Cory Martin
Illinois State Legislative Board Chairman
Support IL SB24 Call Now!
Tomorrow Wednesday March 20, 2019, SB24 "Two Person Freight Train" is scheduled to be heard in Senate Executive Committee at 2 pm. I have listed some of the members of the Executive Committee that need to hear from their constituents. "Please support SB24 and vote yes in committee" Every phone call made will be crucial Attend the hearing come to your state Capitol everyone is welcome. Don Harmon John Cullerton Napoleon Harris Toi Hutchinson Iris Martines co-sponsor John Mulroe Tony Munoz...
Illinois Dem congressmen eyeing bigger jobs after midterms
November 08, 2018 06:00 AM UPDATED 2 HOURS AGO Illinois Dem congressmen eyeing bigger jobs after midterms Now back in the majority, local representatives are in a position to chair key subcommittees and more in a Democratic-run House. GREG HINZ On Politics Bloomberg Chicago congressman Mike Quigley The Illinois congressional delegation looks like it's going to regain some of the clout it lost when President Barack Obama left office and Republicans took control of both houses of Congress. With...
President Pierce reelected by acclamation on Day 3 of BLET National Convention
LAS VEGAS, October 4 - Dennis R. Pierce was reelected by acclamation to his third full term as National President of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen yesterday at the union's Fourth National Convention in Las Vegas. Additionally, all Advisory Board members were elected without opposition. Their terms of office will begin on January 1, 2019. "You have my appreciation and I am honored to serve this great Brotherhood for another four years," President Pierce said. "I have hope...
Registered to Vote ??
Are you registered to vote???? Registering has never been easier. Just go to this online tool and spend two minutes getting registered. Seriously, two minutes. Also Thursday September 27th is EARLY VOTING: First day for early voting for the General Election.
Bipartisan group of 27 U.S. legislators urge DOT’s Chao to block KCS safety waiver that allows Mexican train crews to operate in U.S.
BLET NEWS FLASH Bipartisan group of 27 U.S. legislators urge DOT's Chao to block KCS safety waiver that allows Mexican train crews to operate in U.S. http://www.ble-t.org/pr/news/newsflash.asp?id=8140 (BLET Editor's Note: The following press release was issued by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.) WASHINGTON, D.C., September 18 — On September 17, House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Ranking Member Peter DeFazio (D-OR) and House Subcommittee on Railroads,...
Labor Day 2018
BLET NEWS FLASH Labor Day 2018 By Dennis R. Pierce BLET National President INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, August 31 - When the first Labor Day was celebrated in New York City in 1882, our Brotherhood had been fighting to improve wages and working conditions for locomotive engineers for nearly 20 years. Today, some note the holiday as marking the unofficial end of summer, but the true history of Labor Day is far more somber. America in the late Nineteenth Century was a decidedly unfriendly place for...
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen asks President Trump to intervene in Laredo
http://www.ble-t.org/pr/news/newsflash.asp?id=8119 INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, July 10 - As part of its continuing fight to save American jobs on the Texas border, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) has asked President Donald J. Trump to help the union in its struggle to preserve the jobs of BLET members who work for the Texas Mexican Railway (Tex Mex). On July 9, Tex Mex unilaterally replaced U.S. citizen crewmembers with Mexican train crews between Laredo Yard and the...
Trump chooses former Metra Chair Oberman for open STB seat
7/9/2018 Rail News: Federal Legislation & Regulation Martin Oberman Photo – Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning President Donald Trump has nominated former Metra Chairman Martin Oberman as a Surface Transportation Board (STB) member. If his nomination is approved by the Senate, Oberman will serve the remainder of a five-year term that expires Dec. 31, 2023. The open Democratic seat on the board was vacated by former STB Chairman Dan Elliott last year. An attorney and former...
BLET members ratify CN-IC contract
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, June 7 - By a better than 2-to-1 margin, members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with the Canadian National's former Illinois Central property on May 30, 2018. The contract governs 475 locomotive engineers and runs through December 31, 2019. It provides retroactive pay beginning August 1, 2015, and 3 percent general wage increases on August 1 each year through 2019. The total of GWIs...
Division 665 LR Danny Friend
Danny J. Friend March 18, 1956 - February 21, 2018 View/Sign Guest Book| Danny J. Friend, 61, of New Baden, IL, born Mar. 18, 1956 in St. Louis, MO, died Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2018 at St. Mary’s Hospital, Centralia, IL. Danny was an engineer for Burlington Northern Santa Fe Rail Road, Centralia, IL, and was a member of the Quail Club in Millstadt, IL. He is survived by two daughters, Jamie (Adam) Topping, and Amanda Friend both of Cedar City, UT; his parents, Harold and Nancy, nee...
Shipper group, critical of UP-NS merger, says carload and unit train customers need competitive options
Shipper group, critical of UP-NS merger, says carload and unit train customers need competitive options WASHINGTON — The Freight Rail Customer Alliance today said that it’s opposed to the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger, arguing that the transcontinental...
Missouri Congressman reintroduces bill to remove Amtrak right of preference
Missouri Congressman reintroduces bill to remove Amtrak right of preference WASHINGTON — U.S. Rep. Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) has reintroduced legislation that would strip Amtrak of its statutory right of operating preference on host freight railroads. It is at...
DOGE builds AI tool to cut 50 percent of federal regulations
DOGE builds AI tool to cut 50 percent of federal regulations The U.S. DOGE Service is using a new artificial intelligence tool to slash federal regulations, with the goal of eliminating half of Washington’s regulatory mandates by the first anniversary of President...
Rail unions warn DOT rollbacks could jeopardize train safety
Reported by John Gallagher for Freight Waves. Rail unions are raising concerns about the Trump administration’s plan to roll back protections for federal inspectors and investigators put in place in 2021 that they say could increase safety risks in the rail industry....
Future of Chicago-Area Public Transit Hangs in Balance as State Lawmakers Wrap Up Hearings on Agency Funding, Oversight
Future of Chicago-Area Public Transit Hangs in Balance as State Lawmakers Wrap Up Hearings on Agency Funding, Oversight With the Chicago area’s public transit system approaching the precipice of a $730 million fiscal cliff in just over a year’s time, state Sen. Ram...
Project 2025 Would Undo the NLRB’s Progress on Protecting Workers’ Right To Organize
Project 2025 Would Undo the NLRB’s Progress on Protecting Workers’ Right To Organize As autoworkers, baristas, package carriers, Hollywood writers and actors, and thousands of other workers fight for and win new unions and new union contracts, Biden administration...
Durbin, Duckworth, Budzinski, Announce $157 Million In Federal Funding For Springfield Rail Improvements Project
Durbin, Duckworth, Budzinski, Announce $157 Million In Federal Funding For Springfield Rail Improvements Project SPRINGFIELD – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and U.S. Representative Nikki Budzinski (D-IL-13) today...
FRA awards $2.4B in CRISI grants to fund rail projects
FRA awards $2.4B in CRISI grants to fund rail projects The Federal Railroad Administration today announced the award of $2.4 billion in fiscal-year 2023-2024 grants for freight- and passenger-rail projects. Administered through the FRA's Consolidated Rail...
FRA aims to tighten rules for waivers that allow railroads to experiment with safety technology
FRA aims to tighten rules for waivers that allow railroads to experiment with safety technology This car is part of Canadian National’s Autonomous Track Inspection Program. The fully automated car evaluates track geometry without interrupting normal railroad...
U.S. STB Approves Transaction That Creates Rail Link Between Mexico, U.S. South
U.S. STB Approves Transaction That Creates Rail Link Between Mexico, U.S. South The U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) has approved applications from two North American railroads to buy the rail lines operated by G&W’s Meridian & Bigbee Railroad, L.L.C....