Arrangements Committee members Chuck Schulz, Chris Wagner, Pete Baldwin, Eddie Strom, and Greg Lund, along with Brother Dan Lucansky who delivered the invocation. |
|
Wisconsin’s elected government leaders talk rail safety and economic opportunity
In their remarks to the regional meeting’s audience, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI), and U.S. Representative Mark Pocan (D-WI) discussed both rail safety and also emphasized the key role railroad workers play in the health of Wisconsin and the nation’s economy.
The Governor said his administration is a supporter of safe freight and passenger rail operations and has budgeted nearly $1 million to increase passenger rail operations in Wisconsin.
Sen. Baldwin, delivering her remarks through video, attacked the big railroads for putting profits ahead of safety. She condemned the push by rail corporations to cut costs by pursuing single-person train operations and she told the BLET members that she backed the Railway Safety Act of 2023. If passed by Congress, the rail safety bill would mandate two-person train crews among other reforms. It is likely to come up for a vote in July. Although not mentioned in her remarks, Baldwin has introduced legislation to better define the common carrier obligation, which would hold railroads more accountable to their customers.
A founding member of the Labor Caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2020, Rep. Pocan spoke to the BLET meeting about the importance of workers not only joining unions, but being empowered to negotiate strong union contracts that protect workers and provide a living wage. The Congressman said that he will continue to fight for passage of the PRO Act of 2023, a comprehensive labor bill that would better protect workers’ right to organize.
Watch U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin's video message to the BLET here.
Watch U.S. Representative Mark Pocan's video message to the BLET here. |
|
Ensuring that labor has a seat at the table: STB Chairman Oberman and Board Member Primus discuss service issues and the importance of hearing from union voices
In his remarks at the regional meeting, STB Chairman Oberman stressed the important role that union leaders and rank and file union members play in helping the Board to understand service issues and operations on the nation’s railroads. He thanked BLET leaders and members for testifying at the STB’s April 2022 hearings on freight rail service problems. BLET’s First Vice President Mark Wallace spoke during those Spring 2022 hearings.
Oberman said America cannot have thriving railroads without workers, and he condemned the massive job cuts tied to PSR. Oberman said that while service has improved since the low points of last year, much more needs to be done. STB’s chairman described the rail industry as being supported by a four legged stool, with each leg representing shareholders, shippers, labor, and the public interest. However, PSR has caused a major imbalance in that model “For the last 20 years or so, only one leg seems to get supported — the shareholders,” said Oberman. “I’ve never seen a shareholder run a train. Capital doesn’t work in the yards. Capital doesn’t inspect trains. Capital doesn’t run the trains down the tracks. Organized labor has gotten short shrift.”
In his remarks, Primus praised Oberman for his decision to bring labor to the table during the April 2022 hearings. “Last year, he said to me ‘Look we’ve got a problem. We don’t have labor in the room.’ He’s the one who went out and got labor a seat at the table and a microphone so you could tell us what’s happening.” |
|
Meet the Auxiliary's newest member
BLET Auxiliary National President Kat Bisbikis presented BLET National President Eddie Hall with his Auxiliary membership pin at the Western Regional Meeting in Milwaukee on June 27. It marks the first time in the Auxiliary's 135-year history that a BLET president has held membership in the BLET Auxiliary. |
|
 |
| Labor Member of the RRB John Bragg spoke to BLET members about the benefits of Railroad Retirement. |
|
Did you know? Labor Member of Railroad Retirement Board lays out the facts
John Bragg, Labor Member of the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board, provided members with several key facts about Railroad Retirement benefits, among them:
- The National Railroad Retirement Investment Trust has assets of over $25 billion.
- The fund is solvent well into the future with no funding shortfalls projected for the next 75 years.
- Under Railroad Retirement, workers can retire at age 60 with no benefit reductions provided that they have 30 years of service.
- At the end of 2022, the average annuity paid to career rail employees was $4,020 a month.
- Over the course of their retirement the average railroader and their spouse will receive over $2 million in annuities and benefits.
BLET members should know that they have a great retirement system. Financial benefits are much higher and retirement age without penalty is much lower when compared to Social Security. |
|
 |
| National Vice President and STF Chairman Randy Fannon questioning panelists at the NTSB East Palestine hearing this week. |
|
NTSB’s East Palestine field hearing: Probing questions from BLET’s Safety Task Force Chair exposes safety risks caused by long trains
​​Led by BLET National Vice President and Safety Task Force Chairman Randy Fannon, members of the BLET Safety Task Force (STF) participated in the NTSB’s two-day investigatory hearing on June 22 and 23 into Norfolk Southern’s catastrophic February derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. Joining Vice President Fannon at the hearing was STF National Coordinator Brian Fransen and STF Assistant Coordinator Shawn Lawton. The BLET STF has been granted Party Status to help the NTSB investigate the accident.
During the field hearing, held in East Palestine, Vice President Fannon questioned panelists regarding numerous aspects of safe train operations, including pointed questions about the risks of long trains.
Calling it a “valid concern,” one expert panelist agreed with Brother Fannon that there could be a potential safety risk if a radio signal from a wayside detector finds a defect but cannot communicate the information to the locomotive cab due to the length of the train.
Brother Fannon’s questioning also exposed that the forces of longer and longer trains are causing new types of damage to rail cars. This was supported by remarks from a panelist who confirmed that qualified mechanical inspectors are reporting wear and damage to rail car components far earlier than previously observed when trains were of shorter length. It was noted that increased stress is being found on follower blocks, draft pockets that hold the cars together at the couplings, and other technical components.
In interviews on-site with reporters covering the hearing, union representatives also linked rail safety problems to PSR. This story from WEWS, the ABC affiliate in Cleveland, provides more information on the NTSB hearing and contains remarks by Brother Fannon.
For more information, the docket (DCA23HR001) for the NTSB’s East Palestine investigative hearing is now available on the NTSB website.
To watch a video of the hearing, please visit the NTSB’s YouTube channel. |
|
Did you miss Milwaukee? Don’t miss out next time! Join us August 14-18 in Myrtle Beach for the BLET Eastern Regional Meeting
BLET’s Eastern Regional Meeting is coming up in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, August 14-18. Those planning to attend must make hotel reservations by July 7. For more information and to register, please visit: bletregionals.org/myrtlebeach. |
|
|
|
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen · 7061 East Pleasant Valley Road · Independence, OH 44131 · USA
|
|
|
|
|
