National President

Becky Schneider

2006 - 2010

 

Contact information
 

 

I come from a railroad family.  My great, great grandmother, both my grandparents, my great, great aunt and uncle, and other family members all worked for the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe Railroad in Amarillo, Texas.  As a little girl, my Grandfather would pick up all of the grandkids, sometimes as many as seven, on Saturday mornings and take us down to the depot to watch the trains come and go, giving him time to keep in touch with all of his railroader friends.  Because my Grandparents both worked for the railroad, they had lifetime passes on the passenger rail systems before Amtrak came into being.  Based on that, we took most of our vacations by rail.  Those are memories I will always cherish.

 

With my love of trains, it was only logical that Larry and I should end up together.  We met in 1986 and were married in 1990.  When my grandmother met him and he told her that he was a locomotive engineer, she said, "Oh, you're the right kind of engineer."  Larry hired on with the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1977, was promoted to fireman status in 1984, and finally engineer in 1986.  He currently works for the Union Pacific on the East Line from El Paso to Vaughn, New Mexico.  Admittedly, even coming from a railroad family did not prepare me for life as an engineer's wife, since most of my family had "regular" jobs.

 

Larry and I became more involved in union activities while living in Tucumcari, New Mexico, and during that time I began taking an active part in trying to do something about the unsafe working conditions, fatigue, and other issues relating to Larry's job, by writing my Congressman on the issue of limbo time -- new in 1996.  This was before I knew that the Auxiliary existed.  Larry held the job of Secretary/Treasurer for Division 588, and continues to be active in his current Division 192 as Legislative Representative and President. 

 

After we returned to El Paso in 1997, we helped with the regional convention held here in October of that year.  When I was asked to be the GIA Chairperson for the Southwest Convention, I decided I should probably join the GIA.  In February of the following year, the El Paso Area Auxiliary 591 was born.

 

In October of 2000, because of the then-International Vice President's resignation, a vacancy was left in the office of 2nd Vice President and National Legislative Representative.  International President Ruth Windham asked if I would be interested in filling the position.  My first response was one of flattery in that she thought enough of me to appoint me to such an important job within our organization.  Then the reality set in of the daunting responsibility I’d taken on,  and I went about the task of relearning how our government works.  After all, it had been a couple of decades since I took any civics classes.  In 2001, I was elected to the office of 1st Vice President, and the National Legislative Representative office was moved to that position.  This was an important step in directing the Auxiliary's legislative agenda because it was now a part of the Executive Council.  In June of 2006, I was elected as the National President of the Auxiliary. 

 

I was born and raised in Amarillo, Texas, and, with the exception of four years in Tucumcari, New Mexico, El Paso has been my home for 27 years.  We have three children, Maricel; Larry, Jr.; and Samantha Jo, our four-legged furry one.  By trade I am a legal secretary, and also a certified travel counselor.  I have a profound passion and love of the Auxiliary and I hope that together we can all move it forward to truly make a difference in the lives of locomotive engineers and trainmen and our members.