Mission

The Auxiliary exists to support the interest and welfare of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) Auxiliary and railroad families, especially the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, and the organizations of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Rail Conference, our members and their families throughout the United States.

 Purpose

The overall purpose of the Auxiliary shall be to provide support and promote issues that effect the health, safety, welfare and quality of life of railroaders and their families, to promote higher education with the families of its full members, to give assistance to widows, widowers, sisters and brothers, when needed, especially during times of duress, and to render assistance whenever and wherever needed to further our mission.  

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BLET News

Help for a Brother

The engineers at New Jersey Transit are reaching out to all Auxiliary and BLET members across the nation to help out one of their brothers and his family. Dan Loeb, an engineer with New Jersey Transit, has been out of work since last October. Dan has not been able to work his assignment because he and his wife spend all their time alternating being home with their young twins and being at the hospital with their 2 year old daughter Lindsay, who is awaiting a heart transplant. While the family awaits a donor heart for Lindsay, she has been surviving with the aid of a ventilator and an artificial heart.  For information on how to help out our Brother and his precious girl, click here.

Attack on Railroad Retirement Confirmed

On September 24th, President Pierce penned a BLET Newsflash setting forth either misunderstandings or blatant disregard for the truth from Congressional Representatives across the country.  A link to the Newsflash can be found here, or log on to the BLET website (www.ble-t.org) if you are unable to access the links from this document.  The proof is in the pudding.

 

FRA-OSHA Working together on Whistleblower Complaints

 

Whistleblower Protections - In July, the National Division announced that the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reached a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to begin working together to address the serious and overwhelming number of whitstleblower complaints that OSHA has received from railroad workers.   Under the MOA the two agencies will coordinate and cooperate in the enforcement of whistleblower reports.  The MOA was necessary because the FRA does not have direct authority to address the complaints which fall under OSHA's jurisdiction.  The agencies will then work together to process the complaints.  The entire Newsflash can be read by clicking here.

Attack on Railroad Retirement Initiated

A new attack on Railroad Retirement has been proffered under Congressman Paul Ryan's budget  (House Congressional Resolution 112).  The Carriers are not happy about it, nor are we. We fought hard in an unprecedented coalition of the Carriers, Retirees and all but one Rail Labor Union for the changes that were made in 2001.  This budget proposal would wipe out any gains in OUR retirement system.  No taxpayer funds are used, as the Railroad Retirement Board points out, therefore, there would be no budgetary savings as the Ryan Budget purports.  To see the BLET Newsflash, comments from the Committee Report, and talking points offered by the Railroad Retirement Board, please click on this link.  The only reason this is not going to come up this year is the Democrats hold a slim majority in the Senate, and Majority Leader Harry Reid won't allow it.  We ask everyone to think back to 2001, when, if Jim Jeffords had not lost faith in his party and become an independent, the changes to the Railroad Retirement (60/30 among others) would have never come to pass because the leadership changed to Democratic allowing Tom Daschle to set the calendar and bring our bill to the floor for a vote.

Changes to the BLET DLC Program

You may have noticed that we no longer have a list of BLET Designated Legal Counsel (DLC) on our website.  A letter was forwarded from the National Division advising members that the program was being discontinued in its current form.  For detailed information please click on the link Changes to DLC Program.

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War on Labor

Updated February 7, 2012.  The War on labor continues with the passage of the FAA Reauthorization bill passed on February 6, 2012.  BLET President Dennis Pierce sent a poignant letter to President Obama asking if he would keep his word to railroad and airline workers to keep from further eroding the attack on labor.  To see the entirety of the letter click here. 

For more BLET News, log on to www.ble-t.org.

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Survivors Guide

NorCal Auxiliary 39. with the help of BLET Division 134, Winslow, Arizona, came up with a Survivors Guide of important information spouses and families need to know in case of an accident, injury, or God forbid, a death on the railroad.  This guide has been adapted for use nationally by our members in order to assist themselves and others in the event of a injury or fatality. 

What Members Have to Say

The Auxiliary is always looking for member input.  We are creating a new section "What You Have to Say" that highlights what is important to us all.  If you have input, we would love to post articles to this new Section.  While we don't have a blog, this is a way for us to communicate with each other as to what's on our minds.  See below to links to various articles that may or may not have been published.  If you have a submission, please forward it to Anita Caruso at bunziegia@cox.net and we will do our best to get information posted in a timely fashion.

Fundraising and Fun

Cookbooks - The new Cookbook have arrived, along with a reprinting of the old one for those who missed out on the first one.  Click here for details about the original and new Mainline Cooking.

Unique and Pretty Pillow Cases - Auxiliary 235, Osawatomie, Kansas has handcrafted pillow cases to raise money for the Auxiliary Scholarship fund.  Click here to take a look at these whimsical, yet functional pillow cases.

General Auxiliary Information