{"id":1907,"date":"2020-05-12T06:00:25","date_gmt":"2020-05-12T06:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uniontrack.com\/blog\/?p=1907"},"modified":"2020-05-12T12:26:03","modified_gmt":"2020-05-12T12:26:03","slug":"blet-rail-workers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/uniontrack.com\/blog\/blet-rail-workers","title":{"rendered":"BLET: How the Nation\u2019s Oldest Transportation Union Advocates for Essential Rail Workers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ken Green
\nCEO\/Founder
\nUnionTrack<\/a><\/p>\n

The COVID-19 pandemic has given Americans a whole new appreciation for the workers whose labor powers this economy.<\/p>\n

Many of us have seen first-hand how essential healthcare workers and retail workers<\/a> are. Rail workers are every bit as essential to keeping this country operational during a quarantine. They move the goods, the food and the essential supplies that end up on pharmacy shelves, in grocery deliveries and in Amazon orders.<\/p>\n

The thousands of rail transport workers deemed essential to America\u2019s logistics network have the support of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen<\/a>, a union that\u2019s been fighting for rail workers for more than 150 years.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how the BLET has responded to the COVID-19 pandemic and what the union has been doing to fight for rail workers.<\/p>\n

BLET Leadership Was Quick to Respond to the COVID-19 Threat<\/h2>\n

On March 5, 2020, BLET President Dennis R. Pierce<\/a> called upon rail companies to prepare for a COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

For context, on March 5 the WHO had yet to declare a pandemic, countries like Italy and Spain had yet to lock down, and there were only a few dozen reported COVID-19 cases in the United States. Pierce was ahead of the curve in anticipating the needs of rail workers.<\/p>\n

In his March 5 letter to leaders of the National Railway Labor Conference, the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, and the American Public Transportation Association, Pierce asked railroads \u201cto suspend their attendance policies and actively encourage sick employees to stay home.\u201d He also called for hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes to be made available to all crewmembers.<\/p>\n

As the pandemic unfolded, BLET continued to push for safe working conditions for rail workers on the jobs, work for people who had been furloughed, and money for those who couldn\u2019t work.<\/p>\n

\"a<\/p>\n

Safer Conditions for Rail Workers<\/h2>\n

In late March 2020, Pierce personally called<\/a> the CEOs of major rail companies to demand that each take three steps toward creating a clean, safe workplace for rail workers. Those steps included:<\/p>\n