BLE petitions FRA for remote control rulemaking
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers filed a petition for rulemaking
with the Federal Railroad Administration on November 17, which seeks to
safely regulate the operation of remote control locomotives.
"There should be no use of remote control locomotives without FRA
regulations establishing the safest requirements possible, which the BLE
believes should govern equipment specifications, inspection, repair, training
and operating practices in the use of such devices," BLE International
President Edward Dubroski said.
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Trainmen sue UTU, UP so they can
be represented by BLE
Five veteran trainmen from the former C&NW railroad are suing the
United Transportation Union (UTU) and the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) in
a Chicago federal court so they can be represented by the Brotherhood of
Locomotive Engineers (BLE).
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Northern
District of Illinois in Chicago, asks that an order be issued so these five
BLE members, who all once belonged to the UTU, can be represented by the
BLE in disciplinary actions and other disputes with the railroad.
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U.S. Labor Department upholds BLE claim that
UTU misused Job Benefit Fund
In a major setback for the United Transportation Union (UTU), the U.S.
Department of Labor agreed with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers
(BLE) in ruling that the UTU had misused millions of dollars in its Job
Benefit Fund/Income Security Program (JBF/ISP).
In short, the Department of Labor said the JBF/ISP is covered by Title
1 of ERISA and that the UTU improperly used nearly $11 million to fund union
operations. UTU may potentially be liable to JBF/ISP premium payers for
repayment from the union's General Fund to the JBF/ISP Fund.
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