BLET Division 448

06/19/2024

Brothers, it pains me to say our dear friend and brother E.B. Cline has taken his last call. Ebb was just a great guy who never met a stranger. In the nearly 30 years that I had the privilege to know him he never changed. You knew his ride would be spotless, that hat would be 2 fingers off the nose, his boots would be glossy shined, and he would greet you with that grin! If you knew Cline you will always remember that grin. Ebb was for sure a one of a kind and will be greatly missed by us all!!

Ebb Cline 59, of Princeton, WV passed away on Saturday, June 15, 2024, at WVU Medicine -Princeton Community Hospital. Ebb was born November 3, 1964, in Iaeger, WV. He was predeceased by his Father, Edsel Cline and a Brother, Timmy Cline. He was a dedicated partner, step-father, Poppy and engineer.

04/10/2023

https://truthout.org/articles/80-percent-of-norfolk-southerns-massive-profits-go-into-executives-pockets/

The railway giant's corporate practices are under fire after the toxic East Palestine crash.

11/09/2022

This pilot program is with off days and a guarantee pay rate ($5200 I believe it is). Also , it has a built in 24hrs off to avoid FRA rest days and on the 11th day are put into a turn only status to help trigger off days on time. I applaud our UP brothers for negotiating a excellent agreement with many incentives that could and should be the standard in all pool jobs!

https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/union-pacific-launches-pilot-program-to-provide-more-predictable-schedules-for-engineers/?fbclid=IwAR15m6rPlRc44cKwZHNGjasen6Mq0bO_ARpvZ4kmpUAJRUPELAcqj5i_zcU

CHICAGO – Union Pacific is running a small pilot program in Kansas that aims to bring more predictability to engineer schedules. The experiment comes as railroads have been having trouble retaining train crews and hiring new conductors at many locations across their systems — due in part to the ...

11/01/2022

Town Hall Q&A meeting today concerning tentative agreement at Chuck Mathena Center in Princeton between 12-3 pm. All 448 members are encouraged to attend if able.

10/25/2022

Worth watching. A lot of information on National Contract handling.

BLET National President Dennis R. Pierce delivered the Report of the National President during the morning session of the BLET’s Fifth National Convention on...

10/25/2022

Wow….Finally!!! Although about UP , this is a very good read which depicts all major Class 1 railroads and PSR

Lance Fritz needs to worry a little more about getting the trains to run on time and a little less about a record operating margin.

10/11/2022

BLET National President Dennis R. Pierce delivered the Report of the National President during the morning session of the BLET’s Fifth National Convention on October 10. His report focused on the Tentative National Freight Agreement and a call for unity now and in the days to come.

10/11/2022

The U.S.'s third largest railroad union rejected a deal with employers Monday, renewing the possibility of a strike that could cripple the economy

10/11/2022

“The only potential good news for the Biden administration is that if there is a strike, it would now take place after the midterm elections.”

A union of railroad track maintenance workers has rejected a tentative agreement with the nation's freight carriers, renewing the threat that there could be a strike that shuts down this vital link in the nation's already struggling supply chain.

09/22/2022

BLET announces timeline for balloting in Tentative National Agreement

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, September 22 — Today begins a 15-day Question and Answer (Q&A) period as the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) will distribute copies of the Tentative Agreement (TA) to all General Chairmen and Local Chairmen involved in national handling via First-Class mail. Also, all General Chairmen and Local Chairmen with valid email addresses in UnionTrack will be provided with an electronic copy.

BLET General Chairmen will then have 15 days from receipt to reply to the National President’s office with questions or clarifications regarding the TA. Those questions will be consolidated into a single document, and the BLET’s National Wage Team, alongside SMART-TD, will return to the bargaining table with the Carriers to mutually agree upon the answers to those questions.

Once the Q&A session is complete, the tentative plan is to distribute ballots to the affected members on or around Friday, October 14, with a tentative count date on or around November 17, 2022.

BLET National President Dennis R. Pierce explained how the Q&A process benefits the members and the Organization: “While we know that our members are eager to learn more about the details of the tentative agreement, the additional clarification gained from the Q&A process will provide more information for the membership as to the terms and conditions of the tentative agreement before they cast their vote. The process also provides our General Committees with clearer and stronger Agreement language should later disputes arise over that Agreement language.”

He concluded: “In the end, BLET’s Bylaws require that our members decide if the improvements we gained over and above the Presidential Emergency Board recommendations warrant a yes vote,” President Pierce said. “No BLET officer or group of officers or members can, or should try to take that right away from our membership. Once all of the details of the tentative agreement are known, the membership will cast their votes with a majority of those returning a ballot deciding the issue. A yes vote will settle our dispute knowing what we have obtained, while a no vote would return the dispute to potential self-help actions. As it should be, the membership will control which option we follow.”

09/16/2022

Brothers below is a canned response from Senator Capito ‘s office concerning our contractual dispute. She boasted how she cosponsored Senator Burr resolution to side with the carriers to put us back to work if we had seeked self help. This was my response to Mrs. Capito and I urge every WV voter to do the same.

September 16, 2022

Dear Mr. (insert any union name)

Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding the potential railway strike; it was good to hear from you and I appreciate the opportunity to learn your views on this issue.

I am glad to hear the situation has been resolved and an agreement has been made. I understand the importance of this agreement and how vital our rail system is to our supply chain. As the deadline got closer, understanding the gravity of the situation, I cosponsored Senator Burr’s resolution that would have prevented a disastrous rail worker strike if contract negotiations were not resolved.

I am happy to see that the parties were able to reach a compromise that balances the needs of workers while avoiding the potentially disastrous economic fallout.

Again, thank you for contacting me. I look forward to hearing from you again soon and invite you to visit my website, www.capito.senate.gov, for further information and to sign up for my e-mail newsletter. It is an honor to serve you.

Sincerely,
Shelley Moore Capito
United States Senator

Senator Capito;

I appreciate your response. As well I GREATLY appreciate the knowledge of you co- sponsoring Senator Burr proposal!! I will be sure to pass this information along to ALL my WV Union brothers on how you stood with corporate greed and was willing to sell out your constituents!! My biggest regret is I cannot vote in both WV and NC!! See you in November!

Fraternally,