BLET NEWS FLASH James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship Fund begins accepting applications from sons and daughters of Teamsters for 2018 http://www.ble-t.org/pr/news/newsflash.asp?id=6057 INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, January 8 — The James R. Hoffa Memorial Scholarship Fund is now accepting applications for 2018. The deadline to apply is March 31, 2018. For the first time, the application process is completely online this year. All applications must be completed through the on-line portal found on the...

BLET NEWS FLASH INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, December 1 — Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) have ratified a new collective bargaining agreement with the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC). The Agreement was reached as a result of the BLET’s participation in the Coordinated Bargaining Group, with five other Unions. Eighty-eight percent (88%) of the voting BLET members voted in favor of the five-year agreement, which covers rates of pay, health &...

There’s no easy fix, but with incidents on the rail system increasing, officials are trying to tackle this hard-to-talk-about issue. BY KIM BELLWARE PUBLISHED MONDAY AT 3:10 P.M ILLUSTRATION: BRIAN STAUFFER Early in his career in the 1980s, Paul Piekarski faced the moment every train operator dreads. “I remember it vividly,” says Piekarski, who was working the Union Pacific freight line. “It was a cold January morning. A retired dentist in Broadview. He’s standing alongside the viaduct column,...

 The sudden passing of Brother Tim Simmons "Pork Chop" Metra Locomotive Engineer from Division 294 Legislative Representative, 1st Vice Alternate Chairman. "May we ever be mindful that although Brother Simmons has departed from our midst, we will remember him and our fellowship with him." Arrangements: Visitation: Sunday Nov. 05, 2017 3:00 pm to 9:00 pm Glueckert Funeral Home 1520 N Arlington Heights Rd. Arlington Heights, IL 60004 847 253 0168 Funeral Services: Monday Nov 06, 2017 9:30 am Our...

  INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, October 5 — Rail Unions making up the Coordinated Bargaining Group (CBG) announced today that they have reached a Tentative National Agreement with the Nation’s Freight Rail Carriers. The CBG is comprised of six unions: the American Train Dispatchers Association; the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (a Division of the Rail Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters); the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen; the International Brotherhood of...

Metra Executive Director and CEO Don Orseno (at far right) joined local officials for the groundbreaking ceremony. Photo – Village of Romeoville Metra yesterday broke ground on a new Heritage Corridor Line station in Romeoville, Ill. The station will be the first new stop on the line since Metra's creation in 1984, officials from the railroad said in a press release. The project is expected to cost $4.9 million, with more than $3.9 million covered by Illinois' Congestion Mitigation and Air...

SHARE NEWS FLASH INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, April 26 — The need for proper infrastructure funding was a key point for Vice President and National Legislative Representative John P. Tolman as he delivered testimony on behalf of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) before Congress today in Washington, D.C. Vice President Tolman’s testimony also touched upon the need to address rail worker fatigue and maintain important rail safety regulations. Vice President Tolman testified...

Trump’s top budget aide, Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney, acknowledged the dissonance while discussing the budget outline. “People might say, ‘Well, goodness gracious, that doesn’t line up with what the president said about a commitment to infrastructure.’ That was done intentionally,” Mulvaney told reporters. “Why? Because we believe those programs to be less efficient than the infrastructure package that we're working on for later this year. So what we’ve effectively...