INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, June 22 — Jeffrey L. Thurman was reelected by acclamation to his third term as General Chairman of the BNSF (former SLSF)/MNA General Committee of Adjustment (GCA) at the GCA’s quadrennial meeting on June 9, 2021.
A BNSF locomotive engineer and member of BLET Division 172 (Fort Worth, Texas), Brother Thurman was elected by acclamation to serve the GCA as 3rd Vice General Chairman in 2009, a position he was reelected to by acclamation for a second time in 2013. In June of 2013, he was elevated to his first term of office as General Chairman when Rick Gibbons was elevated to serve on the BLET Advisory Board as a National Vice President. Brother Thurman was then reelected by acclamation for a second term at the GCA’s 2017 quadrennial meeting.
Also elected by acclamation during the quadrennial meeting were: 1st Vice Chairman Randy J. Dumey, Division 595 (Chaffee, Mo.); Secretary-Treasurer William D. Honeycutt, Division 285 (Thayer, Mo.); 2nd Vice Chairman H.C. Rolen, Division 285 (Thayer, Mo.); 3rd Vice Chairman Kyle W. King, Division 578 (Tulsa, Okla.); and 4th Vice Chairman Daniel Holdcroft, Division 502 (Kansas City, Mo.).
Elected to serve as alternates were: 1st Alternate Vice Chairman and Alternate Secretary-Treasurer Brett D. Jones, Division 386 (Birmingham, Ala.): and 2nd Alternate Vice Chairman William E. Brake, Division 237 (Fort Scott, Kan.); and 3rd Alternate Vice Chairman Chris M. Phillips, Division 172 (Fort Worth, Texas).
Appointed to the Audit Committee were: Carl R. Parker, Division 672 (Memphis, Tenn.); Zac Levin, Division 502 (Kansas City, Mo.); and Bobby J. Szenasi, Division 604 (Madill, Okla.).
Representing the BLET National Division at the meeting were: National President Dennis R. Pierce; and National Vice President Michael D. Priester.
“I congratulate Brother Thurman and all officers of the BNSF (former SLSF)/MNA General Committee of Adjustment,” President Pierce said. “I thank these Brothers for serving our Brotherhood, and I know they will continue working at the highest levels of excellence to protect the rights of our Brothers and Sisters working for the BNSF.”
Special guests included: Robby Cunningham, BNSF (ATSF) General Chairman; Bobby Brown, BNSF (FW&D-C&S-CRI&P) General Chairman; and Kent Psota, BNSF/MRL General Chairman.
Brother Thurman hired out with the Burlington Northern at Enid, Okla., on February 11, 1994. He was promoted to conductor on March 25, 1994, and earned promotion to locomotive engineer on April 19, 1995. He transferred his seniority to Fort Worth, Texas, in September of 2002, and he joined the Brotherhood on September 1, 2003.
He has been an involved and active BLET member throughout his railroad career. Brother Thurman has served as Vice Local Chairman of Division 604 and as Local Chairman of Division 172. He represented his Division as a Delegate to the BLET’s First National Convention in 2006, and has represented the BLET as a Delegate to the Teamsters International Convention. Also, Brother Thurman has served on the National Division Arrangements Committee at BLET National Conventions in 2010, 2014 and 2018.
The BNSF SLSF/MNA General Committee of Adjustment represents nearly 1,300 active and retired members from 15 different divisions, including locomotive engineers and trainmen for the BNSF Railway and the Missouri & Northern Arkansas Railroad.